City Council Member Mathieu Eugene (Prospect-Lefferts, Ditmas Park, Flatbush, East Flatbush) might find three times to be a charm as he prepares to run for his third term next year, but returning to office isn’t likely to be a cakewalk.
That after two energetic opponents – political operative Brian Cunningham, and community-rooted Pia Raymond are both looking to unseat him in the 40th Council district.
Cunningham started his self-described “public service career” working with high schools in the Summer Youth Employment Program in Coney Island and in the East New York/ Brownsville area. Here he got his initial motivation to become a policymaker when he noticed a lack of resources in the program.
“It was there where I saw policies and funding that didn’t match the needs of our children. It really sparked my imagination on how could I help not just the 40 kids on my caseload annually, but how do I create policies and procedures and strategies and educational window that would help service the entire city.”
Right after this experience Cunningham started an intern with State Senator Kevin Parker (Flatbush, Midwood, Kensington, Flatlands) and then rose to become a special assistant where he was able to grow and hone in on his need to help struggling communities through policy-making. Since then he has gone on to work as Chief of Staff to Fort Greene City Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo, and nationally on President Obama’s My Brother’s Keepers Alliance.
Cunningham is hoping to win the seat so that he can start addressing vital issues in the district that he feels Mathieu has mismanaged over the years. This includes getting more affordable housing, furthering youth engagement, protecting and caring for the aging population, and small business.
“I want to focus on things city council members should be focusing on. The primary function of a city council member is one, work with the mayor to pass a budget, and the second piece is to pass legislation. When we look at the council members’ (Eugene) record on passing legislation it’s very weak to say the least and we look at his ability to bring additional resources to his district. Those have also been weak areas for him.”
Raymond may not be as politically versed but she is dedicated to her community and feels that her connection with the public through her small business, Creating Legacies, serving as a social worker and on Community Board 9, has given her an unique opportunity to get a first-hand experience to the weaknesses in the district that need addressing.
“I have tremendous skill and I have already been entrenched in the community needs and doing my best to meet those needs and I am not afraid to step into a new role, interfacing city agencies and elected officials alike to make sure that our community is being affected in a positive way and so while I might not have experience, I do have that [public service] experience through a volunteer basis and I’ve been doing that extensively. “
On her first bid for an elected office, Raymond is looking to focus on specific issues, which include effective policing in order to create safer streets through the Neighborhood Coordination Program, education, economic development and growth of small businesses that would create new employment opportunities and ensuring any coming developments include a majority of affordable housing units.
“I’m a fifth generation Brooklynite. My family is from this community. I grew up here and I’m raising my children here. I have a really profound perspective on the range of change that we’ve experienced here and I’m excited to see how we can be on the forefront of it and I am an extremely hard worker, dedicated and passionate,” said Raymond. “I’ve shown that I’m willing to explore different avenues in engaging with different agencies to make sure we’re getting the work done and getting the resources to our community.”
Eugene has been in office since 2007, when he succeeded former Council Member Yvette Clarke after she was elected to the U.S. Congress. The Haitian-born councilman will be running for a third term in 2017 after new term limits were set back in 2010.
While Eugene has not been the most active of city council members, he does have a passion for medical issues and has doled out money for cutting edge medical technology at several Brooklyn hospitals. He also serves as chair of the Youth Services Committee, where he has successfully lobbied for growing increments of summer youth jobs funding.
Cunningham and Raymond will also have their work cut out for them in raising money. This is crucial, especially with the city’s generous public financing of elections, in which they match every dollar a candidate raises in small funds with six dollars of taxpayer money.
According to the latest city campaign finance records, Eugene has $38,620 on hand for the 2017 election cycle to $1,331 for Cunningham, while Raymond shows no money raised as of yet.
