Charles Cooper was a candidate for District 9 representative on the New York City Council in New York. Cooper was defeated in the special election on February 14, 2017.
Elections
2017
- See also: Municipal elections in New York, New York (2017)
The following candidates ran in the special election for the District 9 seat on the New York City Council.[1]
| New York City Council, District 9 Special Election, 2017 |
| Candidate |
Vote % |
Votes |
 Bill Perkins |
33.95% |
3,933 |
| Marvin Holland |
18.38% |
2,129 |
| Athena Moore |
14.81% |
1,715 |
| Larry Scott Blackmon |
11.84% |
1,371 |
| Cordell Cleare |
9.51% |
1,101 |
| Dawn Simmons |
5.15% |
596 |
| Charles Cooper |
3.05% |
353 |
| Todd Stevens |
1.59% |
184 |
| Caprice Alves |
1.49% |
173 |
| Write-in votes |
0.24% |
28 |
| Total Votes |
11,583 |
| Source: Board of Elections in the City of New York, "Statement and Return Report for Certification," February 27, 2017 |
2017
Cooper's campaign website included the following themes:
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Economic Empowerment
“I will not support any projects in District 9 or the City of New York that do not have a 30 percent goal for jobs; prime contracts and subcontracts for minority, women and local citizens and businesses.”
As your next City Councilman I will not support any projects that do not reflect the diversity of our great community. That means diversity from the top right down to the people laying cement on the sidewalks. Harlem residents have never been afraid of a challenge. The access to equal opportunity to participate has been missing for far too long. As your city councilman, I plan to change that.
Housing
“Give our citizens full economic power and equal access to contracts and jobs generated by the city of New York and they will be able to afford their own homes.”
That said, blight isn’t an accident, but a conscious policy decision when neighborhoods are allowed to deteriorate and handed over to developers to be saved. The city needs to work in tandem with developers to make sure that a significant percentage of their development are segmented for the middle class and lower income residents. That may require a compromise for building higher, but it will be a decision made with community involvement.
Education
“As a former teacher in the New York City Public School System, I am deeply aware that children reach their fullest potential when we invest in them early, particularly between six months to three years of age.”
Research shows that if children do not receive the proper resources during these critical years, it has lasting impressions on their cognitive abilities resulting in A.D.H.D, speech therapy, suspension and eventually incarceration. In New York City, 130,000 income eligible children under the age of five remain underserved. By the time they get to kindergarten, studies show they are missing 40 million words in their vocabulary.
The lack of investment in our children during this stage also impacts our economy from rising Medicaid and teen pregnancies to decreased tax revenues and a sluggish workforce. But even more important, it negatively affects the child and their long-term growth.
Investments in quality early childhood programs have a 16 percent annual return and positively impacts families over three generations. It is imperative that the city of New York begins, to not only fund educational programs for parents with toddlers, but to also subsidize enrichment programs via agencies such as Human Resources Administration, Administration For Children’s Services, The Department of Mental Health & Hygiene as well as the Department Of Education. These are stakeholders in our children’s future and as city councilman of District 9, I will hold these agencies accountable.[2][3]
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| —Charles Cooper (2017)
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See also
External links
