SA Pres. David Bruen announces run in Rockland County

By Stephanie Wright asst. news editor

Syracuse University senior and Student Association President David Bruen is running to represent District 11 of Rockland County, New York in its county legislature, according to a Twitter announcement on Feb. 9.

Bruen, who is 21 years old, said he’s running in his home community with the goal of creating greater transparency and engagement in local politics, where he hopes his age can benefit his candidacy.

“As a young person, in this moment, we can start to turn the political tides and have a government that is more representative of the people and more engaged and thinking about what our future will look like as a county, so that’s why I decided to run,” Bruen said.

Rockland County, which borders New Jersey and Westchester County, is part of the New York City metropolitan area and includes Bruen’s hometown of West Nyack.

After he saw that the D-11 incumbent legislator, independent Laurie Panutlli, was not running for re-election, Bruen said he made the decision to enter the race relatively quickly. Still, he said he feels confident in the plans and support system for his campaign.

Clyde Lederman, who is also from Rockland County, worked with Bruen on the Rockland County Democratic Committee. Lederman, a senior at Cornell University, is currently running to represent Ithaca’s Ward 5 in its Common Council. He pointed out Bruen’s interest in policy, which he said is sometimes absent from public discussion, as a distinguishing factor in his campaign.

“I sort of completely have a sense that he would operate with a real commitment to the truth and transparency and honesty,” Lederman said. “He represents a certain honest element that I think is absent.”

When the primary election for the seat takes place in June, Bruen will be one month past his graduation from SU’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in May. As he moves forward with his campaign, Bruen said he anticipates his age and perceived lack of experience being a challenge.

But as SA president, Bruen said he represents about 22,000 students between SU and SUNY ESF, just over the roughly 20,000 people he’d represent in Rockland County’s District 11. He said he plans to point skeptics to the similarity in constituencies, as well as his two years of experience in his role at SU.

“I’ve done town halls, I’ve reached out to constituents, to students, and have done a lot of work with negotiations with the administration, with people who hold a lot of institutional power,” Bruen said. “I think the roles really do overlap very well and provide me a lot of great experience to make me a really effective candidate and legislator.”

Bruen highlighted a number of initiatives he’s directed as SA president that will inform his campaign and future work, including oncampus free menstrual product distribution, grocery store trolleys and SA’s December sustainability report.

Bruen also worked to create a student reporting form, No Problem Too Small, to gather student concerns and complaints. He said he hopes to engage in a similar way with Rockland residents and potential future constituents to hear about their concerns in the community and what changes they want to see made.

Brendan Cahill, Bruen’s campaign manager, said Bruen’s leadership experience at age 21 –both from his past political internships, and his time at SU – puts him ahead of many others who run for local office.

“He’s not only been a part of, more or less, a legislative body before, but been the one that’s actually led it and has done a great job doing so,” Cahill said. “A lot of the experience that he

Bruen said his experience representing 22,000 SU and ESF students in SA has prepared him to represent Rockland County’s District 11. auther maiorella staff photographer has, managing all of what he manages for Syracuse, will translate well to being a member of the body.”

Bruen pointed to the varying party affiliations of representatives in Rockland County as well as its recent redistricting, which he said was another factor in his decision to run. He said he’s willing to speak with anyone to work toward creating beneficial policies, regardless of political party affiliation.

“To be an effective legislator, especially in local government, you have to really look beyond partisan politics,” Bruen said. “(Party affiliation) can stand for your values, and what you believe in and you can be very firm in that, but you also have to still serve the people.”

Lederman said he thinks Bruen’s campaign will benefit both from his support in Rockland County and understanding of its constituency, as well as his time and responsibility at SU.

”He’s done a very good job the past couple of years of making friends with a lot of people in Rockland, and I think he understands his constituency very well,” Lederman said. “To me, talking to him about the work he does at Syracuse seems to be sort of a natural flow into the type of work that a legislator does.”

He said Bruen’s experience with SU can translate over to Rockland County’s policy mat see candidacy page 3