By Dan Murphy
Every two years, the Yonkers City Council meets to formulate its rules for the next two years, 2024-25, until the next council election in 2025. Prior to the meeting, the City Council meets to discuss who will be the Chairs of the different council committees, and leadership posts.
On Jan. 2, 2024 the council met for their Reorg meeting. Councilwoman Tahsa Diaz was named Majority Leader and Councilman Mike Breen was named Minority Leader. Councilman John Rubbo was named Majority Whip.
The following Council Committee Chairs were named:
Rules-Council President Lakisha Collins-Bellamy
Budget & Finance: Council President Lakisha Collins-Bellamy
Community Mental Health Services: Councilwoman Deana R. Robinson
Education: Council Majority Leader Tasha Diaz
Legislation & Codes: Councilman John Rubbo
Municipal Operations, Safety & Labor:Council Minority Leader Mike Breen
Real Estate: Councilman Breen
Intergovernmental Affairs: Councilwoman Robinson
Two council members, Councilwoman Corazon Pineda-Isaac and Councilman Anthony Merante were not given a committee chair, which pays councilmembers an additional stipend in addition to their council salary. Pineda-Isaac is a democrat, Merante a republican. Usually the backroom negotiation between councilmembers before the meeting gives every councilmember a committee chair.
Both Pineda-Isaac and Merante voted no on the rules package, which passed 5-2. After the vote, Pineda-Isaac stated, “This week, the new Yonkers City Council met for the first time to organize as a council. Every two years in the first week of January the council determines and votes on the rules of proceedings and for council leadership.
“During this week’s meeting, I was denied a committee chairmanship by the leaders of my own caucus. As a result, there are no Latino voices chairing committees in Yonkers, which is an outrage given the growth and representing 42.4% of the Yonkers population. The reason for losing my chairmanship is obvious: It was done in retaliation for my political support of an opposing candidate. (Editor’s Note: Pineda-Isaac collected signatures for Hector Santiago, who was attempting to challenge Councilwoman Tasha Diaz in the 3rd district).
“I do not take issue with my being denied a role as a committee chair. This will not prevent me from attending committee meetings and advocating for my constituents. I take issue with the clear attempts to silence the voices of Latino residents who have been historically ignored or overlooked in New York’s third largest city.
“True leadership brings people together toward a common agenda and requires all of us as elected officials to move past campaigns and come together to do our work. It does not tear people apart by taking personal retribution on a whim. That’s a recipe for dysfunction that benefits no one on the council, and actively harms the people of Yonkers.
“Regardless of these rules, please know that I will continue to ensure that your voices are heard both inside and outside City Hall,” writes Pineda-Isaac in an email to her constituents.
Councilman Anthony Merante also commented after the vote. “Retribution begins. My first day here was, January 1st, 2018. and, when we came to this reorganization meeting, at that time, I was given the Community Relations committee.
“Then on January 1st, 2020, I had the honor of being, appointed the budget chair. Little did we know a couple of weeks after that Covid was going to come about, and I did a great job keeping this budget on a positive level. We did well remotely, made sure that everything moved smoothly and came away with a very good fund balance at the end of my term. Then came January of 2022. I, again, was honored to chair the Legislation and Codes Committee. We had a lot of potential progress there. However, that was railroaded and put on a back burner in November, I think it was November 19th of 2023 when I VOTED NO TO EXTENDING TERM LIMITS.
“I’m at the beginning of my seventh year on the City Council, and I read these rules, which basically says Anthony Merante, Councilman for six years, has not been assigned a committee. That’s a disgrace. It’s disrespectful to the residents of the 6th District. So basically, in reading through this, it looks like the City Council is basically going to be run by five individuals. I’ll bring a lot of popcorn.
“Furthermore, with the termination of my legislative aide, Connie Braun, who sat in this chamber with all the council members for 25 years, was terminated with a disabled son and no paycheck. That is just disgraceful! As a target of political retribution. I sit here honored that my advocacy to be independent is working because I’m here for the people, by the people, not by the Council or from the second floor.”
Pineda-Isaac and Merante’s other connection is that both ran unsuccessfully for Mayor in 2023. Pineda-Isaac lost a democratic primary to Mayor Mike Spano, and Merante lost in the general election in November to Spano.
The vote for committee chairs, and the hiring of council staff, are both political in nature. Both are beholden to the majority on the council.
At their re-org meeting every two years, the council also designates a daily and weekly newspaper for the City of Yonkers. The purpose is to publish legal notices and other official city announcements. NY State law requires the publication of legal notices for public hearings, Bid’s for services and contracts, and upcoming meetings.
Yonkers Rising was named as the official weekly newspaper for the City of Yonkers. We thank all of the members of the council who voted unanimously for our paper to continue serving the people of Yonkers. Yonkers Rising has had the weekly paper designation since 2006. We also print the City of Yonkers legal notices on our website Yonkerstimes.com.
