Darlene Mealy
| Darlene Mealy | |
|---|---|
| Member of the New York City Council from the 41st District | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 2006 | |
| Preceded by | Tracy Boyland |
| Constituency | Parts of Bedford Stuyvesant, Ocean Hill-Brownsville, East Flatbush |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Detroit, Michigan |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Residence | Brooklyn, New York, USA |
| Website | NYC Council: District 41 |
Darlene Mealy is a member of the New York City Council, representing the 41st District of Brooklyn. She took office in January 2006 and is currently serving her third consecutive term in office.
Background
According to her Facebook website, Mealy "attended public schools throughout her life and graduated from George Wingate High School. Following high school, she "attended the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) and later pursued coursework in Labor & Women’s Studies offered by Cornell University.[1]
Prior to her election to the New York City Council, the Detroit-born Mealy was employed at the New York City Transit Authority for 17 years, in the Department of Buses Technical Services Division.[2]
Mealy was first elected to the 41st District of the New York City Council in 2005 after defeating Tracy Boyland, a member of the famed Boyland political family. She was re-elected in 2009 after narrowly besting Boyland again.[3] In 2010, Mealy was also elected as the Democratic District Leader for the 55th Assembly District in Brooklyn after defeating Latrice Walker, the legal counsel to Congresswoman Yvette Clarke.[4] Mealy was re-elected to her third term on the City Council in 2013, beating her Democratic rival Kathleen Daniel 66% to 20%.[5]
Mealy currently chairs the Contracts Committee. She is also the co-chair of the Council’s Brooklyn delegation, and is a member of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus and the Women’s Caucus.
Affiliations
- Member of Christ Memorial Church
- National Delegate for the Reverend Al Sharpton for President
- Board Member Neighborhood Housing Services
- 81st Precinct Community Council's Former Secretary
- Unity Democratic Club's Former Secretary.
Controversies
- City Council member Darlene Mealy was accused of attempting to funnel $25,000 in public monies to a Brooklyn block association, the Fulton-Atlantic-Ralph-Rochester Community Association (FARR), which, according to the New York Post was run by her sister.[6]
- Mealy also courted attention when she was televised tearfully casting her "yes" vote regarding Mayor Michael Bloomberg's efforts to overturn a referendum limiting him to two terms as New York City's Mayor. She had previously stated that she opposed the measure.[7]
- Mealy also brought more controversial attention to herself in 2009 when she voted to give $5,000 of public money to Lynval Samuels, who prefers to go by the name Dr. Bidi XiLi Bey, for teaching etymology. Referred to by some as a lunatic,[8] Samuels "has been a fixture at Union St. and Utica Ave. for years, neighbors said - stopping traffic, splattering paint on parking meters and fire hydrants, and handing out flyers for his self-styled etymology classes." [9]
- In 2011, Mealy earned the distinction of missing the highest percentage of meetings and hearings she was supposed to have attended - 24%.[10]
- Mealy was also highlighted by the press for a history of questionable housing deals she was involved in before becoming a councilwoman. In 1993, when Mealy was still with the MTA, she and her sister moved into a 3-bedroom, low-income apartment in Bushwick. These apartments were only available to families on limited incomes, specifically, those making less than $15,200 a year. Within two years, however, Mealy and her sister had purchased a $90,000 brownstone.[11]
- In September of 2014, Mealy had her landlord arrested after he had changed the locks on her political offices for not paying her rent for five months. After the landlord's release from jail, he had three massive signs made that he hanged from the building’s fire escape. They declared that Mealy was a “deadbeat tenant.”[12]
Notes
- ↑ , Facebook, Accessed November 10, 2013.
- ↑ "Profiling Council Member Darlene Mealy" July 26, 2012 New York Amsterdam News, Accessed November 5, 2013.
- ↑ "Primary losers taking their cases to court: Tracy Boyland said fraud an issue, results 'invalid'", October 6, 2009, The New York Daily News, Accessed November 10, 2013.
- ↑ "Will Vito veto Brooklyn voters? Upstart challengers vs. the borough boss," August 26, 2010, The New York Daily NewsAccessed November 10, 2013.
- ↑ "Darlene Mealy Wins Re-election in NYC Council District 41," September 11, 2013, The Epoch Times, Accessed November 5, 2013.
- ↑ "Really Sickening Vote," October 25, 2008, The New York Post, Accessed November 10, 2013.
- ↑ "How a Councilwoman Changed Her Mind," October 23, 2008, The New York Times, Accessed November 10, 2013.
- ↑ "Bloomberg Gets the Lefty Endorsement," July 10, 2009, The New York Observer, Accessed November 10, 2013.
- ↑ "Brooklyn councilwoman wants to give $5,000 of your money to wacky etymology teacher Lynval Samuels," June 20, 2009 The New York Daily News, Accessed November 5, 2013.
- ↑ "News analysis reveals several Brooklyn City Council members who miss many meetings, propose few bills: Councilwomen Darlene Mealy, Sara Gonzalez, Diana Reyna top list of lawmakers who collect 'lulu' bonuses for doing little" October 18, 2012, The New York Daily News Accessed November 5, 2013.
- ↑ "Some City Council members cutting corners to obtain affordable housing," March 21, 2013 The New York Daily News, Accessed November 5, 2013.
- ↑ "'Deadbeat' Brooklyn Pol Gets Her Landlord Arrested," September 2, 2014 The New York Post, Accessed October 16, 2014.
External links
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tracy Boyland |
New York City Council, 41st District 2006–present |
Incumbent |
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