#City of Peekskill Democratic Candidates

[blackwestchester]

George Latimer Endorses Peekskill Democratic Candidates Running in the Sept 12th Primary

George Latimer Endorses Peekskill Democratic Candidates Running in the Sept 12th Primary

PEEKSKILL- In front of the “One” Peekskill Democratic Headquarters (9 Bank Street) Saturday afternoon, State Senator and Westchester County Executive candidate George Latimer announced his endorsement of the City of Peekskill Democratic Candidates running in the September 12th Primary. Latimer gave his endorsement to Colin Smith, Ramon Fernandez, and Vanessa Agudelo because he believes strongly…

[berniesrevolution]

THE INTERCEPT

Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, will face hostile opposition from many Democratic senators during his confirmation process. This will not be a first-time experience for him: When George W. Bush nominated Kavanaugh in 2003 to be a judge on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, he was regarded as such a controversial and extremist choice that his nomination lingered for three full years, until he was finally confirmed in 2006.

In the final Senate vote on Kavanaugh’s 2006 confirmation, every Democratic senator voted against him except for four — three of them from deep red states (Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu, Nebraska’s Ben Nelson, and West Virginia’s Robert Byrd). But the fourth Democratic vote for Kavanaugh came from a senator from a deeply blue state: Delaware’s Tom Carper. Carper is the only Democrat still in the U.S. Senate who voted to confirm Kavanaugh in 2006; all the others voted against.

“If I had known 12 years ago how Judge Kavanaugh would have ruled on any number of issues, including health care and the environment, I never would have voted for him in 2006,” he said in a statement. “I have no intention of voting for him now.” Immediately after Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement was announced, Carper said he would not support any nominee until after November.

Carper’s 2006 vote is particularly relevant now, as the three-term Democratic incumbent faces a primary challenge from Kerri Evelyn Harris, a U.S. Air Force veteran and community organizer whose campaign is based on the argument that Carper has served the corporate and militarized interests that have funded his campaigns over the people of Delaware. She would be a more progressive, less militaristic, and less corporatist senator than Carper.

The first serious challenge to a Democratic incumbent this cycle came against Rep. Dan Lipinski, an Illinois Democrat who bucks the party on most of its key issues, on everything from the minimum wage to abortion rights to marriage equality. Neither Rep. Joe Crowley, defeated in June, nor Carper fit that mold — both are broadly in line with the party on social policy and on issues such as environmental protection. Indeed, despite his support for some Trump nominees, Carper, the top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, has gone to war against this administration’s environmental policy and has been out front in opposing Environmental Protection Agency boss Scott Pruitt, who Carper helped force out, and several of his cronies. As The Intercept reported at the time, Carper’s good relations with Republicans, combined with his aggressive opposition to some nominees, helped sink a number of Trump appointments.

He has the backing of the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Delaware AFL-CIO, Delaware Laborers, Delaware State Education Association, Delaware Stonewall political action committee, and the state Democratic Party. But the question for Delaware Democrats will come down to whether that’s good enough in an era defined by fierce resistance and a concern that big money has rendered the party unable to champion the working class.

Harris, meanwhile, would also be the first woman, the first African-American, and the first openly LGBT candidate to be elected as a U.S. senator for Delaware. She grew up in Peekskill, in Westchester County, New York, then moved to Fullerton, California, and was raised by a biracial couple involved in civil rights work. The Air Force took her to Dover, Delaware, and she has made it her home ever since.

The similarities between this race and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s win over Crowley last month are obvious. Ahead of the New York election, Harris went to Queens to canvass for Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign, and Ocasio-Cortez recently urged support for Harris, who’s running on a platform that includes “Medicare for All,” demilitarizing the police, decriminalizing drugs, reining in the surveillance state, and abolishing cash bail.

And the organization that recruited and most heavily backed Ocasio-Cortez, Justice Democrats, is preparing to throw its full weight behind Harris, organizers there tell The Intercept.

