Exemplifying an Open Door Policy
I am running an interactive participatory campaign that includes the voices, experiences, and needs of all District 18 residents. As your council member, I will exemplify an open door policy with my constituents and ensure that they are a part of any decision making process.
- Darlene Jackson, Candidate for NYC Council District 18
FAIR HOUSING
34% of Council District 18 residents are heavily rent-burdened, and 1 out of 6 students experienced homelessness in the last five years. Darlene will fight to:
Transfer NYC shelters to permanent/affordable/supportive/transitional housing and create a designated 72 hour respite centers for each neighborhood in council district 18
Change Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) from 80/20 to 60/40 to align with the ANI (Area Neighborhood Income)
End source of income discrimination as outlined in Vouchers to Nowhere; pass and implement bills intro 0146 and 1603
End housing discrimination based on conviction records as outline by the NYC Fair Chance for Housing campaign; pass and implement intro 2047
Pass and implement intro 2050 to strengthen the Right to Counsel; for income eligible tenants across NYC to have a lawyer when facing eviction.
Revitalize NYCHA community centers to provide onsite wrap around services for families to ensure upward mobility.
Access to home ownership & support services, including Section 8 tenants.
Expand community land trust and cooperatives.
Support Universal Housing Vouchers
Support Right to a Roof: Demands for an Integrated Housing Plan to End Homelessness and Promote Racial Equity
ECONOMIC JUSTICE
In Council District 18, one in seven adults are unemployed (14%) and 41% of workers are in low-wage occupations. Darlene will fight to:
Create a Bronx Restoration Plaza to support local small businesses, street vendors, job creation with living wages, and universal basic income
Guarantee workers the right to card count neutrality agreements—rather than Board-supervised elections—to allow unions to bypass the consequences of both employer anti-union tactics and extensive delays under the NLRB election process
Protect organizing rights for privatized city workers, such as through enacting legislation requiring contractors to recognize the existing union and bargain according to applicable law
Commit greater funding for economic bridge programs that help New Yorkers get the jobs, skills, and education necessary to succeed
Support our Merchant Associations and/or Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) to strengthen the CD-18 small and micro-businesses network and increase community visibility
Expand the NYC Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) and increase year-round youth-oriented economic opportunities
Increase access to high-speed broadband internet to attract new local businesses and expand career and educational opportunities for Bronx residents and their families
Increase access to credit for entrepreneurs and small business owners
Expand resources available to Women and Minority-Owned businesses
Stop storefront closings, save jobs, small and micro businesses, street & market vendors; and protect property owners from massive tax increases.
Pass and implement the Small Business Jobs Survival Act, and Lift the Caps, intro 1116 for Street Vendors.
QUALITY EDUCATION
30% of our district has less than a high school diploma, and our children are being left without the resources they deserve to succeed. Darlene will fight to:
Cut executive administrative cost and invest in front-line staff (teachers, counselors, social workers, school leadership team, and PTA’s).
Offer free after school/Saturday programs for pre-k to 12th grade students
Invest in public libraries as a community resource hub
End the School-to-Prison Pipeline outline by the Urban Youth Collaborative and gender based violence led by Girls for Gender Equity
Police Free Schools as outline by Dignity in Schools Campaign NY and the Sistas and Brothas United
Integrate NYC schools outline by a youth led organization.
Unscreen our schools outline by Teens Take Action, a student-led movement for educational equity in New York City
Support the CUNY Rising Alliance for free and quality higher Education
REIMAGINING PUBLIC SAFETY
Over-incarceration has had devastating and lasting effects on our district. Darlene will fight to:
Abolish solitary confinement in New York.
Provide equitable community investments in trauma-informed services to prevent the prison pipeline, and significantly reduce NYPD's role to other health care professions to address societal problems.
Implement the #buildCOMMUNITIES platform - divesting from systems of punishment.
Replace the Dept. of Corrections as the main operators for borough-based facilities - task an appropriate agency to provide oversight and programming - continue to shrink the footprint out of existence to repurpose for community services.
Support a just transition to union jobs for Dept. of Corrections and NYPD that meet NYC’s decarceration goals.
Decriminalize sex work for victims and provide justice, dignity and safety for people of all genders. She will also work to end gender-based violence towards women as well as non-binary, trans and gender non-conforming people.
Decriminalize marijuana, provide licenses to communities most harmed, and expunge records.
Pass and implement the Renewable Rikers Act which would convert Rikers Island into a solar farm; delivering clean, supplemental power to lower income communities and provide jobs and training to the formerly incarcerated.
TRANSIT EQUITY
More than half of Council District 18 relies solely on public transportation. However, given the rate of poverty in our community, the burden of the transit fare is exponentially higher. Darlene will fight to:
Transfer responsibility of MTA's management to the City of New York.
Expand the Fair Fares program to NYC's working poor living above the federal poverty-line.
Prioritize bus lanes, bus shelters, bus stop amenities, transit traffic signal and accessibility.
Raise tax on real estate developers to fix the MTA operating cost.
Support Free Transit
Implement the 2021 Transit Equity Agenda
HEALTH & WELLNESS
Quality health care is a right, not a privilege. Darlene will fight to:
Increase health care equity and integration of health care delivery for all people without regard to source of payment.
Implement the Green New Deal to turn back the tide on the effects of climate change that impacts the health of people in our community at exponentially higher rates than others.
Designate our Health Action Centers as Community Healing Centers to address generational untreated trauma.
Provide Sanctuary, Protection, and Equitable Services for our LGBTQ, Immigrant population, veterans, and people with disabilities.
Invest and expand the Indirect Cost Rate (ICR) Funding Initiative for nonprofit human services sector
Support and implement the Five Point Plan for Park Equity: “Parks are places for joy but also essential resources for physical, mental, social, and ecological health. They are critical tools in our fight against climate change and they are drivers of economic development. For NYC to recover and thrive, parks and open spaces must be catalysts for equity and environmental justice.” 2021 Open Space Profiles: Bronx Community District 9
YOUTH EMPOWERMENT
More than a quarter of our district’s population is between the ages of 16 and 25. Darlene will fight to:
Promote civic engagement that bridges the gap with youth and seniors.
Invest and expand the Generation Citizen curriculum to provide civic education to all middle and high school students in collaboration with DOE WeTeachNYC Civics for All curriculum and offer as an elective credit to graduate for high school students.
Support pre-voter registration for 16 and 17 year olds
Invest and expand Cure the Violence, youth development and leadership programs
Bring Participatory Budgeting to district 18 residents and all middle and high school students
REDEFINING LOCAL GOVERNMENT
When government makes decisions that determine how resources are allocated, many of us feel left out of the process. Darlene will fight to:
Create a budget dedicated to capacity building, and evaluation for contracted service providers (CBO’s) and city agencies to effectively deliver services to families and communities by an independent entity that reports to the NYC Council Oversight committee.
Task responsibility for non-partisan community board appointments, human resources, and training to the Civic Engagement Commission with a robust budget that meets the needs of each community district.
Incorporate within the city council member profile section, real-time tracking of measurable outcome goals promised.
Provide (public) data-driven oversight to ensure that legislation and monies are equitably implemented; and that city agencies/service providers are properly supported, transparent, and accountable to the people they serve.