Aravella Simotas

Education and early life

Simotas was born in Rhodesia. She immigrated to the United States from Greece and settled in Astoria with her parents and brother when she was an infant. She graduated from P.S. 17, Junior H.S. 126, and William C. Bryant High School.

She received a Bachelor of Arts degree (summa cum laude) from Fordham University in 1999, followed by a law degree from the Fordham University School of Law in 2002. During law school, she was the managing editor at the Fordham Environmental Law Journal. She first gained notice as the moderator at a Law Journal panel about citing electric generators in New York City under New York energy law.

Early career

Simotas began her career in public service as a district representative for Speaker of the New York City Council, Peter Vallone, Sr. and later for New York City Council member Peter Vallone, Jr. While at law school, she also worked at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, where she developed a passion for environmental advocacy.

After law school, Simotas served as a law clerk at the United States Court of International Trade. She later practiced law at Bickel & Brewer and worked with the Bickel & Brewer Storefront, "an organization that provides legal representation to the economically challenged."

Simotas served as a member of the Queens Community Planning Board 1 and the United Community Civic Association.

2010 election

Simotas was first elected to office in 2010. She received the Democratic Party nomination and ran unopposed in the November 2, 2010 general election.

2012 election

Simotas was unopposed in the 2012 Democratic primary. In the general election, she ran on both the Democratic and Working Families Party lines, and was opposed by Republican Julia Haitch.

According to preliminary results collected by the Daily News, Simotas won re-election to the State Assembly, for the new District 36, in the general election on November 6, 2012 with 84% of the vote.

Committee assignments

Simotas's Committee Assignments as of 2014 include:

Women's issues

In 2014, Simotas was named Chair of the Assembly’s Task Force on Women’s Issues. The Task Force works closely with Assembly committees, subcommittees, and other task forces on a number of matters that directly impact the lives of New York’s women.

Simotas’s “Rape is Rape” legislation, first proposed in 2012, has gained national attention. The bill, which passed the Assembly in 2013, would redefine and expand the definition of rape in New York, eliminating unnecessary distinctions in the current legal definition.

Each March, Simotas and Representative Carolyn Maloney present awards for Women's History Month to three notable women at a “Celebrating the Women of Western Queens” event. Award recipients have included local women leaders in the fields of public service, community organizing, education, public health, philanthropy, and small business.

Energy and environment

In January 2014, legislation introduced by Simotas to protect gas and electric utility consumers passed the Assembly. Simotas’s bill ensures a customer’s right to an actual meter reading upon discontinuation of service and mandates that utilities companies are transparent and forthcoming about this right when doing business. Under current law, customers may be charged based on estimated usage, which can result in customer overcharges that fail to be corrected or refunded.

Throughout her first and second terms, Simotas worked with local organizations, schools, and businesses to promote green development and sustainability projects throughout western Queens. In 2013, Simotas met with students from the Global Kids organization to discuss climate change, and a few weeks later was present for the ribbon cutting ceremony at William Cullen Bryant High School’s rooftop garden space. She has worked to call for a reduction in waste and pollution throughout city streets, in addition to participating in and promoting annual park clean-up events throughout the district.

Simotas has been chairperson of Smart Power NY, a coalition to develop new energy sources for the area, since April 2012. Its first goal was to support the utility NRG Energy with their plan to replace its "decades-old, dirty" power plant in Astoria with a newer generator. NRG wants to replace 31 generators with new ones that will increase the megawatts of power while reducing emissions. Emissions would be reduced because the new plants will use natural gas, while the current generators run primarily on oil. While the Smart Power NY coalition was only created in 2012, Simotas noted that she lived in the community her entire life, had "fought for cleaner power in western Queens for more than a decade", and had recently become a new mother. Furthermore, "repowering" the new plants will create new jobs.

Civil rights

Simotas has been an advocate for LGBT rights. Annually, she marches in the Queen Pride Parade, and voted in favor of marriage equality in New York, which she termed "my proudest moment as a legislator and, frankly, as a person...." Simotas had been a lead sponsor ("co-sponsor") of Assembly Bill A08354, which passed the Assembly by an 80–63 vote, later passed the Senate, and was signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo. She has also voted for GENDA, the transgender rights bill, Assembly Bill A5039, for which she was a "multi-sponsor". She was endorsed by the Empire State Pride Agenda, an LGBT advocacy group, in both her 2010 and 2012 races. She has also garnered the support of individual gay activists, some of whom who have volunteered for her campaigns.

She has supported voters' rights, pushing for the allocation of additional polling sites and the expansion of early voting.

Simotas led several other public officials in protesting against the anti-immigrant Greek organization, Golden Dawn, which held a recruitment meeting in Queens. Simotas said that the anti-immigrant message was not welcome in her community; she expressed anger because she is an immigrant herself.

Healthcare

Simotas has supported the expansion of Mount Sinai Queens hospital, which is undergoing a massive $125 million building project, noting the expanding population of western Queens and the necessity of increased healthcare opportunities to meet the needs of a growing community.

In October 2013, Simotas hosted a seminar for Astoria seniors about Medicare, health insurance, and local resources. She has authored legislation in the Assembly to strengthen life insurance (Assembly Bill A02130), to protect pharmacy choice for workers injured on the job (Assembly Bill A02653), and to strengthen regulations affecting children’s health by ensuring the right to apply sunscreen at schools (Assembly Bill A02126).

In the community, Simotas has participated in several events promoting healthcare causes. In 2013, she was invited to kick off the Quality Services for the Autism Community’s annual 5K Run to support those living with autism. Simotas has likewise joined several other public officials at the Senator George Onorato 5K Run, held at Aqueduct Race Track, to bring financial support and services for women with breast or ovarian cancer. She has been endorsed by Local 1199, a major labor union representing health care workers.

Education

An advocate for education and Astoria's students, Simotas has pushed for several initiatives to strengthen schools and augment opportunities for learning. In 2013, Simotas led the push to retain and expand Gifted and Talented programs in her district. She has also supported budget measures to preserve funding for post-secondary education institutions, especially the City University of New York and State University of New York systems, in addition to lauding the passage of universal pre-kindergarten in New York.

Simotas has been active in keeping local public schools open and functioning in her district, including Long Island City High School, which has been threatened with closing or "co-location" (consolidation) since the early 2010s. She also hosts and regularly visits participants in a variety of Assembly programs to promote reading both during the school year and the summer months.

Quality of life

Since taking office, Simotas has worked to protect the character of Astoria neighborhoods and promote the role of community members in determining the shape of their communities. On the heels of a string of proposed adult establishments taking Astoria residents by surprise, Simotas authored the “Community Full Disclosure Act” which was signed into law in 2013. The law mandates greater transparency and a stronger community role in the liquor licensing process.

Simotas has pushed for cleaner streets in Astoria, calling upon Mayor Bill de Blasio to take action and reduce street waste and litter. She has also advocated on behalf of augmented pedestrian safety measures, homeowners' rights, reduction of train noise near schools, and improved public transit options for commuters.

Personal

Simotas is married to John Katsanos, and they have one daughter, born in 2012.