Ariel Rivera-Diaz is one of ten candidates running in the District 15 City Council race for which a special election is being held on March 23. He is a former finance clerk with the City’s Board of Elections, former official at the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, and currently works at the Board of Education in the Bronx.

 

Norwood News reached out to Rivera-Diaz to interview him for a profile piece but we were unable to reach him. Here, we present a brief overview of his campaign platform based on his website, social media posts and other quotes in the media.

 

This is not Rivera-Diaz’s first time to run for office. In 2018, he ran unsuccessfully as the Republican candidate for New York State Assembly in District 86 against the incumbent, State Assemblyman Victor Pichardo, winning 3.8 percent of the vote. Still a Republican, in the current District 15 City Council race, Rivera-Diaz is running on a platform of being the “Second Choice” candidate in this first election in The Bronx to adopt the new Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) system.

 

District 11 is the other election taking place in The Bronx on March 23 which will incorporate the new method of RCV. RCV is a voting method whereby voters can, but are not obliged to, rank up to five candidates in order of preference, instead of choosing just one, and irrespective of the number of candidates on the ballot. 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.

 

Rivera-Diaz advocates for rejecting conforming and embracing change. According to his website, he wrote that in his view, for decades, people have trusted elected officials, who he describes as the very same elected officials “that lie to us on a daily basis.” He said people vote for them because it is conforming to the norm and he sees this conformity “as a false sense of change that is only shown on social media.”

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He said people vote for elected officials in hopes they will keep their promises and yet the Bronx still remains one of the poorest counties, and the unhealthiest in New York State, as well as being one of the most dangerous boroughs to live in. In terms of general solutions, he wants the community to reject such conformity “of expecting the government to make change; and embrace the change of us being the catalyst to that change!”

 

The campaign issues he references on his website are housing, education, food insecurity, crime, transportation and healthcare. In terms of housing, Rivera-Diaz said NYCHA residents have suffered long enough under what he calls the lack of leadership of the City Council. “It has been so many years of empty promises and lies that is has become a conformity believing them,” he said.

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He added that residents have been neglected and lied to for far too long, that NYCHA needs to be literally fixed as the apartments are crumbling on top of the people, saying, “We can no longer continue to vote for the same people and expect different results,” and adding, “We need to listen to the people of NYCHA and the people affected by the housing crisis.”  He does not offer any specific solutions of how to fund the NYCHA program.

 

In terms of education, Rivera Diaz said that elected officials should have a common understanding that students are the future of the nation, and again, called out what he called the lack of action on the part of incumbents. “Education received from Pre-K to 12th grade should be at a high standard,” he wrote. “Furthermore, extra-curricular activities should also be at a high standard.” Here, he does propose some solutions saying his education plan involves inter-school extra-curricular programs, a revamp of public school funding usage, and programs that would further amplify the students’ interest, through yearly in-school surveys. He also advocates for elected officials to start listening to the students and teachers of the City.

 

 

As a community health worker, I have seen the state of our Medicaid and Medicare system They are neglecting our people and expect them to be medical experts.The system must ensure that patients have the resources needed to live a healthy life. Change is needed

— Ariel Rivera-Diaz (@ArielRiveraD) September 13, 2018

 

Rivera-Diaz said that food insecurity in the Bronx is the highest in the city and has long been that way. “According to Food Bank New York City, 50 percent of our food pantries and soup kitchens closed during the pandemic,” he said, adding that of those, 90 percent were located in the neediest communities. He said the South Bronx has the highest rate of food insecurity in the country at 37 percent. “We need food sustainability, and if necessary, we will take the fight to the federal government to solve this issue!” Again, he did not detail how he proposed to address the issue of food insecurity specifically.  

 

On crime, he said elected leaders claim that crime is low, saying “However, we started the New Year with countless shootings. According to the NYPD, murder has increased 26 percent, grand larceny auto increased 68 percent and burglaries increased 32 percent.” Rivera-Diaz said violent crime should not be taken lightly, and that a plan was needed to prevent crime. He advocated for tackling the issue at its root, which he said was poverty. “Our communities need more opportunities and a physical manifestation of hope!” he said. He did not propose any specifics of how this would be funded.

 

In terms of transportation, Rivera-Diaz said people should remember that buses, bridges and trains all make up the MTA system. “They are all run down and constantly ‘under construction.’ Tolls are the highest on MTA-owned bridges, and it is unfortunate that NYC residents still have to pay these predatory tolls.” 

 

He did not offer any proposals of where to come up with the budget to address the enhancements and construction work needed within the MTA system, such as the ongoing need to install ADA compliant features at subway stations. Meanwhile, in terms of individual drivers, it was not exactly clear what his angle was in terms of improvement. He said, “Being a driver in NYC, is like having a target on our foreheads. Parking tickets affect the poor and the City is a predator when it comes to collecting these fines.” He added, “Bicycles should be treated just like any other moving vehicle on the road. As a driver, not only do they put their own lives in danger, they put the lives of pedestrians in danger as well.” 

 

Finally, when it comes to healthcare, in a tweet from 2018, in what could be now seen as someone with a degree of foresight, he said, “As a community health worker, I have seen the state of our Medicaid and Medicare system. They are neglecting our people and expect them to be medical experts. The system must ensure that patients have the resources needed to live a healthy life. Change is needed.”

 

On his website, he wrote that the Bronx has been the unhealthiest borough in the state for countless years and leaders have done nothing about it. While it is not true to say nothing has been done to address the problem, Norwood News also reported on this worrying statistic last year, on more than one occasion.

