By Naeisha Rose
City Councilman I. Daneek Miller (D-St. Albans) is running for re-election this year and faces one contender on the Democratic ticket for the Sept. 12 primary, which is a little over four weeks away.
Council District 27 covers Cambria Heights, Hollis, Jamaica, Queens Village, Springfield Gardens and St. Albans.
Three major goals for Miller’s campaign are expanding Pre-K for All, adding 2,000 units of affordable housing for District 27, and increasing public safety by investing in technology and adding 1,200 more police officers, according to his senior adviser, Corey Bearak.
Anthony Rivers, a St. Albans resident, is challenging Miller. He is a former NYPD police lieutenant who served at different precincts in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx for 23 years. The retired officer was a U.S. Marine for four years.
Rivers wants to stop the use of co-locations at high schools in southeast Queens, halt the over-proliferation of homeless shelters in the region, and have the area’s median income re-evaluated and lowered so that residents can afford to live in the new apartment complexes that are being built in downtown Jamaica instead of being pushed out because of gentrification.
Miller has more than $49,600 in monetary contributions from 247 contributors, mostly from unions, retirees, educators, and judges, accordings to his filing on the Campaign Finance Board’s website. He has donors from all five boroughs, Westchester, upstate New York, Florida, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C.
Rivers has a little over $6,500 in contributions for his campaign. His 146 funders mostly consist of retirees, students and individuals who are self-employed. He has contributors from Brooklyn, Long Island and throughout southeast Queens, according to the CFB’s website.
Miller has the support of state Sen. Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) for his re-election bid, a spokesman for the senator said.
Rivers is under consideration for an endorsement by Politics Reborn, according to Michael Blecher, a representative for the organization.
Politics Reborn is a non-profit that fights for progressive ideals, wants to fix what it considers a broken Board of Elections by making it non-partisan and shake up the political machine, according to its website.
The general election is Nov. 7, and the other contenders for the seat include Frank Francois of the Green Party and Rupert Green, who is a Republican.
Reach reporter Naeisha Rose by e-mail at nrose
