Lower East Side Voter Guide For 3 District Leader Primaries

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — Three primaries for a lesser known unpaid elected position — called district leader — are slated for Tuesday on the Lower East Side.

Six district leader candidates will run across two different Assembly Districts.

District leaders are unpaid, but act as party officials in their respective Assembly Districts for the party's county committee. A male and a female district leader are chosen by voters in district leader "parts" within each Assembly District. Often, a male and female candidate run as a pair.

The position has a two-year term. Though they have no legislative power, district leaders act as a liaison between local politicians and constituents. For some candidates, the position is seen as a tool to hold paid elected officials accountable.

Polls are open Tuesday 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. For a ballot sample for your district, click here.

Meet the candidates:

Assembly District 65, Part B, Male District Leader:

JONATHAN GARDENHIRE

Who is he running with? Diana Aldahondo

Where is he from? New York City Housing Authority's Smith Houses

What's his background? Gardenhire served as vice-president of the Smith Houses resident association from 2010 to 2016, first joining it in his late teens. The Lower East Side artist and photographer was among Smith Houses residents who fought against a Bloomberg-era plan to build a tower with 80 percent market rate apartments at the development. He currently works as a program coordinator at Artadia, a non-profit that provides grants to artists in major cities across the country.

What else?

Gardenhire said he's running because he believes that NYCHA residents have not been properly represented by elected officials.

"I feel like it's been a long time since our residents have felt represented in the community," he said.

With lack of affordability and small businesses being priced out of the neighborhood, he said, "It's time to fight for this community."

"We're at a time when we're watching rapid and aggressive development [in the area]," he said.

Gardenhire and his running mate Aldahondo did not ask any pols for endorsements — saying it's "problematic" that district leaders, who should hold pols accountable, seek their endorsements.

"We are voting for our elected officials. They are bound to us, but we are not bound to them because that's the way that democracy works," he added.

ANDREW W. FORD III

Who is he running with? Daisy Paez

Where is he from? Grand Street on the Lower East Side

What's his background? Ford is a retired New York City Corrections Officer. He also serves as the treasurer for Boyz For Life, a kids' baseball organization. He volunteers with an upstate YMCA kids' camp, Camp Wabanaki. He also sits on an advisory board for the Boys and Girls Republic and is a member of the New Downtown Democrats.

What else?

Ford, who's running for the first time with a current district leader Daisy Paez, was inspired to run because of Paez.

"I've lived in this neighborhood my whole life. I can't go back to a time where I can name a good district leader besides Daisy," he said. "I see what she [does], and my goal is to do the same."

Ford hopes to emulate Paez's record as a district leader.

His passion is working with youth in the area. Paez's is working with seniors.

Together, "we're really taking care of everybody from the top to bottom," he said.

Additionally, the duo has been endorsed by NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou, State Sen. Brian Kavanagh, NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Rep. Nydia Velásquez.

Assembly District 65, Part B, Female District Leader:

DAISY PAEZ

Who is she running with? Andrew Ford

Where is she from? Grand Street on the Lower East Side

What's her background? Paez was elected district leader in 2017. By day, she's been a community liaison with the non-profit Educational Alliance for more than two decades. She's a member of the New Downtown Democrats. She also sits on the board of the Senior Advocacy Leadership Team, the NYPD's Seventh Precinct community council, and the community advisory board at Henry Street Settlement, where she recently won funding to organize a Puerto Rican neighborhood festival.

What else?

Paez has been a district leader in the neighborhood for two years.

From rallying to keep the MTA from scrapping bus stops on the M14 to testifying about the importance of the East River Park at a City Council hearing for the resiliency project in the park, she said, "I became a bigger advocate for my community, and I would like to continue."

"I think for my first term, I took that to a different level," said Paez, adding she's been able to help several NYCHA residents get delayed repairs to their apartments.

With Ford, a close friend of hers, she hopes to advocate for different community issues as a team in the neighborhood.

"The seeds that I've already planted, with a male district leader, I can make it grow," she said. "Our voices would be stronger."

DIANA ALDAHONDO

Who is she running with? Jonathan Gardenhire

Where she from? New York City Housing Authority's Lower East Side Infill 1

What's her background? Aldahondo is the vice-president of the residents' association at LES Infill 1 and is on NYCHA's Resident Green Committee. She's involved in her church, Our Lady of Sorrows, and runs the kitchen ministry there. She's a member of a neighborhood advisory board for the city, where she helps the city choose how to allocate federal funds for neighborhood programs.

What else?

Aldahondo says she decided to run to better represent NYCHA residents.

The "last couple of years I have seen a greater need," she said.

People tell her, "'Well, you know, there's nobody we can turn to. We wish we could find somebody we could talk to, relate to,'" she said.

"They're very concerned with the repairs that haven't been done when it comes to NYCHA. They're very concerned with all the monster buildings going up. They're very, very worried that we're not going to have a place to live if this continues," she said.

Like Gardenhire, she sees the role of a district leader as holding paid elected officials accountable.

"I feel that as a district leader, have to go out into his or her community and get to know the community, know the needs and address them and hold our elected officials accountable," she said.

Assembly District 74, Part A, Female District Leader:

JASMIN SANCHEZ

Who is she running with? No one — the male district leader position in this part is uncontested.

Where is she from? New York City Housing Authority's Baruch Houses

What's her background? Sanchez runs a non-profit organization called Ana Luisa Garcia Community Center, which has its own girls softball league called ALG Youth League. She ran for City Council in District 2 in 2017. She is a member of the East River Alliance, a neighborhood group that formed to advocate for issues surrounding the city's storm flood protection plan, which involves burying and rebuilding the East River Park. She is strongly opposed to the resiliency plan as it currently is. She's a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and volunteered for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's campaign and candidate for Queens District Attorney Tiffany Cabán's campaign.

What else?

Sanchez is running for district leader to hold elected officials accountable, she said.

She sees herself a candidate to fight against those who are a part of the "establishment," noting how the word progressive has become overused.

If elected, she hopes to use the position to educate others about local government and how the Democratic County Committee and district leaders can make change in their districts.

"It is an unpaid position, but it is truly a way that we can transform what our community looks like, what our government and how our government works for us, and also holding our elected officials accountable for what they platform on," Sanchez said. "If you don't like something and you think you can do it better, run."

AURA OLAVARRIA

Who is she running with? John Blasco

Where is she from? Avenue D and Sixth Street

What's her background? She currently works for Assemblymember Harvey Epstein. Previously, she was a community liaison for former Councilmember Rosie Mendez. Olavarria graduated in May with a degree in social work from the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, and she'll return in 2020 for her graduate degree. She's also a board member of Cooper Square Mutual Housing Association and Cooper Square Community Land Trust. She's a member of the Coalition for a District Alternative political club.

What else?

Olavarria started off in politics at a young age — first meeting her former boss, the former Councilmember Rosie Mendez, as a toddler on a bus to rally in Albany, she said.

Now, she's focused on increasing affordable housing, particularly through the community land trust model — non-profit model of longterm affordable housing.

"Housing is nonexistent down here. If you’re able to hold an affordable housing unit, its a luxury. It's like gold," Olavarria said.

She's also been an advocate to return the old P.S. 64 / CHARAS community center — which has been crumbling — back to a community center after it was bought by a developer in the late 90s.

"I don't understand why we’re allowing this slumlord to do this to our community," she said. "It's an eyesore and it's something that was stolen from the community and nothing ever came of it."

She's supported by Councilmember Carlina Rivera, Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.