Name | Ranti Ogunleye |
District | 49 |
Email Address | admin@ranti4si.com |
What is your plan for getting the city back to work, particularly in its hardest hit sectors? What kind of workforce development programs do you envision that would provide access to communities of color and people with disabilities? | The city is in an extraordinary financial crisis and it will take inclusive policies to adapt to help New Yorkers recover. I will oppose any measures that would make cuts to vital public services and cause hardship for residents in this city- including attempts to privatize public services. To raise revenue, we must raise taxes on the wealthiest in this city in addition to diverting money away from the NYPD budget to support community programs. I will work with our state leaders to advocate for federal funding that would protect life sustaining services in communities that need them most, and invest in sustainable jobs. My vision for this city’s economic recovery is an inclusive one that includes access and affordability for all. It is vital that we raise taxes on super millionaires and billionaires living in this city. The city has a responsibility to re-invest in communities that have always been underserved and last to get a seat at the table. Given the high costs of living in New York City, many working class families have experienced a loss of wages due to job loss and instability caused by Covid-19. To meet these challenges, the city council should pass a livable wage of $18-20 per hour, implore companies that do business with the city to hire employees that graduate from NYC workforce programs, and reinvest in bridge programming, which is sector-specific training and programming that tackles barriers to employment, such as english proficiency, license requirements, and math skills. |
What is your plan for creating healthy stable communities? How do you envision enlivening vacant commercial and city owned spaces? | To ensure that housing in the 49th district and New York City is truly affordable for working families, city housing subsidies should not be driven by federal benchmarks that do not reflect the realities that many New Yorker’s face. These target levels should be lowered, and should be based on more accurate median income and environmental data.I believe we cannot improve the north shore without the community that currently lives here. By engaging and organizing our community, I plan to build pressure at all levels, mainly in the role as City Council member, to increase affordable housing and reduce homelessness. My plan is centered around these core tenets: Increase affordable housing developments that incorporate services in ground floor commercial space to meet the needs of current residents, such as affordable child care centers, food retail, and other needed community assets. Increase funding to organizations such as CAMBA, Project Hospitality Shelters, and The Legal Aid Society that provide services to at-risk populations on the North Shore. Additionally, I want to increase the exposure of organizations that provide high-quality legal representation and services to vulnerable and low-income New Yorkers on issues related to housing, like foreclosure prevention, homeowner rights, housing and tenant rights, homeless rights, amongst ample other civil, criminal, and juvenile legal issues. Increase the age limit for youth living in transitional independent living (TIL) facilities on Staten Island—from 16 to 21—up to 24. Many youth are not prepared to leave TIL facilities without additional educational support and employment opportunities and support programs to ensure their future success. |
What do you foresee is the role of creative economies in supporting economic recovery in New York City particularly for communities most affected by environmental, housing, and health instability due to COVID including our aging, immigrant, and working class communities of color? | The effects of covid-19 make this city’s already inequitable wage landscape even more precarious for everyday New Yorkers. Given the high costs of living in New York City, many working class families have experienced a loss of wages due to job loss and instability caused by Covid-19. To meet these challenges, I will advocate for policies that extend rent eviction moratoriums for city residents, provide a livable wage of $18-20 per hour, and implore companies that do business with the city to hire employees that graduate from NYC workforce programs. I will advocate forcefully for the construction of Staten Island’s only public hospital here in the 49th district, and support sustaining and increasing public healthcare facilities in underserved communities across the city. |
What is your plan for the city’s school system and what is your vision of the role that arts in education plays? | I would work with my colleagues in City Council, along with city education and afterschool leaders to develop and increase holistic informal/non-formal educational opportunities for youth. Increasing financial support and ensuring equitable alignment with the needs of youth and their families is key to this plan. The core tenets are providing a variety of afterschool, weekend, summer programs to holistically benefit youth including culinary arts, agriculture, cultural history/heritage, and civic engagement programming, and art. I will fight for increasing counselors and social workers to provide specialized support that educators are not trained for. No burned-out educators, and better supported kids. |
What is your plan to address the health care needs of the city's many communities? | I believe we should expand programs like NYC Care, prioritizing residents living in underserved communities, and where the rate of uninsured New Yorkers is highest. The immigrant community is most at risk of health issues and not seeking medical care because they are afraid they cannot afford it. NYC Care allows them to seek care without fear and expanded services will allow them to thrive and better support their lives in NYC. All businesses should be mandated to give their employees information about NYC Care and new public clinics and hospitals should be opened in low and medium income communities in order to be more accessible. On site NYC Care enrollment must be established in order to affect the most vulnerable. |
What are your plans for supporting incarcerated and formerly incarcerated New Yorkers? | I believe in decriminalizing non-violent offenses and the rate of imprisonment. In fact, we must revolutionize how we handle crime and poverty in our communities. To make this a reality, we must invest in communities and not prisons by redirecting spending for prisons and policing to finance community investment, health care, housing, and jobs. In addition, we must reduce the size and scope of the NYPD and limit the use of solitary confinement, restore the right to vote to all incarcerated New Yorkers, commit to building no new jails in New York City, and fund programs that focus on rehabilitation, job support, and support services. Currently, the NYPD is tasked with responding to mental health, minor traffic summonses, schools, and housing. We would target these areas to shift away from, sending these functions to the DOHMH, DOT, and DOE. I do not think these reductions should come at the expense of training or body cameras, these are still needed. We must invest in communities and offer residents the care they need, but not by putting people behind bars. The incarceration rate of North Shore neighborhoods is almost twice that of Staten Island with 110 incarcerated per 100,000 adults. We treat poverty, addiction, and mental illness like they’re criminal offenses. We must revolutionize how we handle crime and poverty in our communities. To make this a reality, we must: Invest in communities and not prisons by redirecting spending for prisons and policing to finance community investment, health care, housing, and jobs. Transfer those incarcerated for low level drug offenses and mental health challenges to long term rehabilitation programs that focus on mental health and substance abuse, rather than long term imprisonment with little access to the counseling and support needed. Commit to funding community based programs and interventions that truly focus on rehabilitation, job support, and sustainable support services that are holistic and address the needs of formerly incarcerated individuals. Commit to building no new jails in New York City |
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