Peekskill Candidate Profile: Brady For City Council

PEEKSKILL, NY — Westchester County has several contested races in this fall's election, including in Peekskill. Peekskill-Cortlandt Patch asked candidates in the contested races to answer questions about their campaigns and is publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Lauren Brady is running for Peekskill City Council. Brady is part of a slate headed by Vincent A. Vesce for Mayor and also including Marlon Mahon and Luis Segarra for City Council. They are running on the bipartisan Peekskill Together ticket, which was endorsed by Conservative, Independence and Republican Parties. She is a registered Republican.

They are opposed by the Democratic Party slate of Mayor Andre Rainey, Deputy Mayor Kathleen Talbot, and Councilpersons Vivian McKenzie and Patricia Riley.

Brady, 34, graduated from Peekskill High School and the University of Tampa with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. Events Manager for the Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce, she is also Founder/Director of the This is Me Foundation

Are you running for office in Peekskill or Cortlandt? Contact Lanning Taliaferro at lanning.taliaferro@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and posting campaign announcements on Patch.

Previous local profiles on Patch:

• Westchester Candidate Profile: Outhouse For County Legislature
• 2019 Candidate Profile: Colin D. Smith For County Legislature
• 2019 Candidate Profile: Frank Catalina For County Legislature

The single most pressing issue facing our community, and what I intend to do about it.

Transparency in City Hall. There appears to be an increasing amount of decisions that involve our residents and their everyday lives behind closed doors. Our elected officials need to be a voice for the people, not just the voice of a small group of people who think most like them. A lack of bipartisan participation in local government can lead to lack of checks and balances.
We will only conduct Executive sessions for lawful reasons. We will engage our citizens more and give them an opportunity to speak on issues outside of just a Monday night meeting. We will also amend the city charter to require bipartisan representation on all city boards & commissions.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

The incumbents on the City Council I am running against seem to be of one political mind which too often feels as if they will work for individuals of that party only. I am my own person. The decisions I make if elected will be mine and mine alone and come from the experiences I have gained working with people from all walks of life regardless of what their politics may be.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)?

As an elected official you should be the front-line representative of your community. You must be the voice of your residents and give a vision to the City Manager to put in place that works for ALL residents. There have been various situations in the past year where our citizens have been ignored and pushed away. Every voice matters. It is all about listening to everyone and looking at all sides of and issue to find the best solution for each neighborhood and our community.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

The safety & wellbeing of our residents is a number one priority. We will protect families and our residents by addressing overcrowded, unsafe living conditions. We will create meaningful and effective changes to be climate smart and achieve a carbon neutral Peekskill government. We will encourage a cleaner Peekskill by bringing back free Saturday morning trash/recyclable drop offs for city residents. We will introduce City Hall Saturdays once a month to give an opportunity to citizens to conduct city business who may not be able to during normal business hours. We will streamline the process to open a business and make sure all businesses have an opportunity.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

Working for the Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce for 5 years I have had the pleasure of working firsthand with all our local business- big and small. Every business has different audiences, different needs and different issues- just like every neighborhood in our community. I have learned and am able to actively listen to representatives from each business and work with them in a way that helps them specifically… I will do the same for ALL our residents.

The best advice ever shared with me was …

In a world where you can be anything, be kind.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

My sister Caitlin and I run the This Is Me Foundation which we founded in 2012. ‘This Is Me’ raises awareness about alopecia (an autoimmune disease that we have) while giving hope to any individual who has faced adversity. We give scholarships annually to local High School seniors (Peekskill, Panas, Hen Hud) who have faced adversity or help others through adversity and Nationally to High School seniors in the United States who have/had alopecia- the only scholarship of its kind presently. We have awarded 56 scholarships since our inception and most of our funding comes from our annual Polar Plunge that takes place on New Year’s Day at the Peekskill Riverfront. I was honored to be named one of The Business Council of Westchester's 40 Under 40 Rising Stars in 2013 for our accomplishments with ‘This Is Me’. We have traveled around the country to speak to groups on facing adversity and promote positive self-esteem and embracing differences while accepting others for what makes them different.

I am a person who loves to bring people together for the common good and am always open to compromise. We have many strong organizations in our city that I look forward to continuing my current relationships with to come together and create a city that we can be proud of today, tomorrow and 20 years from now.

ALSO SEE:

• Vesce Heads Peekskill GOP Slate Of Candidates For City Offices
• Peekskill Democrats Seek Re-Election
• Borgia Accuses Foe Unfairly Of Bigotry: Fair Practices Committee
• Early Voting Begins Oct. 26 In Westchester County