Bill de Blasio (born Warren Wilhelm, Jr., May 8, 1961) is an American politician who is serving as the 109th Mayor of New York City. From 2010 to 2013, he held the citywide office of New York City Public Advocate, serving as an ombudsman between the electorate and the city government. He formerly served as a New York City Council member, representing the 39th District in Brooklyn, which contains Borough Park, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus, Kensington, Park Slope, and Windsor Terrace. De Blasio, the Democratic Party nominee for mayor of New York City in the 2013 election, defeated Republican Joe Lhota with more than 73 percent of the vote. De Blasio is the first Democratic mayor of the city since David Dinkins from 1990 to 1993.
Together with his wife Chirlane, Bill is the proud parent of Chiara, a college senior, and Dante, a college freshman. Having raised their children in Brooklyn and sent them to New York City public schools, Bill and Chirlane understand firsthand the fundamental role parents and teachers share in educating the next generation - and of the importance of providing equal educational opportunities in all neighborhoods.
After graduating from NYU, Bill studied at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. He began his career in public service as a junior staffer for New York City's first African-American mayor, David N. Dinkins, and later became an assistant for community affairs at City Hall.
In 1997, Bill moved to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, working as Regional Director under then-Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo, as New York and New Jersey's highest-ranking official in the department. At HUD, he crisscrossed the Tri-State region, gaining a critical understanding of the diverse communities that make up the New York metropolitan area. As regional director, Bill fought for increased federal funding for affordable homes and expanded housing services for senior citizens.
In 1999, Bill joined District 15's School Board in Brooklyn, where he championed early childhood education and parental involvement and expanded pre-K programs, helping his district become the first to cap first grade class sizes.
In 2000, Hillary Clinton asked Bill to manage her historic campaign for the U.S. Senate. Working at the head of a vast grassroots operation, he helped re-introduce Mrs. Clinton to New Yorkers and deliver her message about prioritizing children and families, securing her a decisive victory in a highly competitive campaign.
Two years later, Bill started his service on the New York City Council, representing the diverse Brooklyn neighborhoods of Park Slope, Sunset Park, Boro Park, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Windsor Terrace, Red Hook, and Kensington.
In his eight years on the City Council, Bill focused his efforts on improving public education, engaging parents, expanding affordable housing, and protecting New York's middle-class and working poor. He wrote landmark tenants' rights legislation to protect affordable housing and end landlord discrimination for everyday New Yorkers. Bill also was a vocal advocate for services designed to support fragile families and vulnerable children. After the tragic death of seven-year-old Nixzmary Brown in 2006, he investigated the case as Chair of the Council's General Welfare Committee, holding four hearings examining the City's role in fighting child abuse.
In 2010, Bill was sworn in as New York City Public Advocate, the second-highest citywide elected office. As Public Advocate, Bill launched the "NYC Worst Landlords Watchlist" to publicly identify landlords who took advantage of everyday New Yorkers, pressing them to improve building maintenance and upkeep. Bill made his voice heard across our city as a forceful advocate for stronger representation and services for the millions of workers who are the foundation of New York City's economy.
As mayor, Bill is committed to making sure every child gets a great education, protecting our streets and our communities, and building a city where New Yorkers from all five boroughs can start businesses, raise their families, and afford to live in their own neighborhoods.
He ran for mayor promising to end stop and frisk and improve relations between the New York Police Department and many New Yorkers, especially African Americans. His tenure has seen a spike in anti-police protests and disaffection with law enforcement, and he has been charged by the NYPD union with putting the interests of protesters above those of the police. He initiated new de-escalation training for officers, reduced prosecutions for cannabis possession, and oversaw the beginning of body cameras worn by police. De Blasio approved a $41 million settlement for the five men whose convictions in the 1989 Central Park jogger case were overturned and ended a post-9/11 surveillance program to monitor Muslim residents in New York.
DeBlasio ran for mayor touting himself as a populist concerned with the stark level of economic inequality in New York, which he called the "tale of two cities". Towards that end, he passed free universal pre-K in the city, although his effort to start a millionaire tax was rejected by Governor Andrew Cuomo. He also advocated for the Rent Act of 2015, which created an unprecedented rent freeze city-wide for rent-stabilized apartments. DeBlasio proposed a multi-year plan to boost the supply of affordable housing in the city, and will seek approval by the City Council in early 2016. His plan would allow developers to gain favorable zoning ordinances and build taller buildings in exchange for constructing affordable units.
