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Council Member Letitia "Tish" James was born in Brooklyn, and except for her law school education at Howard University in Washington, D.C., she has lived in Brooklyn all her life. She loves her community, in all its diversity, and has devoted her life to helping it thrive.
As Counsel and Chief of Staff to state assembly members, she saw, up close, that government could be made to work in the public's interest. For example, James worked on a law that gave grandparents rights in family court, and negotiated a bill that allocated money for reconstruction of the Franklin Avenue Shuttle and Atlantic Terminal Station. She also negotiated legislation pertaining to childcare, health care and the protection of transit workers. In Albany, she worked with the Black, Puerto Rican and Hispanic Caucus, and other progressive Democrats.
During her law career, James served as a public defender for the Legal Aid Society and represented countless young individuals in the criminal justice system. In the administration of NYS Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, she was appointed the first Assistant Attorney General in Charge of the Brooklyn Regional Office. In that capacity, she resolved hundreds of consumer complaints and investigated predatory lenders who prey on first-time homebuyers. She assisted the Civil Rights Bureau s investigation of the NYPD's stop-and-frisk policy and cracked down on firms engaged in deceptive business practices including violations of human rights, environmental laws and immigration scams.
James founded the Urban Network, a coalition of minority professional organizations that raises money and distributes college scholarships to inner city youth. She attended New York City public schools and CUNY's Lehman College prior to Howard University Law School. She is completing her Master's in Public Administration at Columbia University's Graduate School of International and Public Affairs.
During her first term at the Council, James has been extremely active in the community she serves, and it is not uncommon to run into her any day of the week throughout her district. She has also been involved in many legislative and policy victories at City Hall.
In May 2007, the Safe Housing Act, of which James was the lead sponsor, was passed by the full Council and signed into law by the Mayor. This ground-breaking bill ensures that thousands of families in rental buildings receive prompt and full repairs to their apartments. This bill represents a $50 million investment in housing code reform and is a major victory for all New Yorkers living in substandard buildings.
As Chair of the Contracts Committee, James oversees issues relating to the City’s Procurement Policy Board, review of City procurement policies and procedures, and oversight over government contracts.
James is also co-chairing the Infrastructure Task Force, along with Council Member Garodnick, which aims to address problems associated with the aging infrastructure in New York City.
James has also been extremely active in development issues in Brooklyn. Foremost among these issues is the planned “Atlantic Yards” project, which would include an 18,000-seat sports arena and 17 skyscrapers. In 200x, James held a community-planning forum that resulted in an alternate plan for development at the site in question. Since the project was announced, James has asked the hard questions and led the way on this fight for the future of Brooklyn. Lawsuits challenging the project are currently underway in state and federal court.
Another development issue which James has undertaken is the fight to preserve 227 Duffield Street. This home on Duffield Street had been the subject of controversy since the City announced plans to take it by eminent domain, in order to make way for the Downtown Brooklyn Plan. Many historians and preservationists believed that the home was a station on the Underground Railroad and a vital cultural treasure. At the end of this battle, the City pledged that it would not use eminent domain to condemn 227 Duffield, and instead would preserve it as a reminder of the days of slavery. James’ spearheaded this battle and won a huge victory against big development.
Another victory for James came with the City approval of rezoning 99 blocks of Clinton Hill and Fort Greene in July 2007. The architectural integrity of Brooklyn’s historic neighborhoods has been a high priority for James since her election. Highlights of the rezoning include reinforcing the established row-house character by preventing out-of-scale development adjacent to historic districts. Also, a three to four-story height limit will be put in place where low-rise housing predominates within the zone. The rezoning includes opportunities and incentives encouraging developers to include an affordable housing component, while reinforcing the commercial corridors of Myrtle Avenue, Fulton Street and Atlantic Avenue for mixed retail and residential buildings.
James also chairs the Film Diversity Task Force, comprised of unions, studios, government officials and non-profit groups that aim to increase minority representation in New York’s burgeoning film industry. The task force was conceived of by James, in order to address the notable lack of access to jobs in movie and television productions for her constituents and other people of color.
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