Harlem State Senate Election: Cordell Cleare Seeks Open Seat

HARLEM, NY — Voters in New York's 30th Senate district, which covers Central Harlem and parts of Washington Heights, East Harlem and the Upper East Side, will see three names on their ballots when they cast votes in this week's special election.

One of those names will be Cordell Cleare, a neighborhood district leader and former staffer for Bill Perkins during his tenure in the state senate.

The special election was precipitated by Brian Benjamin's appointment as lieutenant governor. Cleare will face two rivals: Republican Oz Sultan and Shana Harmongoff, who is mounting an independent bid on the "Hope 4 NY" party line. (Harmongoff unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination that went to Cleare last month.)

Patch reached out to all candidates in the election to create these profiles. Cleare's responses are below.

Age (as of Election Day)

55

Position Sought

State Senate, District 30

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Neighborhood of residence (i.e., East Village, Astoria, etc.)

Harlem

Family

NA

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

New York Public Schools, Empire State Community College

Occupation

I am currently a candidate for State Senate and serving as an elected District Leader. I have spent over 19 years staffing an elected official, over 10 years of service on my local community school board and education council, 15 years as a district leader, 35 years as a community advocate and activist fighting for educational, environmental, housing, food and healthcare justice and, racial equity on every level.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

District Leader, 70th Assembly District

Campaign website

https://cordellcleareforny.com/

Why are you seeking elective office?

To serve as a voice for ALL of the people of Harlem. To protect renters, home owners and business owners from being pushed out and support pathways for current and future generations to rent, own homes and businesses, and thrive in the community. To fully fund and work to make our neighborhood schools quality schools. To help ensure that residents are safe in our streets without violating our civil rights. Work to increase black wealth and end racial disparities in all areas. To continue to work hard for the residents of Harlem and deliver the services and resources they deserve.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The single issue I am approached most with on a daily basis is housing. In most cases it is about the lack of "affordability" and families and individuals struggling to pay rents as well as those who are on the verge of or already experiencing homelessness.
1. Increase and strengthen tenant protections including succession
2. Allow basements in privately owned homes to be converted to apartments
3. Support the use of failed hotels and other commercial space to be developed as permanent affordable housing.
4. Mandate that remaining city owned land be used to create housing that is affordable to low income and working class families/individuals.
5. Work with the Mayor, my colleagues, state and federal elected officials to fund and develop a plan to build housing according to a neighborhood median income and not the current AMI.
6. Reduce and limit the grounds for eviction.
7. Preserve the affordable housing stock we already have. Stop deregulation of rent stabilized units and recover units already lost.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I have a long record of community service and getting results. Both as a salaried staff person as well as a volunteer community advocate I have consistently and continuously worked on behalf of this community. I have established roots and relationships throughout the community and in city and state government. I have worked with and built coalitions with people from all backgrounds and all walks of life on a variety of issues. I have participated in the writing of legislation and have worked to get it passed. I will represent the needs of and work hard for ALL of the residents of the district.

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

There was a lack of communication and information going out to the community. The slow and inadequate response to COVID 19 in this community by the city across the board was unacceptable. I demanded answers and resources from our city agencies and our Mayor early in the pandemic. I pushed for our schools to be closed and after they were closed pushed for remote devices and broadband for our students. I demonstrated and testified at DOE hearings calling for a safe reopening of our schools. I called to redirect funding from the NYPD to other badly needed community programs including mental health services, cure violence, job training, employment and youth programs. I did constituent services daily from my home working on a range of cases from directly helping families find missing family members, helping families navigate through various systems to at least see their deceased family members one last time, assisting with food, rental and burial assistance and countless other matters. I made daily Facebook live reports to the community for over 130 consecutive days during the early stages of the pandemic bringing information and how and where to find critical resources and services including helping to guide viewers through getting unemployment, stimulus payments, Covid testing, temporary housing, air conditioning and more. I protested and lobbied the Mayor and HHC executives to get PPE's for nurses at Harlem Hospital. I reached out to early in the pandemic to all area and citywide elected officials for a breakdown of deaths by ethnicity, race and neighborhood. i pushed for more testing sites and vaccine equity in our community.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

>Prevent gun violence and address racial disparities in policing
>Provide equitable financial assistance to MWBE businesses
>Combat harmful environmental hazards
>Fully fund our public schools for future
>Preserve and protect tenants, HDFC coops & small property owners

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

- Led a citywide coalition of individuals and organizations in the fight agains childhood lead poisoning 1994 to 2004.
- The passage of Local Law 1 (the most comprehensive childhood lead poisoning prevention bill in the country) in 2004.
- Organizing community and working with students, teachers, parents, elected officials and others to successfully stop the Mayor's plan to close Wadleigh Secondary School of Visual and Performing Arts in 2018
- Worked to stop the widely opposed re-zoning plan to overbuild and further gentrify Lenox Terrace 2019 through organizing, public protest and testimony at the city council with tenants, clergy and other community stakeholders.
- Uncovered and triggered and investigation into the HUD 203K Scandal in the 90's resulting in numerous indictments nationally, compensation for scam victims and care and maintenance of the properties involved.
- Contributed to the authoring of the HALT legislation (a bill to limit the use of solitary confinement in NYS state penitentiaries and advocated for it's passage.
- Advocated for the exoneration and compensation of the "Exonerated Five".
- Worked to successfully resolve numerous community and constituent issues; helped secure and allocated millions of dollars in funding to community projects, organizations and facilities; was closely involved with the overseeing of major community projects including the building of the new Harlem Hospital building; renovation of Wadleigh and other school facilities, Harlem Libraries, and Parks, and much more over the past 35 years.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Don't ever think you're less than anyone else and, don't ever think anyone is less than you.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

This community has been through some very difficult times particularly the past year and a half. I have lost loved ones, friends and neighbors to the Covid 19 pandemic. While we are still not out if the woods yet and there are still many pressing issues that existed pre pandemic still facing us I remain hopeful. We have come through hard times before. This community has suffered through widespread abandonment, neglect, heroin and crack epidemics. Yet we have persevered as a community and made signifigant strides. My lived experiences and years of service have taught me that the path to a brighter future is to stay the course, keep the faith and keep serving. My whole career has been about leadership through service to my community. I understand that to lead is to serve. i have watched, i have listened and i have learned from all that you have taught me. And as your State Senator I plan to continue to deliver the first rate service this community needs and deserves.