My First Election

This American eagle is faded, under construction, and sits on a chipped pedestal next to a full trashcan.

The race for the 36th District City Council Seat is off and running. It seems only fitting that my first election ever as a virgin voter and newly naturalized American citizen will be for the council seat in my newfound home of Bedford-Stuyvesant. So far the candidates are: Mark Winston Griffith, Robert E. Cornegy, Jr., Saquan Jones, David Grinage, Robert Waterman, William Carrington, Aaron Fraser, Tremaine Wright, and the incumbent Al Vann.

Journalist Ron Howell on his blog, Brooklyn Ron, has been following the candidates closely - to see his take on the race, look here. Lifelong Bed-Stuy resident, Richard Taylor, also has decided opinions on our current elected council member - calling him Al "Don't Give a Damn" Vann. While the Atlantic Yards Report covers what's been happening on the fund-raising front.

I, on the other hand, am embarrassed to admit that I really don't have a clue as to what Al Vann has or has not been doing for our neighbourhood. My knowledge of the political arena is restricted to the snippets I hear on NPR, and I hadn't heard anything about the race on our home turf. I knew that I had a definite interest in voting this fall for a new mayor (as far as I'm concerned, Bloomberg's out - our current fight to get our child in a decent public school shows me he's done nothing for our public education system and the future of our children.) But I only really had an inkling that there was to be a far more local election as emails from candidates (a grand total of three) started trickling into my inbox. The one I was most intrigued by was from Medhanie Estiphanos who is actually running for the 35th district which apparently includes parts of Bed-Stuy? He had a fundraising vegetarian BBQ on May 10th which caught my eye and although there's nothing I like better than a good veggie BBQ, unfortunately I wasn't able to make it. I don't know if many others did either as AYR speculates that he may not have been able to raise the $2000 minimum to stay in the race. Wrong district for us anyway.

The only candidate I've met, who made a strong impression on me, is Robert Cornegy Jr. He came to speak with me after the blogfest and I immediately took a shine to him. He seemed down to earth and concerned about many of the same issues in our hood that I rant about daily. I liked what he's done for our community in regards to creating a shelter for men with substance abuse issues, his active stance on crime prevention, but most of all as a parent of six kids - he has a vested interest in better public education in our hood, safer and cleaner parks, and a working dialogue with newcomers - black, white, brown, yellow, or green if it comes to that. Sorry, that's my own take - I have no idea what his stance on alien gentrification of the third kind is. Did he bamboozle me with his charm? Possibly - although I think I'm pretty good at figuring out if someone's for real or not. Did he just make a strong impression on me because he's 6'10"? Perhaps. Being taller than the other candidates certainly doesn't hurt one's chances in elections. Obama is 6.5 inches taller than McCain, and now look who's president. I'm curious about the only female candidate, Tremaine Wright, owner of the Common Grounds cafe, who as yet, doesn't have a website or even a myspace page. At any rate, I have six months to check out the other candidates and make my choice.

And so do you. Bed-Stuy residents, here's your chance to have a say in the way our community and neighbourhood is evolving. Check out the candidates websites, go to hear them speak, and most importantly use your right as an American citizen and VOTE.