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“A healthy life is part of a happy life. However, our healthcare system focuses more on treatment rather than prevention. As a former community health worker [for SOMOS Community Care and Evolent Health], I have seen that healthcare is not as accessible or affordable as Democrats make it out to be,” Rivera-Diaz said. “Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic was an unfortunate reminder of how unprepared and ineffective our healthcare system is. Our plan will expand the QUALITY of employer-sponsored programs, so that every tax-paying worker can have one less thing to worry about in their lives!”

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As a community health worker, I have seen the state of our Medicaid and Medicare system They are neglecting our people and expect them to be medical experts.The system must ensure that patients have the resources needed to live a healthy life. Change is needed

— Ariel Rivera-Diaz (@ArielRiveraD) September 13, 2018

 

Overall, Rivera-Diaz has long said that people should stop “handing over power” to the government and instead, have people embrace their own potential. In some 2018 tweets, in the lead-up to his assembly campaign, he called out what he described as corruption within Albany, saying, “Albany takes action for the Bronx when it is too late. Pichardo and his colleagues only care about the party. They do not care about the people, tax payers who fund their travel expenses! They do not care about us! It is time we hold them accountable.”

 

Norwood News has reached out to the assemblyman’s office for a comment, and will update this story accordingly, upon receipt of a response. Meanwhile, Rivera-Diaz continued, “We need term-limits NOW! I have seen so many Assembly members and State Senators neglect their districts because they know that they can keep their seats by keeping the voter uneducated.” He called on voters to elect him and vowed to ensure voters would be educated on their voter power.

 

In another tweet at the time, Rivera-Diaz wrote, “Change is needed in the Bronx. Our leaders know that and decide to [do] ignore it. As a community, we must put our differences aside, and come together to make that change. Let’s make that change,” he said. “Let’s take back the Bronx. one district at a time.”

Did you donate 300,000 pounds of food in NY during the COVID-19 pandemic? No!@GoyaFoods did! @AOC so much for supporting the Latino community. What a JOKE! https://t.co/Atl7PQU8Ga

— Ariel Rivera-Diaz (@ArielRiveraD) July 10, 2020

 

Rivera-Diaz has also been a defender of the Goya beans and food brand and has called out local Bronx Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for being “disloyal” to the Hispanic community after she tweeted that she was googling how to make your own adobo, a term derived from the Spanish word “adobar,” meaning to marinade, and following a report that the CEO of the Goya food company was quoted as saying the country was “blessed to have a leader” like former President Donald Trump in the White House, during an event in the Rose Garden.

 

Trump has been widely criticized for a number of policy decisions during his tenure as president, including, among others, his initial playing down of the severity of the coronavirus, his overall handling of the pandemic, stoking racial tensions, and his stance on immigration, angering many non-Trump supporters.

 

Trump’s followers also hit back at the congresswoman saying that in 2018, Goya was ranked #2 as a leading U.S. food brand for its social influence and community support, supporting nearly 300 charitable endeavors, programs, scholarships, and events, and donates millions of pounds of food to local food banks shelters. On its website, the company outlines some of its charitable donations. The New York Times wrote, last year, how the boycott and counter-boycott of Goya came to be as the major political parties sought to energize Hispanic support ahead of the 2020 election.

"In 2018, Goya was ranked #2 as a leading U.S. food brand for its social influence and community support… …Goya supports nearly 300 charitable endeavors, programs, scholarships, and events, and donates millions of pounds of food to local food banks and shelters…"

— jmc2019write (@jmc2019write) July 12, 2020

 

In a March 22 story in the Bronx Times, Rivera-Diaz confirmed he had not been endorsed by any person or entity in the District 15 race. and said that the biggest challenge facing the Bronx was the lack of financial knowledge, saying that in the Bronx, “there is no information on how someone can financially lift themselves out of poverty. Instead, we see more and more public programs offered to Bronxites with little to no financial growth.”

 

In fact, Norwood News recently reported in January how Lehman College recently offered free programs to small business owners to assist them get through the challenges of the pandemic. Twenty-eight small business owners in the Bronx were the first cohort of students to complete an emerging technology mentorship program piloted by Lehman College’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCPS) in conjunction with the Verizon Foundation.

 

Under the initiative, which launched in October, the business owners participated in eight hours of technology training via Zoom. They were also paired with a Verizon employee volunteer and mentor group for seven weekly sessions, where they covered topics such as financing, marketing, competitive analysis, and proposal writing. Additional on-call help was available by phone, email, and text. The business owners were due to continue meeting with their mentors, as needed, for a further 15 weeks as of January.

"In 2018, Goya was ranked #2 as a leading U.S. food brand for its social influence and community support… …Goya supports nearly 300 charitable endeavors, programs, scholarships, and events, and donates millions of pounds of food to local food banks and shelters…"

— jmc2019write (@jmc2019write) July 12, 2020

 

The program was the result of a two-year $100,000 grant that Verizon awarded to the SCPS’s Bronx Tech Incubator center last December, to develop free training workshops in 5G technologies, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and other web-based applications for 250 small businesses across the five boroughs. In particular, the program was designed to attract small business owners who are veterans and minority and women-owned businesses (MWBEs).

 

On the other hand, we also reported that according to CouncilState (an application used by many council district offices to enter and track constituent issues), the top issue logged in the system and affecting constituents in District 15 is assistance with tax preparation.

 

In addition to Rivera-Diaz, according to the New York City Board of Elections and Ballotpedia, nine other candidates are running in the hotly contested District 15 race, all of whom are aiming to fill the seat of former Councilman and now Congressman, Ritchie Torres, who was elected to Congress in November 2020. The winner will fill the remainder of the former councilman’s term in office.

 

The other eight 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, and Bronx 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 Bronx Board of Elections confirmed that it is accepting applications for absentee ballots from voters in District 15 (and in District 11) 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.