On January 27, 2013, de Blasio announced his candidacy for Mayor of New York City in the fall election.
The Democratic primary race included nine candidates, among them Council Speaker Christine Quinn, former U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner, and former New York City Comptroller and 2009 mayoral nominee Bill Thompson. After Weiner joined the race in April, early polls showed de Blasio in fourth or fifth among the candidates.
Bill de Blasio with his wife, Chirlane, (left) and children Chiara and Dante at a rally in New York City in 2013
Despite his poor starting rank in the primary race, de Blasio was able to gain the endorsements of major Democratic clubs such as the Barack Obama Democratic Club of Upper Manhattan as well as New York City's largest trade union, SEIU Local 1199. Celebrities such as Alec Baldwin and Sarah Jessica Parker endorsed him, as did prominent politicians such as former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and U.S. Congresswoman Yvette Clarke. By August, singer Harry Belafonte and actress Susan Sarandon had endorsed de Blasio.
De Blasio gained media attention during the campaign when he and a dozen others, including city councillor Stephen Levin, were arrested while protesting the closing of Long Island College Hospital. De Blasio and Levin were released a few hours later with disorderly conduct summonses. Fellow Democratic mayoral hopefuls Anthony Weiner and City Comptroller John Liu were also at the protest but were not arrested.
De Blasio moved up in the polls and by mid-August he emerged as the new leader among the Democrats. He reached 43 percent in a Quinnipiac poll released a week before the primary.
Preliminary results of the September 11 primary election showed de Blasio taking 40.1 percent of the votes, slightly more than the 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff.
On September 16, second-place finisher Bill Thompson conceded, citing the unlikelihood of winning a runoff, even if uncounted absentee and military ballots pushed de Blasio below the 40 percent threshold. Thompson's withdrawal cleared the way for de Blasio to become the Democratic nominee against Republican Joe Lhota in the general election. Exit polls showed that the issue that most aided de Blasio's primary victory was his unequivocal opposition to "stop and frisk."
After the primary, de Blasio was announced as the nominee on the Working Families Party line.
In the general election, de Blasio defeated Lhota in a landslide, winning 72.2 percent to 24 percent.Voter turnout for the 2013 election set a new record low of only 24 percent of registered voters, which the The New York Times attributed to the expectation of a landslide in the heavily Democratic city.
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Eric Michael Garcetti (born February 4, 1971) is the current Mayor of Los Angeles of and a former member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing the 13th District. He served as Council President from 2006 to 2012.
A member of the Democratic Party, Garcetti won in a nonpartisan election for Mayor on May 21, 2013, defeating city Controller Wendy Greuel; Garcetti is the city's first elected Jewish mayor and its youngest in more than a century.
Garcetti was elected four times by his peers to serve as President of the Los Angeles City Council from 2006 to 2012. From 2001 until taking office as Mayor, he served as the Councilmember representing the 13th District which includes Hollywood, Echo Park, Silver Lake, and Atwater Village -- all of which were dramatically revitalized under Garcetti's leadership.
Garcetti was raised in the San Fernando Valley and earned his B.A. and M.A. from Columbia University. He studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and the London School of Economics and taught at Occidental College and USC. A fourth generation Angeleno, he and his wife, Amy Elaine Wakeland, have a young daughter. He is a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy reserve and is an avid jazz pianist and photographer.
On May 21, 2013, Eric Garcetti was elected Mayor of Los Angeles with 53.9% of votes, defeating Wendy Greuel. The next day, May 22, Garcetti met with incumbent Antonio Villaraigosa, who worked with him over the remainder of his own tenure to better the transition. His term began on July 1, 2013. During Garcetti's campaign, he pledged to end chronic and veteran homelessness. On his first full day as mayor, Garcetti proclaimed that Los Angeles was beginning to leave behind its culture of car ownership. After taking office, he had interviews with each of the city's department heads and began making changes.
