A New York Supreme Court judge blocked an attempt to remove an incumbent and the only two Black candidates from running for Village of Mamaroneck Board of Trustees.
If allowed to stand, a ruling by the Westchester County Board of Elections would have allowed the avoidance of a primary and would have removed the only African Americans in the race from the Village ballot. Three of five trustee seats are open this election cycle.
Lou Young, a Village of Mamaroneck Trustee who was appointed to the position earlier this year is running alongside candidates Leilani Yizar-Reid and Manny Rawlings in the upcoming June 28 Democratic primary. The trio are running as reform Democrats challenging the traditional local Democratic Party slate of candidates. (Lou Young is also a contributor to theLoop.)
“I just want to congratulate my friends Manny Rawlings, Lou Young and Leilani Yizar-Reid for winning in court today their right to be on the Democratic Primary ballot,” Mamaroneck Mayor Tom Murphy said in a statement released after Friday’s ruling. “Democracy triumphs over back room party shenanigans.”
Mayor Murphy has been at odds with village party officials over what he calls their alleged conflicts of interests.
“The village political old guard,” says Young, “attempted to knock us off the ballot at a time when new voices, new energy and ideas are critical.”
The trio of candidates all live in the Washingtonville neighborhood of Mamaroneck. The area was devastated by flooding in September during Hurricane Ida. Both Yizar-Reid and Rawlings grew up in the area. Yizar-Reid’s family goes back several generations living in the Village of Mamaroneck.
This is the sanitized version of the press release. Look at the May 6th article to see how this campaign will be run. I’ll ask again – why didn’t Mayor Murphy appoint Ms. Yizar-Reid to the Board of Trustees in January rather than an elderly white man who just recently moved to the Village? Seems a better question rather than charging racism.