One of Harris’s unique attributes is that — unlike the military veterans the Democratic Party is now fond of recruiting in order to make the party awash in themes of militarism and war glorification — she has a vehement peace platform that could have added potency because of her military background. From the war on terror and military spending to Israel and Yemen, Harris’s positions are assertively anti-war and pro-peace, including her argument, rarely heard in Democratic politics, that bombing other countries creates the kind of turmoil that can blowback on the United States. As she said in her kickoff speech:

As an air crew member transporting troops and equipment from Dover Air Force Base across the Middle East, Europe, and Africa, I witnessed the costs of war. I saw soldiers suffering from PTSD and other physical ailments. And I can tell you,  I have seen what our current policies do to our veterans and it is unacceptable.

When our current legislators fail to properly consider the consequences of their decisions, they risk American and foreign lives, our national security, and the balance of power throughout the world. Our leaders need to exhaust all diplomatic solutions before resorting to military action because all too often the unintended consequences of military conflict leave behind remnants of crumbling infrastructure and human lives in need of repair — broken governments and feelings of resentment which create breeding grounds for terrorist ideology.

There are, to be sure, meaningful differences between the Delaware primary and the race won by Ocasio-Cortez, beginning with the fact that Carper is far better known, and a far more devoted retail politician, than Crowley was. Crowley didn’t live in the district, while Carper takes the train home to Delaware each night. And Delaware is not New York City. While its population isn’t much greater, the time it takes to travel from top to bottom adds a challenging element to the organizing. Wilmington, where the most voters live, has a high population of black and brown Democrats the Harris campaign hopes it can turn out, while not ignoring the more rural and suburban parts of the state.

(Continue Reading)

[maryannmccarra-fitzpatrick]

This is in response to a post by the Peekskill Democratic City Committee's paid political consultant regarding the now cancelled October 21 candidate forum.

To be clear, when this last- minute invitation was received on October 15, we responded immediately and advised that due to various campaign, professional and personal scheduling conflicts, the slate could not attend. As expected, the NAACP leadership was gracious and understood, given that the last- minute invitation was due to its planning and logistics issues. It is our understanding that the original live format, which the Democrats claim was at their insistence, was cancelled because it violated the NAACP’s proscription against live events during the pandemic. The NAACP advised that it would proceed with a ZOOM format with the Democrats, in the absence of the Republican slate. (more time for the Democrats). For reasons unclear, on October 20 we were advised that even the Democrats ZOOM forum would be cancelled. At that time, the NAACP graciously invited our slate to speak “for a few minutes” at its monthly meeting on October 26, 4 days after the beginning of early voting. Again, scheduling issues precluded attendance by the slate. Once again, the NAACP was gracious and understanding – particularly given that the short notice was due to their planning issues.

It is suggested by the political consultant that our slate is “hiding away” from a debate. However, one has to ask that, if the Democrats were so intent upon a fair and impartial debate, why – during the five months following the Democratic primary, did they not reach out and attempt to arrange a well planned debate with a neutral host. Perhaps it was out of concern that their inadequate record would be exposed by the Progressive wing of their party , as well as the Republicans, and undercut their base.

Apart from the debate, the political consultant tries to raise the specter of racism against one of our candidates – an African-American – by resurrecting the long ago settlement of a discrimination suit, as evidence of her fitness to oversee the City. What the political consultant should ask is why did Deputy Mayor McKenzie and Councilmembers Douglas, Fernandez and Agudelo, on July 16, spend a total of $100,000 to settle a gender/unequal pay claim in the Parks Department, and a claim for sexual harassment and discrimination on national origin grounds in the Youth Bureau. Looking at the settlement resolution and staff recommendations in the Council agenda, you would never know why the money was paid. He should also ask why the Corporation Counsel has asked for a reserve of $200,000 for “federal cases” in next year’s budge

Finally, regarding the suggestion that our slate has “no experience in the public and civic life of Peekskill”, if keeping a seat warm in the Council Chamber and “experience” means brown drinking water, a fire department on the verge of imploding, a disgruntled blue collar work force, higher taxes , an understaffed and underequipped police department and an increase in crime – no thanks.

Robert M. Sullivan

Chair- Peekskill Republican City Committee

[maryannmccarra-fitzpatrick]

STAND UP FOR PEEKSKILL

(Robert Sullivan)

As the recently elected chair of the Peekskill Republican City Committee, it is incumbent upon me to respond to set the record straight.

The ghost-written statement by the Deputy Mayor and the Chair follows the long running strategy of the PDCC manifest in the past 2 elections. Deflect from the issues to cover your own shortcomings by invoking the aura of Trump and simply misstating the opponents record.

