Five will vie for Council seat

The only City Council race is in Queens this year.
With an upcoming primary on September 13, Councilmember Ruben Wills of southeast Queens will look to retain his seat against four new candidates.
According to the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB), David Kayode, a former aid to deceased Councilmember Thomas White, Stephen Jones, Clifton Stanley Diaz, and former Councilmember Allan Jennings have filed to run.
Wills won the seat in a special election last November to replace Councilmember Thomas White, who died earlier that year. The election will determine who will represent southeast Queens, which encompasses south Jamaica, south Ozone Park, and Richmond Hill for the next two years.
Wills edged out Nicole Paultre Bell, whose fiancée Sean Bell was shot and killed by police in 2006 on their wedding night, and five other candidates.
In the eight months since he took office, Will said he is proud of the work that he has done thus far.
“We’ve gone a long way in addressing the concerns of the constituents in the district,” he said.
Wills said he’s confident that the voters will recognize his hard work.
One of his opponents, David Kayode, has also been active in the district for years, he said. The 58-year-old drug and alcohol abuse counselor is also the associate pastor for Maranatha Baptist Church in Brooklyn. He said he’s dealt with safety; quality of life and homeless issues while a member of the community board.
“To be able to reform, you have to be informed,” Kayode said.
Stephen Jones, a sanitation worker for the city department, has lived in southeast Queens for over 45 years and said he has a pulse on what’s going on in the district.
Walking the neighborhood, he has seen that children and the unemployed need help.
“Once I’m elected, I would allocate funds for job trainings so we can become employable and market ourselves in our community,” he said.
Other candidates for the seat, Clifton Stanley Diaz and Allan Jennings, could not be reached for comment.
Jennings represented the district from 2002 to 2006 and was censured by the City Council based on claims that he sexually harassed two female staffers in 2005. He ran for reelection that year, but lost to White in that race.
All the candidates have another Campaign Finance Board funding disclosure deadline on August 12. Since the last filing date, Wills leads the pack with a little over $56,000. Jennings has about $1,300; Kayode and Diaz have about $200 and Jones rounds up the list with a $10 campaign fund balance.