NYC Council Elections 2021: Johanna Garcia Seeks Uptown Seat

UPPER MANHATTAN, NY — Voters in Manhattan's 10th city council district, which includes Washington Heights and Inwood, will see eight names on their ballots when they vote in the June 22 primary election.

One of those will be Johanna Garcia, a nonprofit founder and Chief of Staff to State Senator Robert Jackson, who is among the Democrats seeking to replace term-limited Ydanis Rodriguez.

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

Johanna Garcia

Age (as of Election Day)

47

Position Sought

City Council, District 10

Party Affiliation

Democrat

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

Washington Heights

Family

Single working mother raising three children

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

NYC Public Schools; NYU, BA

Occupation

Chief of Staff, State Senator Robert Jackson

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

President, School District's Presidents Council; President, Community Education Council; Chief of Staff, Councilman Robert Jackson; Ex. Director, City Council Black, Latino and Asian Caucus;

Campaign website

http://www.votejohannagarcia.c...

Why are you seeking elective office?

I am a daughter of immigrants, an Afro-Latina single working mother of three who was born and raised in this district, and education and housing activist, and Chief of Staff to State Senator Robert Jackson. I know the struggles of my community because I have lived them.

My activism started in high school, and that’s the first time I became aware of the systematic racism that holds so many of us back. Throughout my life, I’ve never stopped fighting to make sure every voice is heard and true equality for disenfranchised communities.

I’m building this movement by all of us, for all of us, - to provide a good education for every child, to protect tenants’ rights and make sure we are not pushed out or priced out of our neighborhood, and to ensure the economic recovery from COVID-19 works for all of us and includes every single New Yorker, including undocumented and excluded workers.

We must give power back to the community and ground the policies we make in the needs we hear from the community. Centering the voices of those who aren’t typically involved in politics and who feel government has failed them. Transparency and accountability to those people especially. Policy is so often grounded in white supremacy, so upending that way of doing things.

Together, we can reject the failed policies and politics of legacy seats and backroom deals. We can break down the old way of doing things that left too many people excluded, anxious, and afraid. At this critical turning point for our city, we have to stop tinkering and start transforming our city’s policies and chart a new course forward.

This is a diverse district that has suffered by top down leadership that often pitted one group against another. No matter where you come from, we need to come together to fight back. We are the change. We have the power inside us to bring the change we need. Working together is the best way forward, and that's what this campaign is all about.

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

Coronavirus has laid bare economic injustices that already existed in our communities. When we talk about recovery, we need to center the conversation on building back better than before because “before” was not acceptable for us. We need to provide resources for incubating MWBEs and increasing the contracting opportunities for them with government agencies and in the private sector. We need to pass the Small Business & Jobs Survival Act (SBSJA), make Broadband for all a priority, create a public bank that extends crucial financial services to our underbanked communities, fight against ageism, supporting our hardworking senior centers and nursing homes, and providing for a dignified life for our elders in District 10 and citywide, and we need to lower class size and invest in our children, giving every child the opportunity to succeed.

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

I’ve done the work and stood up to power, even when it was hard and others thought it wasn’t safe. A parent leader and Community Education Council President, I stood up to the hedge fund millionaires to stop extreme testing and protect student data, sued the state to lower class sizes, and was one of the first to highlight the crisis of lead in our children’s schools. I helped found Northern Manhattan Not for Sale founder and stood up to the big developers to stop the massive Inwood rezoning that would displace senior citizens and working families while others stayed on the sidelines, And I am the only leading candidate who fought to defeat the fake Democrats known as the IDC, enabling Democrats to lead the State Senate and pass important tenant protections, climate change, and immigrant rights.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

The most obvious is the Inwood rezoning. I never would have made backroom deals with developers to sell out the community where I was born and raised. I also wouldn’t have allowed the City to sell as “community benefits” of the rezoning certain projects that had been in the pipeline for years already. To undo the damage of the Inwood rezoning, I pledge to initiate a community-led rezoning process that centers the needs of our people.

I also have to call out the poor constituent services of the current incumbent’s office. Countless constituents have come to Senator Jackson’s office where I have worked since 2019 because, although their issue originates with a city agency or policy, they found no support in their Councilmember. Providing effective constituent services that reach people where they are is one of the most important harm-reduction practices a legislator can offer, and it’s also key to an office being an effective organizing node within the community.

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

Many performed well, others not as well. Our incumbent Councilmember largely dropped the ball. On the hand, thought we did important work in State Senator Robert Jackson's office. Working in State Senator Robert Jackson's office as his Chief of Staff, we focused on the immediate needs of food and shelter at the outset—first, convening CBOs and faith institutions with existing food distribution efforts and those who were interested in starting them so these organizations can network with one another to share skills and best practices in the fast-evolving situation of March, April, and May. We started a mutual aid network with pod leaders in each building in the district who could reactivate existing tenant associations or form new ones to help address immediate needs. Once those needs were stabilized, we turned to focus on the situation facing working parents with children engaged in remote learning. City and state government failed these essential workers and their kids in the spring and summer, and are still failing them today. We worked to fill in the gaps and fought for equity in remote learning as well as an extension of paid family leave to cover parents who were called on to be teachers overnight.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

Key points of my agenda include: Lower class sizes and eliminating extreme testing in our public schools; Ending healthcare disparities; Passing a Green New Deal for public housing;
Housing the homeless; More support for working parents; Safer streets through investing in our community; Tackling noise pollution; and a recovery from COVID-19 that includes all of us, including the undocumented.

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

I got involved in government as a parent activist fighting for a better education for her children. I served as a member on the School Leadership Team at her children’s school, as President of the School District's Presidents Council and as President of the Community Education Council, where I led the fight against extreme testing, was one of the first to highlight the crisis of lead in our children’s schools, started the movement to prevent the sale of student information to private parties, and this year helped lead the fight that resulted in $4 billion for public schools.
I am a founding member of Northern Manhattan Not for Sale and have been a leading voice for affordable housing, against the reckless and unjust Inwood rezoning plan, and to make sure people who live in our communities are not pushed out of them.
And I served the people as Chief of Staff in the City Council for Robert Jackson and now as his Chief of Staff as State Senator, listening to our community and helping to defeat the IDC, the group of Democrats-In-Name-Only who helped the Republicans hold on to power in Albany. I know how government works, and how we can make it work better for our community.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

My mother said to get a good education. It's one thing no one can take away from you.

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

This is a critical time as we fight back from the pandemic and elect a whole new City government. This is a great opportunity for our community to reimagine and transform the city government to work for all of us. To succeed, we need a unity of purpose that transcends the differences of race, religion, income or background - where instead of looking out for ourselves, we look out for each other. We are diverse, yet we are one and we must move forward together. I am ready to lead this movement. And with strong grassroots support, I am ready to win this race.