The City of Newburgh’s Democratic Primary race for City Council and Mayor will take place on June 25. Councilwoman At-Large Hillary Rayford will not be seeking re-election for her position. Both At-Large positions are up for election this June, with three Democrats seeking the two seats on the council.

First on the ballot is outspoken community activist Omari Shakur. Though this is not his first run for elected office, he is determined to “change the city around.” He believes that it is essential to change the infrastructure, along with “fixing the streets, fixing the housing, fixing the children, and the people of this city.”

To Shakur, jobs seem to be the most important issue; it’s where he thinks that his focus needs to be placed. The first step is acquiring “livable wage jobs and putting everybody to work,” he says.

“I’ve been reaching out to labor unions about training programs. Not everybody is going to go to college, so right now we’re trying to put training programs in place and that’s the first step toward jobs - making sure that everyone is trained so we’ll be eligible for jobs,” he said.

Shakur says that he’s going to be putting some resolutions [and] propositions together for the wards and for the city at large. “Basically, just working with our other city council [members] and just coming up with a plan,” he explained.

Along with coming up with a plan to invest in housing, Shakur also seeks to protect immigrant families and strengthen police relations between the City of Newburgh community relations. He hopes to help create an effective community policing program, while endeavoring to make sure that in the future, all city police officers wear body cameras.
Current Councilman At-Large Anthony Grice is up for re-election, having been appointed to office on April 23, 2018, and eventually getting elected last year in November. “My main focus is on helping Newburgh realize it’s goal of our Complete Streets guidelines, especially transportation, ensuring we have investment without displacement, and protecting our environment,” he said.

If re-elected, Grice seeks to improve Newburgh’s water quality, along with demanding that all government documents pertaining to the upkeep and maintenance of the city’s water quality be available, publicly. Grice also hopes to lead efforts of sustainability, increasing the amount of recycling and bulk pick-up, while vastly improving Newburgh’s road conditions.

According to Grice, he believes that housing is not just a privilege, but a human right. He wants Newburgh to be a community of history and inclusivity, by restoring abandoned properties to their architectural former glory, and by making sure that low-income housing residents are not pushed out of their homes.

Grice has worked to revitalize Newburgh City Parking and Transportation Committee, and if re-elected, he will try to integrate all modes of transportation to make the city a walkable, drivable, and cyclable area.

Third on the ballot, is Steven Majano. If elected, he wants “to be a more transparent candidate [and] a more transparent elected official.” He explained that Newburgh residents may not know who their elected officials are, so by educating them, they then become active participants in the political process.

Majano will “reinvigorate communities, like activity centers” because there is such low participation in youth and after-school programs.
He also wants to “create an equilibrium between the renters and the homeowners” in the city of Newburgh. Though Newburgh’s taxes are already high, according to Majano, only 30 percent of residents own property. The remaining 70 percent rent their homes. If the gap is lessened between the owners and renters by pushing people “who have historically rented their homes to buy homes in the city of Newburgh,” Manjano believes that this will help decrease taxes for many residents.
“We have 653 vacant homes in the city,” he said. “If we’re able to put those houses back on the tax roll, the taxes will decrease. And when people have homes, your economic [capital] will increase. You’ll go from being impoverished to middle class.”

Majano hopes to implement a tax exemption for incoming businesses, as a way to promote economic growth in Newburgh.

And, to improve Newburgh’s infrastructure, he seeks to fix the contaminated water issues that have affected the city for quite some time. He additionally plans to create a comprehensive plan that allows Newburgh to remove lead pipes that negatively impact residents’ health and fix the roads that are not adequate for travel.

Currently, Mayor Torrance Harvey is the only mayoral candidate who seeks re-election for the Democratic Primary. However, on April 14, Mayor Harvey filed a petition to object signatures that his rival, Ali Muhammad, had obtained in his effort to win the democratic primary in the mayoral election. The petition was notarized by Assemblyman Jonathon Jacobson.

According to documents sent to Muhammad from the Orange County Board of Elections (BOE), it was ruled on April 18, 2019 117 out of 133 of Mayor Harvey’s objects were sustained, thus invalidating Muhammad’s candidacy to seek the Democratic nomination. Muhammad plans to run in the general election against Harvey.

Harvey could not be reached for multiple requests to comment.