Op-Ed
Yonkers was established as a City in 1872, and the City Council was established in 1877. In the last 144 years we have only seen a majority of women serving on the City Council twice.
On January 1st, when Lakisha Collins-Bellamy is sworn in it will mark the third time the aforementioned will be true. In addition, it will mark the first time in Yonkers history that a majority of the City Council is Black people or People of Color (the current Majority Leader Corazon Pineda-Isaac is a Latina and recognizes herself as a member of the African Diaspora), and therefore a majority Black women!
These four women should be proud of themselves and should be celebrated; Shanae Williams, following a rich tradition of Black Councilmembers in District 1; Corazon Pineda-Isaac, the first Latina to hold the position of Majority Leader- District 2; Tasha Freeman-Diaz, the first Black person, man or woman to represent District 3; and Lakisha Collins-Bellamy, the first Black person, man or woman, to be elected City Council President.
Every resident in the City of Yonkers should be excited to witness this day in this City’s history. But the work cannot stop there. They will be joined by Councilmember John Rubbo to form a Super Majority. This should mean that historic pieces of legislation and budgets that work for the children and families of Yonkers, especially those that have often struggled to be heard, should be passed.
The first signal of that should be on Day 1, when the Yonkers City Council should choose one of those women to be it’s Majority Leader. No disrespect to John Rubbo, a recent convert to the Democratic Party, now Yonkers has the opportunity to show the County, the State, and the Nation what can be done when women lead.
WOMEN CAN LEAD! WOMEN SHOULD LEAD! Yonkers voters said by choosing these four women that we want to see women in the forefront – and that’s what we should get. Each of the four women have proven in their own right that they have the skill set needed to lead and they should band together and make sure that one of them gets to help lead the Council forward.
Let’s be honest, they are the actual Majority.
-Hon. Marisol Alcantara, Former State Senator
-Hon. Symra Brandon, Former City Councilmember and Former Yonkers Democratic Party Chair
-Elvira Castillo, Westchester Latinos Unidos, President and Founder
-Hon. Rev. Margaret Fountain-Coleman, Former Trustee-Village of Tuckahoe, Measiah Baptist Church
-Maria Garcia, Community Advocate-Pastor Alonda Hassell, Kingdom Christian Cultural Center
-Subomi Macaulay, Westchester Black Women’s Political Caucus, President
-Luz (Lucy) Moreno-Casonova, Community Advocate, Founder of Orgullo Borinqueño Inc.
-Joanne Robinson-Boettcher, Black Women’s Political Caucus, member; NAACP, Yonkers Chapter member
–Roberta Robinson-Fraizer, Yonkers Democratic Committee, 3rd Ward Leader
-Kisha Skipper, NAACP, Yonkers Chapter, 1st Vice President
-Beryl Weaver, Yonkers Democratic Committee, 1st Vice Chair
