The election of 2019 in Yonkers gave the Yonkers City Council a new look, with new Councilwoman Tasha Diaz to be sworn in to represent the third district, replacing Council Majority Leader Michael Sabatino. And on Jan. 2, the new council will be comprised of five democrats and two republicans.
The new City Council will also select a new majority leader Jan 2. Recently, several of the five democratic members of the council commented on the Nov. 5 elections.
“I would like to congratulate Councilwoman-elect Tasha Diaz, Councilwoman Williams, and Mayor Spano on their successful campaigns,” said Council President Khader. “As we look toward 2020 and the seating of the new council, I am excited to work with each member of our newly formed Democratic supermajority in advancing our caucus’ priorities: affordable housing, rebuilding our schools, and equal opportunity for all. Our Democratic Caucus is truly representative of the diversity of our great city, and I look forward to coming together as a unified Caucus to continue moving Yonkers forward.
“I would also like to thank outgoing Majority Leader Sabatino for his eight years of service on the City Council; although Michael’s leadership on the council will be greatly missed, I am confident that the Third Council District has gained another strong representative in Councilwoman-elect Diaz.”
Councilman Michael Sabatino also congratulated all the victors, singling out Spano and his colleagues on the City Council – Shanae Williams and his successor, Tasha Diaz.
“I also would like to congratulate Minority Leader Mike Breen on his re-election, as well,” said Sabatino. “I wish the entire team continued success as they move Yonkers forward, working together for all the citizens and to continue the good work that I have had the pleasure of being a part of for the last eight years. All the best for a successful term.”
“Congratulations to last night’s winners,” added Councilwoman Corazón Pineda-Isaac. “It’s exciting to know that the Yonkers City Council will, for the first time ever, have three women representing their respective council districts – three women of color. With Democrats as a super majority on the council, we will now be able to see some real change in Yonkers in terms of getting our more progressive legislation through. It’s a great time in Yonkers history, and I’m happy I get to be a part of it.”
Councilman John Rubbo said the voters in Yonkers affirmed the extension of term limits from two terms to three by overwhelmingly re-electing Spano to a third term. “More than 18,000 people, or 75 percent of the voting public, cast a vote to return Mike Spano for a third, four-year term,” he said. “I am proud to call Mayor Spano my friend and I look forward to continuing the great work we are doing throughout my district and the entire city want to also congratulate Tasha Diaz and Shanae Williams on their victories and I look forward to working with them in the coming years.”
According to the four democratic councilmembers, “the position of majority leader will be chosen by the supermajority Democratic caucus.”
For decades, the entire City Council, republicans and democrats, have picked the majority and minority leader, regardless of who is in power. However, with the recent election giving democrats a 5-2 supermajority, some Yonkers democrats think that only the members of the Democratic Party should choose the next majority leader.
“I think the democratic members of the Yonkers City Council should pick the next majority leader,” said one Yonkers Democratic ward leader. “I don’t want republicans getting involved in who our council leader will be.”
The other side of the argument is that the precedent of having all council members pick the majority leader should continue, and that it serves as an example of how the entire council can work together.
It appears that two council democrats are under consideration by both the democratic supermajority and the entire council to be the next council majority leader – Pineda-Isaac and Williams.
“Because we have a supermajority of democrats on the council, it’s important that whoever becomes the leader is chosen by a majority of democrats,” said Williams. “We have five democrats on the council, and at least three of us should support the next majority leader.
“I know that Corazon is interested in becoming majority leader and has asked for our support. But it’s important whoever the next majority leader is gets the support of the democratic majority. I’m very excited to have a democratic supermajority, and I plan on working to get a lot done, and I look forward to working with councilwoman elect Tasha Diaz,” continued Williams, who said that while she is not lobbying to become the next majority leader, if the opportunity came up, she “wouldn’t shy away from it.”
We asked Williams why the council should change the tradition of having all members choose the majority leader. “Because we never had a supermajority before, and we have never had a situation like we do where one councilmember switched parties and became a democrat,” she responded. “We shouldn’t be partisan but I don’t think republicans should choose who should be our leader.”
Many democrats agree with Williams, and the view that democrats should pick their own leadership. “Did State Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins get elected Senate majority leader with the help of the State Senate republicans?” wrote Yonkers resident Nadia Salvador in an email to Yonkers Rising. “Did Nancy Pelosi become speaker of the House with the help of the republicans in Congress? Of course not. So let’s stop this nonsense and have democrats select our own leadership on the City Council in Yonkers.”
Williams also noted: “We want to be sure that we don’t have another Jeff Klein situation,” referring to the former state senator who became State Senate majority leader over Stewart-Cousins for six years by getting votes from State Senate Republicans.
When asked about the leadership issue, Rubbo, who recently switched parties and is now a member of the Democratic Council Conference, said: “Now that Election Day is behind us, I am ready to roll up my sleeves and get back to work. Party labels should stay at the door as we prepare to work on important issues for every single Yonkers resident.
“Over the past eight years, the City of Yonkers has proven to be a model for how bipartisanship can forge a large city forward. Under Mayor Spano and both a Republican majority and now a Democratic majority, Yonkers has attracted $3 billion in economic development, rebuilt 2,000 units of affordable housing, added tens of millions of dollars to our public school system, and drove down crime by more than 40 percent.
“I look forward to supporting the two most senior members of the council as majority and minority leader in January. Councilwoman PinedaIsaac and Councilman Breen, respectively, will be great representatives of their respective caucuses,” concluded Rubbo.
More coming from Councilwoman Pineda-Isaac in our next story on City Council leadership and the dialogue in Yonkers over how leaders will be chosen on the council next year.
