Altagracia Soldevilla is proud to be labeled an anti-establishment candidate in the upcoming District 15 City Council special election. She stresses that her only allegiance is to the people in the largely Latino district. “If I am elected to the City Council on March 23, I will be fighting for my neighbors and others in the district, many of whom are struggling to survive, especially in the midst of the pandemic,” Soldevilla said, in a telephone interview with the Norwood News.

 

Soldevilla, who works as an adjunct at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, traces her political philosophy to the center left PRM Party in the Dominican Republic. The “Partido Revolucionario Moderno” or Modern Revolutionary Party in English identifies as a “political organization of a poly-classist nature and of a social democratic, liberal and progressive orientation, whose objective is to guide the Dominican people towards human development, guaranteeing the material and spiritual improvement of the population, in an environment of democracy and freedom. This party guides its performance in the ideals of the founders of the Dominican homeland.” Soldevilla said she decided to seek the vacant council seat to give constituents of Dominican and Latino descent a powerful, independent voice on the City Council.

 

A long-time resident of Kingsbridge Terrace, Soldevilla emigrated to the U. S. almost 30 years ago, hoping to build a better life for herself and her family in her adopted homeland. “Our district has many, small business owners,” the candidate said. “Many of these business owners have lost their businesses or have fallen into financial debt. Slowly but surely, as the pandemic has lessened, the neighborhoods in the 15^th Councilmanic District have been coming back to life.”

 

She continued, “The individuals who own these businesses and the people who work for them in the bodegas, salons, and barbershops are either poor or one step removed from poverty. The stimulus bills don’t help most of the small businesses in the area because they employ fewer than five or ten people.”

 

In an effort to enhance efforts to improve the plight of small business owners, Soldevilla co-founded the Coalition to Save Small Businesses in the Kingsbridge Heights area. She said it strives to maintain the struggling middle class in the area and to make it possible for those in poverty to achieve middle-class status within a working-class context.

 

“We need to change the way property taxes are assessed to help the struggling middle class in the 15^th Councilmanic District,” Soldevilla said. “We need to change some fairly basic things, like the tax structure and the ways in which relief funds are allocated, to save the middle class, and help those who are struggling in poverty to rise above their current circumstances.”

 

Soldevilla uses her college position in the computer lab to help students there, many of whom are of Latino descent, improve their English, as well as other basic learning skills. The education system in our city is failing students,” said the mother of four and grandmother of five. “One of my children, who has graduated from college, owes at least some of her academic success to the charter school that helped to nurture her,” she added.

 

The insurgent candidate stressed that, in her experience, charter schools could serve as models for improvement in the city’s public-school system. “Students in the public schools need constant reinforcement of what they learn,” Soldevilla pointed out. “From what I have seen in my neighborhood, the charter schools do much more of this than traditional public schools do.”

 

She said after the traditional school day, charter schools offer help with homework, help students in subjects they are interested in, or place a specific focus on sports that are of interest to individual students. In short, she said charter schools do a better job of reaching students with innovative approaches that require interest and insights on the part of teachers and school administrators.

 

The candidate said that improvements in the quality of life in her community and in the other communities that make up District 15 require commitment and hard work on the part of those who live and work in the area. “The challenges we face have increased significantly because of the pandemic, but thankfully, the pandemic’s grip on our city seems to be lessening,” Soldevilla said.

 

“One of our challenges, at this time, is to convince the people who live in our district that all of us need to get vaccinated to stop the spread of the pandemic once and for all. Many of our neighbors still need to be convinced that they need to be vaccinated. The pandemic has affected our neighborhoods disproportionately, partially because of unwarranted suspicions about the pandemic, and partially because our communities are under-served in terms of the health-care system as a whole.”

 

She added that the reality is that District 15 has always been under-served as far as government services are concerned. “As communities in the district, we have to be there to fight for the services to which we are entitled,” she said. “We can accomplish very little unless we are willing to stand up and be counted in terms of improving conditions in our communities and getting better services from government agencies.”

 

Presenting herself as an anti-establishment candidate, with strong roots in her neighborhood, Soldevilla said she is in a better position to deliver for constituents. “I am not part of the machine, and I have not been endorsed by any organization [or] group,” Soldevilla added. “This means that I will not owe anything to special interests. My only interest is the people’s interests.

 

Turning to the issue of homeless shelters in her district, she blamed both city agencies and the churches for the problem that, she said, plagues District 15 . “The solution to the problems with homeless shelters is pretty obvious to me, and it should be obvious to others,” she said. “The city and the churches should be working to create more affordable housing, rather than creating more homeless shelters.”

 

In addition to Soldevilla, according to the New York City Board of Elections and Ballotpedia, nine other candidates are running in the District 15 race, all of whom aim to fill the seat of former Councilman and now Congressman, Ritchie Torres, who was elected to Congress in November 2020.