First, to my knowledge President Trump is not on the ballot in Peekskill, nor is he currently on the ballot anywhere. Whether he will again be on the ballot in the future is something which remains unclear since it depends upon his own wishes and the votes of Republican voters in a certain primary. In any event, it is some years before the GOP and the general electorate will need to decide that.

However, if the PDCC wants to engage in a debate over the character and fitness of national and state party leaders, I ask everyone to go the gas station or grocery store, to the Mexican border in Texas or talk to a US Citizen in Afghanistan. Ask why the past three Democratic Governors terms were marked by persistent scandal and two of them resigned. Ask where the virtuous PDCC was when Governor Cuomo’s sexual proclivities became public.

Unfortunately, the PDCC wants to deflect attention from the issues facing Peekskill by giving labels to people because of their political views or party affiliation in the hopes that voters will take the bait and vote a straight party line. Unfortunately, the voters in this City are not that easily swayed. As stated recently by Amy Perlow, former candidate for Council on the Working Family Line:

“ I’ve spent almost 25 years blindly voting down the democratic line, assuming the party aligned with my personal values – but not anymore.

Primary elections are good for democracy; so is continuing to show up and demand substantive policy discussions that will positively impact you, your family, and your neighbors. ---Amy Perlow …”

Well said Ms. Perlow.

Second, the consultant from New York City- sorry- Ms. McKenzie - patently misstates the GOP candidates positions on Covid 19 public health measures. Being from New York City, he is apparently not aware of how much Covid 19 impacted both our candidates and the GOP City Committee. To suggest that the Stand Up For Peekskill slate opposes sensible public health measures is tacky at best. As the record shows, The “Stand Up For Peekskill” ticket merely criticized the Council’s lack of transparency because, at the time of their alleged offending statement, the Council was hiding behind Covid as an excuse to keep Council meetings virtual.

On the topic of Covid, I applaud the Deputy Mayor’s event encouraging people to "get the shot" and paying them for it. However, I query why the Deputy Mayor’s activism in promoting the vaccine has only come about in the middle of an election campaign. She, along with the rest of her ticket, in fact the rest of the Council and the City government – have been pretty much missing in action in promoting the vaccine.

To be clear – everybody must “get the shot” and follow all pertinent prevention measures. Nobody has suggested otherwise.

Third, again the Deputy Mayor and the PDCC misstate the position of the “Stand Up for Peekskill” candidates regarding affordable housing. All the candidates understand the need for sustainable affordable housing programs. Because the GOP is a big tent party, Emiliano Perez and Leesther Brown have suggested different approaches to the issue. Emiliano’s approach takes into consideration the potential impact of the Democrat and Working Family Plan upon the tax base and those who directly pay property taxes. Many of those homeowners are on fixed incomes and ticks on the tax meter can be devastating. Emiliano’s plan avoids that. Let’s discuss the issue, debate the issue, and present it to the voters. Just don’t lie about it.

Fourth, Ms. Claxton knows full well the source of funding for the Stand Up For Peekskill candidates. She can read the public campaign disclosures online or if she can’t, she should have her paid consultant do it. Her request for a pledge for the candidates to disavow funds from the state GOP or Trump is a red herring because she knows full well there is no such source of funding. What people really should review is the PDCC’s financial disclosures and note the source of their money.

Finally, most sophomoric is the picture of my good friend and candidate for County Legislature, Joe Torres, with “radical” Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. I would think that Ms. McKenzie would be more respectful of a woman who holds so much power in Congress, who comes from a very modest background and who worked her way through Harvard. I frankly would be more worried if Joe posed with Congresswomen Ocasio- Cortez, Omar, Tlaib and Pressley.

In closing, if you want integrity, honesty, straight talk and solutions to the City’s problems:

ELECT :

Emiliano Perez – Mayor

Leesther Brown – Council

Ken Gilleo – Council

Bill Moran – Council

They have my vote.

