Darlene Mealy: Back and Ready to Serve

BY WWT EDITORIAL STAFF

Despite several misgivings by some members of the society, Ms. Darlene Mealy, an experienced politician, emerged as the preferred win‐ner to replace Council Member Alicka Ampry‐Samuel. With the district voters' ex‐pected confidence to continue on November 2, she will be con‐firmed as the Democratic coun‐cil member, representing Brooklyn's District 41, encom‐passing parts of Bedford‐Stuyvesant, Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, and Ocean Hill. In a recent interview with Peo‑ ple, Power and Politics, she ad‐dressed the different issues to be tackled within her con‐stituency, her winning strategy, and future plans as detailed in the excerpts from the conversa‐tion. Ms. Mealy acknowledged the voters' support, whom she has always prioritized as the heart of her campaign, recollecting how she served without reser‐vation in the community during the COVID‐19 pandemic, despite not being in office. According to her, "It was a phenomenal race, and what I ran on then was peo‐ple first and, that was during a pandemic. Also, people were getting thrown out of their homes. So, I made sure the health issue and food were my number one priority; keeping seniors in their homes, and their NYCHA apartments, which no one was thinking about as our seniors had to get recertified to stay in their apartments during the pandemic. I still had my city council office in which I kept. After I got out of office, people would come in there. And I must say, I never closed my office dur‐ing the whole pandemic." She expressed gratitude for the abil‐ity to provide resources for the most‐in‐need citizens in the community at one of the most crucial moments in the city's history. When voted into office to serve in the next few weeks, she intends to promote affordable housing, especially for the sen‐iors, and education. According to Ms. Mealy, "So one thing we are working on right now is af‐fordable housing. NYCHA is practically trying to turn over all NYCHA developments to HUD, and then HUD will give it to CBOs (community‐based organ‐izations). That's our bad actors. So that's what I'm working on right now: we could keep the housing in Brooklyn to keep people in place to re‐cover from the pandemic. So, I definitely will focus on that." Moving on to discuss her views to open enroll‐ment as a solution to tackling the long‐standing New York City's segregated school system, Mealy expressed her support for the proposed option. She was quick to mention that giving community members the 'choice' remains the best option. People can choose without restrictions based on their personal circumstances and need rather than the place of residence or zip code. "I'm going to be fighting for choice now. But at its best, we need to do what's best for our young people that they can have a full and bright future." Addressing the issue of domestic violence and in recognition of 'the Violence Awareness Month,' she reveals a strong commitment to supporting domestic violence programs and shares some of the strategies they use to reach various women. "I used to sponsor (domestic violence program) when I was in the city council. So as soon as I get in there once again, I'm going right back to that. We did things like we would go to the train sta‐tion give lipstick out. I shouldn't tell, but we give out the lipstick to women. But inside that lipstick is a little note saying if you think you're experi‐encing domestic violence, please call these num‐bers for help. So little ways like that. We have to know how to help out indirectly. And don't forget men also undergo domestic violence." Ms. Mealy revealed that from experience, hard work with tangible results remains the best for‐mula for winning voters' confidence. She recol‐lected various evidence‐based successes recorded through support from community members, which seen past evidence, and decided to support the vision. "Thank God, they saw that. And I started doing Facebook Live at that time also." In all, she appreciates the community's recog‐nition of her contributions and a recommitment towards seeing the communities thrive. "I thank the community for seeing that and believing in me because I believe in my community. I want to bring back the stores that they can feed their fam‐ilies again, open up again, vibe, and thrive." In another discussion, Mealy shared some of her plans as an advocate for women in business, partly recognizing October as a National Small Business Month for Women Entrepreneurs. She recalled that while serving as a City Council member, she led a committee committed to women's issues, working toward ensuring that women have access to resources that can help them stay in business. A goal she intends to pur‐sue as she goes back to the office. "Yes, it's signif‐icant for me. Once I was in the city council, I was the chair of the woman's issue committee in the New York City Council. And that was one of our major goals to make sure that the women get the resources and the finances to help them stay in business. And I know, going back on day one, that will be a top priority. And one thing we could think about with the women in business, we have to start supporting one another." In recognition of the effect of the COVID‐19 pandemic on businesses, Mealy plans to help small and women‐owned businesses recover by focusing all effort on rent – employing different strategies like: *Rent‐renegotiation with property owners *Space‐sharing is also another option to address the challenges created by the high cost of rent in the city *Promotion of bills to support accessibility to pay the rent that will enable them to have access to relaunch their businesses. "So, I'm trying to make sure that people get in and can afford to stay there… like the gas bill just to open up a business, so, we need them to get that money upfront to help them continue forward and to open success‐fully." Encouraging the provision of small business loans remains a major plan, "And going forward, I'll try to make sure we have small busi‐ness loans. Because to me, it was redlining for a while for women‐owned businesses that will go to a bank and cannot get a loan. So, we will try to fast‐track them. And when an African, American, Chinese woman they go through much scrutiny than everyone else. So I'm looking forward to making sure we get them on a fast track. And I hope our new mayor can help us. That should be his top priority." The discussion ended with the affirmation of her passion and commitment towards ensuring that the needs and voices of the most vulnerable members of her community (women, youths, and seniors) are heard and addressed. "I hope every‐one can see, feel and hear my passion. Know that I put people first. I can tell you, and I will be your voice, your choice. I'm try‐ing to bring us back to the fulfill‐ment of what life used to be before the pandemic." t