While Public Advocate-Elect Jumaane Williams has hardly completed his transition team, a crowded field of candidates has already emerged to replace him as representative for the 45th Council District in Brooklyn.
As of over the weekend, at least nine candidates have announced that they are best suited to represent the district that comprises East Flatbush, Flatbush, Flatlands, Marine Park and Midwood.
The candidates are: Anthony Alexis, Anthony Beckford, Monique Chandler-Waterman, Louis Cespedes Fernadez, Farah Louis, Jovia Radix, Xamayla Rose, Adina Sash and Rickie Tulloch.
“More than 188,000 live in the district, of which approximately 61 percent are either African American or Caribbean American,” the Bklyner said.
It said Trinidadian-born Alexis has been supervising city-funded seniors centers in Brooklyn since 2016.
Before working with seniors, Alexis began working for the New York State Assembly in 1997 and later the New York City Council, where he acquired extensive governmental experience, Bklyner said.
It said Beckford, who has “lived in the district his entire life,” founded Black Lives Matter Brooklyn in January 2019, “an organization he intends to use to advocate for the Black History Education bill.”
Beckford is also the leader of the Brooklyn sector of Copwatch Patrol Unit, a police accountability group that documents police interactions in the community, as well as protests, Bklyner said.
It said Chandler-Waterman is a public servant, advocate and activist, whose term as president of the East 29th Street Block Association “marked her foundational work in civic engagement, which is guided by her desire to improve lives.”
“As an active, lifelong resident of East Flatbush, Chandler-Waterman recognizes the needs of the community and works for everyday families and residents,” the Bklyner said.
A native of New York City, Cespedes Fernandez is also a first-generation Cuban-American.
In 2017, Cespedes Fernandez ran for City Council in the 45th District against Williams, according to Bklyner.
It said his primary issues are housing access security and homeownership, education and vocational training, homelessness and un-employment.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Louis has been “an advocate fighting for her community since young,” the Bklyner said.
As the former deputy chief of staff and budget director to Public Advocate-Elect Williams, “Louis supported the council member and helped him make critical decisions on which organizations in the district to fund,” the Bklyner said.
It said Louis “aims to continue fighting for her community around economic development, affordable housing, and access to quality education.”
Lawyer Radix is the daughter of Barbadian-born Justice Sylvia Hinds-Radix and Grenadian-born dentist Dr. Joseph Radix.
Prior to pursuing her Juris Doctorate (law degree), Radix served as the Brooklyn Regional Representative to New State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo.
Radix has served in various government and political positions, and has served her community in various levels of government, according to Bklyner.
In addition, it says Radix assists her family in the direction and management of a tutoring program facilitated by the Barbados Ex-Police Association.
Radix is the Vice-President of the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club Young Democrats.
“I was born and raised in the 45th Council District,” Radix, a Hofstra University Law School graduate, with a Master’s degree in Public Administration and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, told Caribbean Life in a recent, exclusive interview.
“This is the district in which I attended public schools and the community that shaped the person that I am today,” added, Radix, stating that she has “learned the meaning of public service” from her family, as she watched her family “publicly service the community in food drives, tutoring, mentoring, etc.”
Rose is a longtime Brooklynite, born and raised in the 45th Council District. She serves on the board of Community Board 17.
In 2008, Rose worked for the borough president’s office. During that time, she also ran HIV public health campaigns, jobs programs and oversaw Community Boards 3 and 16, as well as the Business Improvement Districts in Bedford Stuyvesant and Brownsville, the Bklyner said.
It said she plans to strengthen the communities in District 45 “by examining how they can better allocate funds to support the safety nets in our community by financing local, grassroots nonprofits that effectively work right here in East Flatbush, Flatbush, Canarsie, Midwood, Flatlands and Marine Park.”
Best known as “Flatbush Girl” on social media, Bklyner said the Orthodox Jewish 31-year-old “boasts more than 40,000 followers.
“The mother of two grew up in the district but now lives just outside,” Bklyner said. “But according to a Kings County Politics article, she’s looking to relocate in time for the election after she and her family move out of her parents’ home.”
“She’s also been a fierce advocate against anti-Semitism, and doesn’t shy away from advocating for those in the LGBTQ community,” it added.
Sash ran unsuccessfully against Democratic District Leader Margarita Kagan in the 45th Assembly District in 2018, Bklyner said.
According to Kings County Politics, Jamaican-born Tulloch is “the ninth person to jump into the crowded race” to replace Williams.
It said Tulloch is senior director at NYC Health + Hospitals (Office of Facilities Development) and is the chairman of the Visionary Political Action Committee (VPAC).
Tulloch came in second to now-Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte in the 2014 Assembly race for the 42nd District, Kings County Politics said, adding that “this is his first city council run.”
“My story mirrors that of so many immigrant families in our city,” said Tulloch in an email message to supporters last week in announcing his candidacy.
“I came here as a teenager and became the first in the family to go to college and earn a degree,” he added. “And like so many of us, I’ve dedicated my life to serving the public and giving back to the community that gave me so much opportunity.”
Mayor Bill DeBlasio is expected to announce shortly the date for special election to fill Williams’s vacated council seat.