In a memo in October 2013, Garcetti instructed department heads to develop a "starting point" budget based on the 5 percent cut from the previous year. In January 2014, Garcetti announced a new plan to tackle earthquake safety, marking the 20th anniversary of the destructive Northridge earthquake.
On April 15, 2014, Garcetti signed into law a new waste franchise agreement, which was planned to expanded recycling to businesses and apartments. Garcetti first proposed the program three years earlier, when he was serving on the City Council. “What we have done with our residential program is create a clean environment, with good jobs and people making enough to support a family," Garcetti said. “What we have had on the commercial and apartment side has been the Wild West, with multiple trucks on the same street, with no standards." Garcetti stated that his goal was to have 90 percent of all trash recycled by 2025.
On April 16, 2014, Garcetti was joined by Jay Z in announcing during a news conference to announce the Made in America festival, scheduled to take place in the upcoming summer. “On Labor Day weekend, we’re going to celebrate our golden state of mind right here in L.A. with a sellout crowd, right here on the steps of City Hall and into Grand Park," Garcetti said during the news conference. Jay Z, addressing the city of Los Angeles as a whole, said "you all should be very proud of this incredible mayor you have".
Garcetti is an avid photographer, jazz pianist, and composer. In January 2009, he married Amy Elaine Wakeland, also a Rhodes scholar whom he met while at Oxford. They have a daughter, Maya Juanita. Wakeland was brought up in small towns in Indiana and her mother worked three jobs to support Wakeland, her younger brother and sister and stepbrother and stepsister. The family's frequent moving caused Wakeland to attend 12 schools and live in 15 homes. Wakeland's mother took in two runaways and all four of her grandparents were active in raising her. Garcetti and his wife have fostered seven children. He also serves as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy Reserve Information Dominance Corps. He attends services at IKAR, a post-denominational Jewish congregation founded by Rabbi Sharon Brous, a charismatic figure in L.A.’s Jewish community.
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Rahm Israel Emanuel,born November 29, 1959) is an American politician who serves as the 55th Mayor of Chicago. A member of the Democratic Party, Emanuel was elected in 2011, becoming Chicago's first Jewish mayor. He was reelected on April 7, 2015.
On September 30, 2010, Emanuel left his post as chief of staff to run for the Chicago mayorship. He was replaced in the interim by political consultant Peter Rouse. On February 22, 2011, Emanuel was elected mayor of Chicago.
Emanuel was the topic of several Chicago new reports in 2012, following claims by the Chicago Teachers Union that the mayor had been withholding resources from Chicago Public Schools. Emanuel also received flak for his decision to leave Chicago amidst plans of a Chicago-wide teachers' strike in order to speak at the Democratic National Convention.
Born in Chicago, Emanuel is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Northwestern University. Working early in his career in Democratic politics, Emanuel was appointed as director of the finance committee for Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. In 1993, he joined the Clinton administration, where he served as the Assistant to the President for Political Affairs and as the Senior Advisor to the President for Policy and Strategy before resigning in 1998. Beginning a career in finance, Emanuel worked at the investment bank Wasserstein Perella & Co. from 1998 for 2 1/2 years and served on the board of directors of Freddie Mac.
In 2002, Emanuel ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives vacated by Rod Blagojevich, who resigned to become Governor of Illinois. Emanuel won the first of three terms representing Illinois's 5th congressional district, a seat he held from 2003 to 2009. During his tenure in the House, Emanuel held two Democratic leadership positions, serving as the Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from 2005 to 2007 and as the Chair of the House Democratic Caucus from 2007 to 2009. After the 2008 presidential election, President Barack Obama appointed Emanuel to serve as White House Chief of Staff.
In October 2010, Emanuel resigned as chief of staff to run as a candidate in Chicago's 2011 mayoral election. Because of questions over his eligibility to run for mayor, Emanuel's candidacy was initially rejected by the Illinois First District Appellate Court, though he was later found eligible to run in a unanimous decision by the Supreme Court of Illinois. Emanuel won with 55% of the vote over five other candidates in the nonpartisan mayoral election, succeeding 22-year incumbent Richard M. Daley. Although Emanuel did not obtain an absolute majority in the February 2015 mayoral election, he defeated Cook County Board Commissioner Jesús "Chuy" GarcÃa in the April 7 runoff election.
