Melissa Mark-Viverito is staffing up.
After naming several top-level aides earlier this week, the new City Council speaker is set to roll out her official transition team, “which will help her build an experienced and progressive team as she begins her term as Speaker,” her office said.
The 33-member volunteer committee will be headed by former Councilwoman Una Clarke, the mother of Congresswoman Yvette Clarke and one of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s earliest political allies in last year’s election, as well as Rossana Rosado, the former editor of El Diario.
The members, which will help Ms. Mark-Viverito staff the council’s operations, include three former borough presidents, Brooklyn’s Marty Markowitz, Queens’ Helen Marshall and Manhattan’s C. Virginia Fields, union leaders who organized on behalf of Ms. Mark Viverito’s candidacy, like SEIU 1199’s political director Kevin Finnegan, and attorney Frank Carone, the one-time law partner of Frank Seddio, the Brooklyn Democratic boss who helped cut the backroom deal propelling Ms. Mark-Viverito to victory. Also on the list is Allen Roskoff, a Democratic LGBT club leader who was one of the leading antagonists of the previous speaker, Christine Quinn.
In a statement, Ms. Mark-Viverito praised the diversity and experience of the group.
“This committee will have a very simple goal, to help build a professional and experienced team that will reflect New York City and its values. It is an honor to have such a broad and diverse group of New Yorkers come together and I am looking forward to working with them in the weeks ahead,” she said.
View the full list below:
Co-Chairs
Dr. Una Clarke, Co-Chair – Former NYC Council Member, 40th District, Brooklyn
Rossana Rosado, Co-Chair – Former Editor, El Diario
Committee Members
Noilyn Abesamis-Mendoza – Dir., Health Programs, Coalition for Asian American Children & Families
Cira Angeles – President, LA Riverside Brokerage, Inc.
Ana Maria Archila – Co-Executive Director, Center for Popular Democracy
Don Mario Bosco – Counsel, Bosco, Ward & Nopar
Jose Calderon – President, Hispanic Federation
John Calvelli – Executive Vice President, Public Affairs, Bronx Zoo
Frank Carone – Partner, Abrams, Fensterman, Fensterman, Eisman, Formato, Ferrara & Wolf, LLP
Daniel Cassella – President, ATU Local 726
Humberto Cruz – Former Director, AIDS Institute of the New York State Department of Health
Francisco Diaz, Jr. – President, Los Higos Del Barrio HDFC
Soraya Elcock – Former Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, Harlem United
C. Virginia Fields – President & CEO, National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS
Kevin Finnegan – Political Director, SEIU 1199
Jennifer Hensley – Executive Director, Association for a Better New York
Jacqueline Huey – Former. Sr. Director of Revenue and Management, NYC HHC
Virginia Kee – Founding member, Chinese American Planning Council
Victor Kovner, Esq. – Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer – Executive Director, Queens Council of the Arts
Jenny Low – District Leader, 65th Assembly District
Marty Markowitz – Former Brooklyn Borough President
Devin Maroney – Deputy Political Director, New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council
Helen Marshall – Former Queens Borough President
Shahana Masum – Director, Bangladeshi American Advocacy Group
Brette McSweeney – Executive Director, Eleanor’s Legacy
Suki Terada Ports – Former Executive Director, Family Health Project
Félix V. Matos Rodriguez – President, Hostos Community College
Allen Roskoff – LGBT Community Activist
Natalia Salgado – Deputy Political Director, 32BJ SEIU
Melissa Sklarz – Director, New York Trans Rights Coalition
Udai Tambar – Director, South Asian Youth Action
Javier Valdes – Co-Executive Director, Make the Road, NY
*Affiliations and titles for identification purposes only