Robert Sullivan

Chair – Peekskill Republican City Committee

[maryannmccarra-fitzpatrick]

Via Leesther Brown For Common Council:

Setting The Record Straight

Over the past several months, the "Stand Up 4 Peekskill" candidates have tried to run a clean campaign free from any false or negative allegations of the opposing Democrat candidates. Unfortunately, it appears that the Peekskill Democrats have once again resorted to mudslinging and making false allegations. In a recent statement posted on the Peekskill Democratic City Committee Facebook page, Democratic Party Chair Drew Claxton and Mayoral Candidate Vivian McKenzie falsely allege that the Stand Up 4 Peekskill candidates for Mayor and Common Council oppose COVID precautions, oppose affordable housing, supposedly attended Trump rallies this past summer and received campaign funds from the Republican Party. All of these statements are outright lies and have no substantiation whatsoever.

So now, we would like to take this opportunity to show just how outrageous and untruthful these allegations are. First, in alleging that we opposed COVID precautions, are the Democrats attempting to show that our opposition to their scheme of not allowing in-person attendance at public meetings was somehow dangerous? That's almost laughable. A few weeks ago, the current Democratic administration attempted to once again lock the public out of Common Council meetings based on the excuse of protecting the community from COVID-19, which at that time only afflicted 51 people in Peekskill. When we voiced our protest in a subsequent post, the Democrats begrugdingly caved in and allowed in-person attendance at the following Common Council meeting. Furthermore, the Democrats' newfound concern about COVID-19 precautions is highly questionable when none of them were wearing any masks or practicing social distancing at any of their recent fundraisers!! Clearly, the Democrats have no regard for governmental transparency and want the public kept in the dark in regard to their closed-door Executive Session sweetheart deals.

Second, how can the Democrats say that we oppose affordable housing when we actually issued our proposed affordable housing policy a few weeks ago? For those of you who might not have seen it, our proposed affordable housing policy requires future housing developments to set aside 15% or their proposed units for affordable housing based upon the Peekskill AMI. If a developer is willing to set aside 25% or more of the proposed units for affordable housing, then that developer would be allowed to utilize the Westchester County AMI. This ensures that Peekskill residents would have a fair opportunity in applying for one of these new affordable housing units. So, how does our plan compare to the Democrats plan? Well, the Peekskill Democrats don't even have an official plan or policy right now!! However, it appears that Mayoral candidate and current Deputy Mayor Vivian McKenzie would allow future housing developments to set aside only 10% of their proposed units for affordable housing based upon the much higher Westchester County AMI. This plan basically opens up Peekskill's affordable housing to every applicant in the county at the expense of long-time Peekskill residents!! Contrary to the Democrats' assertion that they're "Moving Peekskill Forward," they are actually leaving Peekskill residents behind!!

Finally, the Democrats' allegations that the Stand Up 4 Peekskill candidates attended Trump rallies and received campaign contributions from the Republican Party are completely baseless. Neither our Mayoral candidate Emiliano Perez nor our Common Council candidates, Leesther Brown, Ken Gilleo and Bill Moran, have attended any such Trump rally or received one penny in contributions from the Republican Party. We challenge the Democrats to post any picture they may have showing these candidates at such a rally. Furthermore, we encourage any member of the public to review all of our campaign financial disclosures on the NYS Board of Elections website for any possible Republican Party contributions. Although the Stand Up 4 Peekskill candidates will appear on the Republican and Conservative Party lines on this year's ballot, none of them have received any Republican Party funds. Will the Democratic Mayoral and Common Council candidates also invite the public to review their contributions? When we looked at their campaign financial disclosures, we saw that Mayoral candidate Vivan McKenzie and her fellow Common Council candidates have accepted numerous contributions from developers and real estate investors. Shouldn't the Democrats refrain from accepting these contributions while they are debating an affordable housing policy for Peekskill? Maybe that's why Vivian McKenzie is giving developers a highly favorable afforadable housing policy at the expense of Peekskill residents? Furthermore, isn't Vivian McKenzie the candidate who's looking to benefit from President Trump's policies? Recently, she advertised a pop-up COVID vaccination clinic in which her community supporters would pay $25 to each person who agrees to be vaccinated. Interestingly, the funding for the research, development and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine was all initiated by former President Trump. Now, Vivian Mckenzie and her friends want to use this federally funded COVID vaccination program for the benefit of her political campaign without disclosing who exactly her supporters are!! This is clearly a violation of Federal and New York State Election laws. As if that weren't bad enough, Ms. McKenzie and her so-called supporters have implicated Sav-Mor Pharmacy in Croton in this politicized vaccination scheme in which patient confidentiality would clearly be compromised and pharmaceutical ethics would be violated for exploiting COVID vaccination patients for the gain of a third-party, namely Vivian McKenzie. Our campaign has forwarded Ms. McKenzie's ad to the NYS Attorney General's Office, the NYS Board of Elections Enforcement Division and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern New York District. We will let those authorities make the judgement call on this politicized vaccination scheme. In the meantime, we would like to remind our readers that our dear friend, former Peekskill Republican Party Chairman Bruce Bellom passed away from COVID-19 earlier this year. For Peekskill Democrats, such as Drew Claxton, Vivian McKenzie, Ramon Fernandez, Dwight Douglas and Rob Scott to suggest that any of our candidates are opposed to COVID precautions is nothing less than outrageous!! All of these political charlatans should be ashamed of themselves!! Consequently, the Stand Up 4 Peekskill team demands a full apology from the Peekskill Democratic City Committee and their respective candidates.