Since November 2015 Emanuel's approval rating has plunged in response to a series of scandals, most directly the police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, the city's subsequent attempts to withhold a video of the shooting, and the lack of an investigation into the matter. In early December the federal Justice Department announced an investigation into the operations of the Chicago Police Department, a move which Emanuel initially opposed. By December over half of Chicagoans favored Emanuel's resignation, with highly critical evaluations of the mayor appearing in such sources as The New York Times and The New Yorker, and coming from such figures as the Reverend Al Sharpton.
On September 30, 2010, it was announced that Emanuel would leave his post as White House Chief of Staff to run for Mayor of Chicago. He was replaced by Pete Rouse on October 2, 2010.
Emanuel's eligibility for office was challenged on the basis of his lack of residency in Chicago for one year prior to the election. The Board of Elections and the Cook County Circuit Court affirmed his eligibility. A divided Court of Appeals reversed the Circuit Court, holding on January 24, 2011, that residency for purposes of a candidate is different from residency for purposes of being a voter.[90] A further appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court resulted in a unanimous decision reversing the Court of Appeals and affirming Emanuel's eligibility.
Emanuel's mayoral campaign was the inspiration for a satirical Twitter account called MayorEmanuel, which received over 43,000 followers, more popular than Emanuel's actual Twitter account. Emanuel announced on February 28 that if the author would reveal himself, he would donate $5,000 to the charity of the author's choice. When Chicago journalist Dan Sinker revealed himself, Emanuel donated the money to Young Chicago Authors, a community organization which helps young people with writing and publishing skills.
Emanuel was elected on February 22, 2011 with 55% of the vote and was sworn in as the 55th Mayor of Chicago on May 16, 2011 at the Pritzker Pavilion. At his inauguration were outgoing Mayor Richard M. Daley, Vice President Joe Biden, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and William M. Daley, brother of the outgoing mayor and who would later serve as White House Chief of Staff. Emanuel is Chicago's first Jewish mayor.
In August 2014, the Chicago Tribune conducted a polling and reported that 35% of voters felt that Mayor Emanuel was doing a fine job as mayor of Chicago.
In 2015, Emanuel won 56 percent of the vote in the run-off election against Jesús "Chuy" GarcÃa held on April 7, 2015. He had been hurt by sharp neighborhood criticism of his decision to shut down 50 public schools in black and Latino neighborhoods and his installation of red light cameras, together with anger at the high level of gun violence on the streets. On the other hand, he was supported by the business community and most elements of the Democratic party.
Emanuel and his wife, Amy Merritt Rule, have a son and two daughters and the family lives in the Ravenswood neighborhood on Chicago's north side. Rule converted to Judaism shortly before their wedding. Emanuel is a close friend of fellow Chicagoan David Axelrod, chief strategist for Obama's 2008 and 2012 presidential campaign, and Axelrod signed the ketuba, the Jewish marriage contract, at Emanuel's wedding. The Emanuels are members of the Chicago synagogue Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel. Rabbi Asher Lopatin of the congregation described Emanuel's family as "a very involved Jewish family," adding that "Amy was one of the teachers for a class for children during the High Holidays two years ago." Emanuel has said of his Judaism: "I am proud of my heritage and treasure the values it has taught me." Emanuel's children attend the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools in the Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's south side.
Each year during the winter holidays, Emanuel takes a family trip where his children can be exposed to other cultures and parts of the world. Prior family trips have been to Vietnam, India, Kenya, Zambia, and South America. His 2015 holiday trip was scheduled for the island of Cuba.
Emanuel trains for and participates in triathlons. In 2011, he scored 9th out of 80 competitors in his age group. A passionate cyclist, he rides a custom-built, state-of-the-art Parlee road bike.
Emanuel, Rahm; Reed, Bruce (August 2006). The Plan: Big Ideas for America. New York: PublicAffairs Books of Perseus Books Group. ISBN 1-58648-412-5.
Emanuel, Rahm (May 10, 2011). "CHICAGO 2011 TRANSITION PLAN" . Chicago 2011.
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Annise Danette Parker (born May 17, 1956) is an American politician who was Mayor of Houston, Texas from 2010 until 2016. She also served as an at-large member of the Houston City Council from 1998 to 2003 and city controller from 2004 to 2010.
