DR Mathieu Eugène, premier Haïtien, élu à la mairie de New York

Publié par Elsie HAAS sur 3 Février 2007, 13:46pm

Catégories : #OCHAN

First Haitian American elected to NYC City Council 20 February

Posted by: "Stewart, Jay"

Thu Feb 22, 2007 7:29 pm (PST)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/21/nyregion/21brooklyn.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1172200625-0o0SKt8cxnsA2lzziv80Bw

City Council Gets First Member Born in Haiti

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By JONATHAN P. HICKS
Published: February 21, 2007

In a special election that highlighted the complicated Caribbean politics of central Brooklyn, Dr. Mathieu Eugene was elected to the City Council yesterday, becoming the Council’s first Haitian-born member. He will take the seat vacated by Yvette D. Clarke after her election to Congress in November.

Dr. Eugene, a physician who runs a youth program in Brooklyn, prevailed in a special election that included 10 candidates in a Council district with a large number of Caribbean-American voters.

With 95 percent of the votes counted, Dr. Eugene received 43 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results by the New York City Board of Elections. In second place was Jennifer N. James, 34, a former campaign aide to Ms. Clarke, with 15 percent of the vote. Wellington Sharpe, 62, a businessman in the district who ran unsuccessfully for the State Senate in 2004, was third, with about 12 percent of the vote.

“We are making history,” Dr. Eugene, 54, said in an interview from his campaign headquarters on Flatbush Avenue. “I’m so happy and delighted. This is a new era. And our mission now is to bring everyone together to work for the best interests of the community.”

The seat, in the 40th Council District, has had a special significance to Caribbean-Americans. The district covers parts of Flatbush and Crown Heights, and has been known as a hotbed of political activism over issues like police brutality and immigration rights.

Ms. Clarke’s mother, Una, made history by becoming the first Jamaican-born member of the Council in 1991. And Yvette Clarke succeeded her mother in the Council in 2001 before going to Congress in January. Both Clarkes were strong supporters of Dr. Eugene, which proved to be crucial endorsements.

But Dr. Eugene had other support, including the endorsement of Representative Anthony D. Weiner and several Council members. He also had endorsements ranging from labor groups like 1199 United Healthcare Workers East, the politically influential health care union, to Wyclef Jean, the Haitian-American rapper formerly of the Fugees.

The district is home to a significant number of New York City’s Haitian-Americans. In 2000, according to figures by the City Planning Commission, there were about 100,000 Haitian-born New Yorkers. And Haitian-American civic associations now suggest that the number of New Yorkers of Haitian descent could be as high as 200,000.

“This is extraordinary because we’re seeing history being made right before our eyes,” Representative Clarke said last night. “The City Council district has an extraordinary new member who will fight for the concerns of all the people of this district.”

The contest was particularly important to Brooklyn’s Haitian-American political and civic leaders. In fact, they held meetings to narrow the field of Haitian-American candidates. The group selected Ferdinand Zizi, a health care administrator, but he withdrew from the race while his petitions were being challenged, leaving Dr. Eugene as the sole Haitian-American running. Dr. Eugene’s candidacy received attention from news media outlets in Haiti, which closely followed the race.

The race was an important one for Ms. Clarke, who had close ties with several of the candidates. By strongly endorsing Dr. Eugene, she placed on the line a good deal of her political prestige, and his victory helps establish her more firmly as a political force in central Brooklyn....

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