[maryannmccarra-fitzpatrick]

PDCC Meeting, Peekskill, NY

Peekskill Democratic City Committee MAY MEETING :: NEW DATE Next PDCC meeting will be May 11 at 7 pm at the Neighborhood Center at the Field Library, 4 Nelson Avenue, Peekskill, NY. * MARK YOUR CALENDAR * * SECOND THURSDAY IN MAY * This is a regular meeting of the PDCC at which we will be putting candidates into nomination for three Council seats and the Mayor's seat. We encourage District Leaders and Guests to attend our meetings. For District Leaders: If you cannot attend the meeting, please complete a proxy by Wednesday May 10th or earlier. #peekskill #democrats #pdcc #peekskillny #cityofpeekskill #peekskillnewyork

[blackwestchester]

Yonkers Council Pres Ends Support For Scarpino, Joins Wave Of Democratic Leaders In Support of Mimi Rocah

Yonkers Council Pres Ends Support For Scarpino, Joins Wave Of Democratic Leaders In Support of Mimi Rocah

County Legislators Kitley Covill, Mary Jane Shimsky and Nancy Barr announce support for progressive reform candidate Rocah

Yonkers City Council President Mike Khader ends support for incumbent Scarpino, joins White Plains Council President Nadine Hunt-Robinson and Peekskill Councilman Ramon Fernandez in growing coalition of Westchester leaders backing Rocah in the June 23rd Democratic Primary

[blackwestchester]

George Latimer Announces His Endorsement of the Peekskill Democratic Council Candidates

George Latimer Announces His Endorsement of the Peekskill Democratic Council Candidates

Peekskill, NY — State Senator George Latimer, the Democratic candidate who is running for Westchester County Executive, released a statement, Friday stating he will be holding a press conference to announce his endorsement of the City of Peekskill Democratic Council Candidates running in the Primary. Latimer is giving his endorsement to Vanessa Agudelo, Ramon Fernandez and Colin Smith because he…

[blackwestchester]

Dem Endorsed Mayoral Candidate Andre Rainey Accuses Peekskill GOP of Stealing Petition Signatures

Dem Endorsed Mayoral Candidate Andre Rainey Accuses Peekskill GOP of Stealing Petition Signatures

Silly Season has officially begun in the many municipalities of Westchester County. Just 40 miles (64 km) north of New York City in the City of Peekskill, where 23,583 people reside and the racial makeup of the city was 35.8% White, 21.4%, they have more of a two-party system than it’s counterparts in Southern Westchester like Mount Vernon, where Black outnumbers Whites and Democrats outnumber…

[blackwestchester]

Peekskill Democrats choose Andre Rainey to run for mayor

Peekskill Democrats choose Andre Rainey to run for mayor

Peekskill — Sources tell Black Westchester that Councilman Andre Rainey, a Democrat, is his party’s choice for mayor. We are told the party’s ticket includes Colin Smith, Ramon Fernandez and Vanessa Agudelo for the Peekskill City Democratic Committee’s candidates for Common Council.

With that slate, Deputy Mayor Drew Claxton will leave the Common Council in January after 16 years. She has been…