Parker was Houston's second female mayor (after Kathy Whitmire), and one of the first openly gay mayors of a major U.S. city, with Houston being the most populous U.S. city to elect an openly gay mayor.
Following the voter-approval of Proposition 2 on November 3, 2015, which extended the terms of the Mayor, City Controller, and City Councilmembers to two four-year terms, Parker became the last Houston Mayor to be limited to serving three two-year terms.
Remember when Houston's lesbian mayor, Annise Parker, tried to subpoena five pastors' sermons in a case over the controversial transgender rights ordinance there? This same lesbian mayor is trying her level best to deny these pastors the right to a jury trial. She wants a "special master" to review the evidence.
Here's the backstory, as Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) explains it: City officials got upset over a voter lawsuit filed after the City Council rejected valid petitions to repeal a law that allows members of the opposite sex into each other's restrooms.
ADF attorneys jumped into the fray, contending the city illegitimately demanded that the pastors, who are not party to the lawsuit, turn over their constitutionally protected sermons and other communications simply so the city could see if the pastors have ever opposed or criticized the city.
In 2009, Parker announced her candidacy for the office of Mayor of Houston in a video posted online to her campaign website. She was endorsed by several organizations and campaigned on a platform of better city security and financial efficiency. Other people who were in the running for mayor included Houston City Council Member Peter Hoyt Brown and Harris County school board trustee Roy Morales; they were eliminated from the race on November 3, 2009. She entered the run-off election with the most votes to face former Houston City Attorney Gene Locke who garnered the second most votes. In the general election, the city's primary newspaper endorsed both Parker and Locke.
During the run-off election, Parker was endorsed by former rival Peter Hoyt Brown. The city's primary newspaper, the Houston Chronicle, endorsed Parker over Locke citing her experience. Parker was elected mayor on December 12, 2009, and assumed office on January 2, 2010. Houston became the largest U.S. city ever to have an openly gay individual serve as mayor. After the election, Parker declared that the top priorities of her administration would be improving transportation, balancing the city's budget, and selecting a new police chief.
Main article: Houston mayoral election, 2011
In the 2011 election, Parker won a second term as Houston's Mayor, by defeating Fernando Herrera, Jack O'Connor, Dave Wilson, Kevin Simms, and Amanda Ulman, without a runoff.
Main article: Houston mayoral election, 2013
In November 2013, Parker won a third term as Houston's Mayor by winning over 57% of the vote, making a runoff unnecessary. She was succeeded on January 2, 2016 by state legislator Sylvester Turner, who is the city's second African American mayor.
Parker and her partner, Kathy Hubbard, have been together since 1990. On January 16, 2014, Parker and Hubbard were married in Palm Springs, California. They have three foster children.
Parker resides in East Montrose as of 2002; she had lived there since around 1991.
Houston
Houston, is the most populous city in Texas and the fourth-most populous city in the United States, located in Southeast Texas near the Gulf of Mexico, following New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago respectively. With a census-estimated 2014 population of 2.239 million within a land area of 599.6 square miles (1,553 km2), it also is the largest city in the Southern United States, as well as the seat of Harris County. It is the principal city of Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, which is the fifth-most populated metropolitan area in the United States.
Houston was founded in 1836 near the banks of Buffalo Bayou (now known as Allen's Landing)and incorporated as a city on June 5, 1837. The city was named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had commanded and won at the Battle of San Jacinto 25 miles (40 km) east of where the city was established. The burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the city's population. In the mid-20th century, Houston became the home of the Texas Medical Center—the world's largest concentration of healthcare and research institutions—and NASA's Johnson Space Center, where the Mission Control Center is located.
Houston's economy has a broad industrial base in energy, manufacturing, aeronautics, and transportation. It is also leading in health care sectors and building oilfield equipment; only New York City is home to more Fortune 500 headquarters within its city limits. The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled and second in total cargo tonnage handled. Nicknamed the "Space City", Houston is a global city, with strengths in business, international trade, entertainment, culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine, and research. The city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. Houston is the most diverse city in Texas and has been described as the most diverse in the United States. It is home to many cultural institutions and exhibits, which attract more than 7 million visitors a year to the Museum District. Houston has an active visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District and offers year-round resident companies in all major performing arts.
