I’ve been reading press on Darma V. Diaz and other candidates for the 37th council district, and asked Kings County Politics to allow me an opportunity to clarify a few things.
Is Darma Diaz the “Real Estate” Candidate?
Unlike her opponents, who have no public record on housing-related issues, Darma’s record is well-known, well-established, and well-documented. Just on social media alone, Darma’s housing advocacy is clear. As a founding member of the Coalition for Community Advancement, she spent hundreds of hours over several years fighting clear deficiencies in the city’s rezoning plan for East New York and Cypress Hills (about half the 37th district). She fought successfully to exclude a bad actor from receiving the benefits of the rezone plan, one who didn’t believe that it should be required to offer affordable units. Besides this, there are hundreds of other social media posts that show clear work in affordable housing advocacy.
If she’s not the “Real Estate” candidate, then why is she taking contributions from some in the industry?
Darma isn’t against any one industry, period. Darma’s position has always been that she will work with any entity provided that it genuinely wants to be a community partner. Considering what’s going on in the world right now, communities need all stakeholders at the table, coming together to form comprehensive strategies that account for housing, unemployment, healthcare, education, open space, social services, and more. That said, a look at her campaign contributions show no indication of an abundance of real estate contributions. Not even close. Instead, her contributions demonstrate a broad spectrum of individuals.
Yeah, but I read that she posted on Facebook a few times about being against the rent laws passed in June 2019. Isn’t that “pro Real Estate”?
Only if taken out of context. Darma posted specifically about the small landlords affected by the new rent laws. She did so because she spoke with them directly, as part of her work in the community. The larger landlords have adapted to the new laws; they have lawyers, lobbyists, and powerful trade associations to help them, something out of reach of small landlords, ones that squeeze out a living in owner-occupied 2-10 unit buildings in the district. On several occasions, Darma has spoken out for them and to date, few reporters have taken up their cause. Worse, some local elected officials refuse to help because they prefer to vilify anyone in real estate.
It’s been reported that Darma’s firm, PULSE, is a real estate consulting company. That means she makes a living off real estate, right?
Darma is not a real estate consultant. That’s unsubstantiated and false. Darma works fulltime at a shelter, where she spends countless hours placing families in permanent housing. Her firm, PULSE, is a “side hustle”.
Under PULSE she accepts fees for officiating weddings and notarizing documents. She also has a small outreach contract with my own firm, assisting us with local hiring and MWBE contracting at area construction sites.. My firm also hires PULSE to conduct “giving back” initiatives like Housing Connect workshops besides the ones she does on her own. All this work, too, is documented on social media.
How does Darma’s record on housing and other issues compare with her opponents?
If you watched the NY1 candidate profile a few weeks ago, the answer to this is easy: Darma Diaz talks about what she’s done in housing and other issues. Her opponents talk about what they want to do. Where were her opponents during the tense, lengthy, complicated negotiations with the city during the ENY Rezone Plan, or when we needed advocates for new public schools in the district to alleviate overcrowding, or when we needed healthcare advocacy to address widespread diabetes and asthma, or social services advocacy to promote homelessness prevention and intervention, or open space advocacy, or small business advocacy, or public safety advocacy? I know where her opponents weren’t.
Manny Burgos is a friend and colleague of Darma Diaz for over 20 years, and a supporter of her candidacy for city council. Manny also worked closely with Darma during the ENY rezoning process. His firm, By the Numbers Consulting Services Corp, located in the 37th Council District, is a leading provider of compliance, local hiring, and data gathering to tri-state real estate firms, grassroots community-based organizations, elected officials, trade associations, individuals seeking public office, and more. He is a past contributor to Kings County Politics through his comic strip, Average Man. He divides his time between Brooklyn and Puerto Rico.
