The Manhattan Times

The race for City Council Districts 7 and 10

by Daniel P. Bader

The race for City Council District 10

The City Council District 10 race has had more twists and turns than any political contest in recent memory. The district, which includes the eastern side of Washington Heights, Inwood and a section of Marble Hill, was held for almost eight years by the charismatic Miguel Martinez until he stepped down on July 14 and, two days later, pleaded guilty to three felony counts and stealing over $100,000 in public money.

Martinez, who had garnered over 5,000 signatures to run again for the seat, handed those petitions to the man he replaced in 2000, Guillermo Linares. Linares, who resigned as City Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs to run for Martinez’ seat, was removed as a candidate by the New York City Board of Elections, which invalidated the transfer of petitions after a challenge by one of his challengers.

Of the eight candidates, three are perhaps best known for their work in community service and have the most extensive political ties.

With Martinez and Linares out of the running, long-time educator and community organizer Ydanis Rodriguez found himself a front runner in the eight-candidate race. Rodriguez, who ran against Martinez twice before, has raised the most money, about $160,000 in combined public and private funds.

Despite the ups and downs of the race, Rodriguez said he is running his campaign the way he planned it two years ago, adding that he had 5,300 signatures, collected by an all volunteer staff, before Martinez resigned.

“We paid no one to get signatures. We are a grass roots organization,” said Rodriguez, whose campaign was responsible for successfully knocking Linares off the ballot.

As far as the issues, jobs will be his number one priority if he wins on the Sept. 15 primary.

One of the neighborhood’s biggest needs is for the creation of a vocational school, Rodriguez said, which was echoed by nearly all the other candidates interviewed. Using the support of the various unions that are backing him, Rodriguez wants to “build a vocational school where we can train young people,” he said, particularly in so-called “green jobs.”

“There’s federal funding to support green jobs,” said Rodriguez, who helped found and still teaches at Gregorio Luperon High School on W. 165^th Street.

Notably, Rodriguez enjoys the endorsements of every local elected official.

If measured by the amount of private funds each of the candidates have raised, Community Board 12 Chair Manny Velazquez is in second place behind Rodriguez. According to the New York City Campaign Finance Board, Velazquez has raised $22,551, although he has yet to maximize that money through the city’s matching funds program.

Velazquez’ big dream is establishing a community center in Northern Manhattan.

At such a center, said Velazquez, an educator at I.S. 52, local residents could search for jobs, get housing or find legal counseling while their kids could get homework help and grandparents could learn a new skill or socialize.

“This is the vision of People for Manny Velazquez,” he said. “Seniors are not connecting with youth, not connected with their children.”

He has even chosen a site.

“There’s two lots right there,” he said referring to the corner of Dyckman Street and Post Avenue. “I said: ‘This is a perfect place.’ I think it would be a beautiful thing.”

Architect and USA Latin Chamber of Commerce Vice President Luis Facundo, at $14,062, is the third highest fund raiser. He said he purposely declined to participate in the Campaign Finance Board’s matching funds program to distance himself from the abuse of public money by Martinez.

His goal in the campaign is “[To] strive to bring a new face to the community and a new vision,” including social responsibility. Owning property and businesses are ways that Dominicans can ensure they are not pushed out of the community, he said.

“Eight years ago we should have had a plan,” said Facundo, a former member of Community Board 12. “Sooner or later New York City is going to grow to Northern Manhattan. Whether we are included or not is up to us.”

He would like to see leases with “option to buy” clauses and other opportunities for low-income families. Instead, he sees families leaving one by one.

He blames the politicians that came before him and the Democratic Party as a whole.

“We have left it to the politicians of the day. [The Democrats] have left the community to the wolves,” he said.

The remaining four candidates who agreed to speak about their campaigns (Francisco Spies could not be reached for comment) are all less associated with the various clubs and political thrum of Northern Manhattan, but decided to run at the urging of neighbors, a call to service or in an effort to change the system.

“I’ve been concerned with the path the district has taken,” said lifelong resident Francesca Castellanos, a freelance interpreter. She has previously run for City Council and the 72nd Assembly District.

One of her main issues is that housing laws should be in control of the city, not the state.

“We need to reform the housing laws. The City Council has less influence than it should have,” she said.

Ruben Dario Vargas is running for City Council because of his mission to serve. Retired from military service and employed by the NYPD as an evidence specialist, Vargas is a meticulous and cautious candidate. He has refused to knock on doors because he feels it violates a person’s right to privacy. He launched his official campaign just one month before the primary because he believes voters already know who he is and what he stands for, partially because he ran against Martinez in 2005.

Cleofis Sarete is a career educator, pausing in her quest to become a principal in order to run for office. “I put it on hold because many people in the community asked me to run,” Sarete said.

“I believe the community should give a woman – a strong, educated, working mother – a chance,” she said. The community will help her form her agenda, she said, but proposed giving teachers more time to prepare for classes and save money by not changing textbooks year to year. She’d also like to see a center built to help kids with homework.

“My students come from every walk of life. [Parents] can’t help them with homework,” said Sarete, a former Community Board 12 member.

Attorney Richard Realmuto is running because he’s upset with the way City Hall is run – particularly the so-called Council slush fund. He’s in favor of more charter schools, ethics reform in the Council and increased economic opportunity in the neighborhood.

“You’re not going to stop gentrification,” Realmuto said. “The answer is the jobs.”

The race for City Council District 7

District 7 City Council incumbent Robert Jackson is very clear in what the next City Council will have to face: a city in financial crisis and a budget in which each Council member fights for the services his or her district received last year.

“We’re going to be doing less because we can’t afford it,” Jackson said. “Just trying to maintain what we have is going to be a struggle.”

Jackson is hoping to be voted back into the job representing Northern Manhattan and Harlem west of Broadway to fight for better schools and see his Small Business Survival Bill passed into law.

Jackson’s detractors point to the extension of term limits to three terms by the City Council as a reason not to vote for the incumbent. Jackson said he never believed in term limits, and says voters in Manhattan agree with him, despite the entire city voting for term limits in two referendums.

“The majority [of Manhattan voters] in ‘93 said no to term limits,” Jackson said, even if it was a slim majority. They felt the same in 1996, he added.

Manuel Lantigua, a retired NYPD sergeant, has put up the most visible campaign against Jackson. His truck, complete with loudspeakers and Michael Jackson tunes blaring from speakers, has been cruising Northern Manhattan. The truck, he said, is to get voters out and clue them into the fact that there is an election happening.

Lantigua agrees the city is in dire financial straits, but feels that the next Council member needs to fight for more of Northern Manhattan’s fair share.

“We feel [Northern Manhattan] is being shortchanged,” Lantigua said. The recent collapse of the 181^st Street 1-train subway station ceiling is an example of how the neighborhood has been ignored. “There has not been basic maintenance,” Lantigua said.

Attorney Victor Bernace has run against Jackson in two elections, and is using this campaign to focus on one issue: the environment. He’s also pledging not to print any posters or mail and fliers, instead campaigning largely through email. Bernace, who says he is known for unconventional tactics, has a wild idea. He is advocating making New York City car free.

“It’s not as crazy as you think,” Bernace said. “If we did it, it would be amazing.”

The Manhattan Times is the bilingual newspaper of Washington Heights and Inwood.