Vote of confidence for the senator

To the editor:

A very quiet change has happened in our Assembly district. Three out of four of the candidates who ran for positions in the Democratic Party for district leaders and New York State Democratic Committee won. They ran on the “We Rise” slate headed by Christian Amato, until he had to move due to the redistricting forced on us.

Change starts locally from the bottom up, talking to voters, knocking on doors, showing up at community events, and talking truth to power. This is how Abigail Martin, Ramdat Singh and Morgan Evers won. This is just the beginning of positive changes in our Assembly district.

While we are talking about change, our district has been merged with the new 33rd District, which is represented by incumbent state Sen. Gustavo Rivera. He has been their state senator since 2010, and has a very impressive record.

Our group from the “We Rise: slate have met with Gustavo to discuss the challenges of representing two very different areas of the Bronx as well as his vision for accomplishing this. Gustavo talked about how important community service with experienced staff is, and how he would open a satellite Riverdale office to provide this.

He has experience with all New York state issues, and is passionate about bringing affordable and free health care to all New York state residents, including New York City retirees.

He will work toward protecting co-ops and condos from unfunded mandates and rules that don’t make sense, creating affordable housing — especially as people age in place — making sure agencies which want to run facilities that serve a variety of needs are of quality and above reproach.

He will work with police to improve protection and much more.

The “We Rise” coalition supports Gustavo Rivera for state senate, and looks forward to him introducing himself fully to all of our neighbors.

Don Bluestone