 

These are Kenny Agosto, district director to New York State Senator Jamaal T. Bailey, Ischia Bravo, district manager of Community Board 7, Elisa Crespo, an education liaison for Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr, Oswald Feliz, tenant lawyer and adjunct professor at Hostos Community College, Bernadette Ferrara, president of the Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance, Latchmi Gopal, a community organizer and former staffer for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Jose Padilla, former Independence candidate for both the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate, Arial Rivera-Diaz, a former finance clerk with the City’s Board of Elections and former official at the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, and Community Board 6 District Manager, John Sanchez.

Candidates were required to gather a minimum number of signatures from local residents in order to qualify for the ballot in the special election. As reported by the Norwood News, that minimum had been 450 signatures until Gov. Andrew Cuomo,  announced on Jan. 7 that he was reducing the threshold to 315 signatures.

 

A Board of Elections public hearing was held on Feb. 4 to assess which District 15 candidates had collated the minimum number of signatures needed to proceed. Troy Blackwell, a former White House and Obama administration aide, and Lilithe L. Lozano, a former district chair of NYCHA’s Bronx North council, did not make the ballot according to the Board of Elections. Julian Sepulveda, an official at the Department of Education, had suspended his campaign in November, endorsing Crespo as he did so.

 

District 15, which has seen a major influx of immigrants from the Dominican Republic in recent years, straddles Fordham Road and encompasses the neighborhoods of Belmont, Tremont, Parkchester, West Farms, Williamsbridge and Fordham.

 

A District 15 candidate’s forum with six of the ten candidates in the District 15 special election race was held on Saturday, Feb. 13, hosted by Little Africa Bronx News, a “Social Impact Strategies” project, an intersection of community relations, issue advocacy and public policy. The forum can be viewed here. Mona Davids, founder and publisher, issued a Facebook statement following the event, explaining that only viable candidates had been invited to participate in the forum.

 

A District 15 debate among nine of the candidates was subsequently organized in partnership between the League of Women’s Voters of New York City and BronxNet with co-sponsors, Dominicanos USA, NALEO Educational Fund, The Bronx Times, The James Baldwin Outdoor Learning Center, and The Riverdale Press. It was hosted by Gary Axelbank, and will be broadcast on Monday, March 15, at 9 p.m. on Optimum 67, Fios 2133, and can also be watched on BronxNet’s YouTube channel here. Soldevilla communicated to BronxNet that she was unable to make the debate.

 

A further candidates forum was organized by the Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance on March 8. This can be viewed here.

 

The District 15 race is one of the first two elections in the Bronx which will incorporate the new method of RCV, the other being District 11. RCV is a voting method whereby voters can rank up to five candidates in order of preference, instead of choosing just one. If a candidate receives more than 50 percent of first-choice votes, that candidate is the winner. If no candidate earns more than 50 percent of first-choice votes, then counting will continue in rounds. At the end of each round, the candidate with the fewest votes will be eliminated.

 

If a voter ranked the eliminated candidate first, then the next highest ranked candidate on the voter’s ballot will be taken into account in the next round of counting. The process continues as such until there are two candidates left. The candidate with the most votes wins.

 

Important dates relating to the March 23 special elections for District 15 [and District 11] are outlined below.

The Bronx Board of Elections confirmed that it is accepting applications for absentee ballots from voters in District 11 (and in District 15) who wish to vote by mail. Further information can be found here or by calling the Bronx Board of Elections at (718) 299-9017 and selecting Ext. 1875.

 

Polls are open on election day from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Early Voting Period is from March 13, 2021 to March 21, 2021. Voters must vote at their assigned early voting site.

 

Early Voting Hours

Saturday	March 13, 2021	10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Sunday	March 14, 2021	10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Monday	March 15, 2021	7:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Tuesday	March 16, 2021	12:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Wednesday	March 17, 2021	12:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Thursday	March 18, 2021	10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Friday	March 19, 2021	7:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Saturday	March 20, 2021	10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Sunday	March 21, 2021	10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

 

For official information on ranked choice voting, go to the NYC Campaign Finance Board FAQ page or the New York City Board of Elections website.

 

The Bronx Democratic Party hosted an informational session on Ranked Choice Voting which can be viewed here in conjunction with the group, Rank the Vote NYC. Norwood News checked with the City’s Campaign Finance Board about the expertise of Rank the Vote NYC and were advised that the group is a reputable source on the topic and is a voter education campaign that is run by Common Cause NY.

 

Find your poll site and view a sample ballot here: https://findmypollsite.vote.nyc/.

 

Whoever wins the March 23 special, nonpartisan election will serve until Dec. 31, 2021. Future representation in the District beyond that point will likely be determined via a June 2021 primary and a November 2021 general election.

 

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.