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High Hopes for NYCity Council's First Haitian Elected Dr Mathieu Eugne
Brooklynites Elect First Haitian To City Council
February 21, 2007
The City Council will become more diverse later this week, when the first Haitian-born member ? who was chosen in Tuesday's special election ? is sworn into office. NY1's Jeanine Ramirez filed the following report.
The news that Mathieu Eugene is now a city councilman not only spread quickly though the 40th Council District but also reached his native Haiti. His run for the open City Council seat was backed by Yvette Clarke, who vacated the position when she was elected to Congress in November.
On Wednesday his election was the talk among Haitians in Brooklyn, which boasts 200,000 Haitians, the largest number outside of that Caribbean country.
"The last week this thing took a life of its own," says Radio Soleil station manager Ricot Dupuy. "It was the subject of conversation wherever you go in the Haitian community. There was a major determination to make sure this day came."
And it did. With a medical degree from Haiti, he's never held a political position before. But Eugene has been an advocate in the community for more than a decade, founding a non-profit group called Youth Education and Sports.
"I've been providing after school programs, tutoring, mentoring, sports programs like karate, basketball, music program," says Eugene. "All those and others to keep the young people out of trouble."
Eugene beat out nine other candidates and credits both his work in the area and a grassroots campaign.
Also pushing Eugene to victory were the local Haitian radio stations, which helped get out the vote.
"Stations like Radio Pa Nou, Radio Soleil, Radio Tropical, Radio Optima, all community media, Caribbean Images," says Eugene campaign advisor Joseph Placide. "All the media in the community did an extraordinary job giving this community and the entire 40th council district a tremendous victory."
"He's a good guy, a qualified guy," says Radio Pa Nou station director Geffard Jude Joseph. "When people choose Dr. Eugene everybody is happy."
Eugene says some of the issues he'll be fighting for are more jobs for his community, universal health care, immigrant rights and smaller class sizes.
"I want school to be a good place where the children love to be and where the parents love to send their children," says Eugene.
Eugene will report to City Hall Thursday to be sworn in and to get to wor
The telephones at Radyo Pa Nou started ringing as soon as word got out that Mathieu Eugene, a medical doctor born in Haiti, won the District 40 City Council seat in a special election Tuesday, becoming the first Haitian voted onto the council.
The flood of calls to the Haitian radio station, one of several in Brooklyn, was so great that the station organized a special show to broadcast comments celebrating the historic win, a radio host and assistant administrator at the station, Herold Laurent, said.
"They called to say, ?Now we are happy. We are happy that we have one of our own as City Council member. We know things will get better,'" Mr. Laurent said.
Dr. Eugene will be sworn in at 2 p.m. today in the council chambers at City Hall along with Vincent Ignizio, who is resigning his state Assembly seat today before the ceremony, his campaign manager, Joseph Borelli, said. Mr. Ignizio will represent southern Staten Island as one of three Republicans on the council.
Dr. Eugene said yesterday he has not made any final decisions about who will work for him and does not know where he will set up his district office. Rep. Yvette Clarke endorsed Dr. Eugene in the 10-member race to fill her council seat, which covers parts of Flatbush and Crown Heights, and the council member-elect said he would work closely with her and other state and national elected officials.
He said his first priority as a council member is to promote better access to quality health care.
"I will be supporting and fighting very hard for universal health coverage," he said. "I think it is a basic human right."
Dr. Eugene, 54, is the 14th of 17 children, a brother, Maxi Eugene, said. When the Eugene family began leaving Haiti, it split along gender lines ? the women moved to Montreal and the men moved to Brooklyn. After attending medical school in Belgium, Dr. Eugene joined Maxi in New York in 1978, his brother said. Dr. Eugene's wife is a nurse; they have a 17-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter.
Dr. Eugene realized his passion for working with children as the founder and executive director of Youth for Education and Sports, based in Brooklyn. Maxi Eugene said his brother never planned to run for office, but was recruited to represent the community.
Haiti's ambassador to America, Raymond Joseph, who is also a contributing editor of The New York Sun, said the election of Dr. Eugene signals a departure from the past, when infighting plagued Haitian political candidates.
"You should see Haitians getting together more and more," Mr. Joseph, the co-founder and former publisher of Haiti Observateur, a French-and-English language newspaper published in Brooklyn, said. "They will find out when they get together they can have victory."
The executive director of the Erasmus Neighborhood Federation in Brooklyn, Yves Vilus, said he has known Dr. Eugene for more than 15 years and that the two often lamented the lack of Haitian leaders in central Brooklyn. Mr. Vilus said affordable housing and immigration issues are the top challenges that await Dr. Eugene. He said the soon-to-be council member has a difficult road ahead because hopes are so high for what he can do for the district.
"He is going to have a tough time," Mr. Vilus said. "People will expect a lot from him. It is not going to be easy."
HBN Goes One-On-One With First Haitian-Born NYC Councilmember
HBN Goes One-On-One With First Haitian-Born NYC Councilmember
Hardbeatnews, NEW YORK, NY., Thurs. Feb. 22, 2007: A day after his historic victory in the race to represent the 40th District of the New York City Council, Haitian national Dr. Mathieu Eugene, is lauding the win as ?a victory for the people of the community.?
Eugene spent a hectic day yesterday in meetings but when HBN finally caught up with him late last night, he was still beaming. ?I?m ready to work. I feel energized. I feel the power in my body. I?m going to continue working to serve the community,? said Dr. Eugene, hours after sweeping the election with 43 percent of the votes.
There?s no denying that he recognizes the history of the win maybe significant and despite the early controversy over his running after a group of Haitian leaders had selected Dr. Ferdinand Zizi over him, Eugene feels, ??all the people in the Haitian community are very proud, they are happy? for the win.
But he?s adamant that he will be ?? the city council member for all the people living in the 40th council district.?
?This victory is not only my victory,? the new councilmember told HBN. ?It?s a victory of the people of the community, it?s our victory.?
Eugene, who faced criticism in the lead up to the election for living outside of the district, also insists that he wants to build upon the process of togetherness initiated by new Congresswoman Yvette Clarke who endorsed him along with her mother and former City Councilwoman Una Clarke.
But asked about criticism over his living outside of the 40th District, Eugene responded, ?I have been living in the district from day one. My two children were born in the 40th district. I am a member of Holy Innocence Church which is in the district (and) I am here in the district seven days week providing many services for the people of the community.?
And he added, ?The people have demonstrated that I am the one who?s been there for them.?
But the Haitian national pledged to work together with everyone, even the candidates who opposed him in the race. ?We are going to work together no matter what country we came from, that is the only way to reach the true empowerment of the people,? he said.
Dr. Eugene also stressed that his main goal is to bring results to the community, especially in the area of health care, a common theme among many of the candidates in the run up to Tuesday?s elections.
Noting that one of the biggest cries within the community is lack of access to quality heath care, Eugene, a medical doctor, said his goal is universal healthcare and he plans to work with other members of the city council to achieve this.
He?s also concerned about improving the quality of schools and of the education system in general and has vowed to work steadfastly to get ?smaller class size, more teachers, more computers and more after-school programs.?
And recognizing the largely immigrant demographic within the 40th District, Councilmember-elect Eugene said it remains as important as it had been during the election campaign. ?The U.S is a country of immigrants and they should have the opportunity to have their papers to work and have medical insurance,? said Eugene, who migrated from Haiti in 1978.
Dr. Eugene beat out nine other candidates for the post. The only two who came close were Jennifer N. James, a former campaign aide to Yvette Clarke, who received 15 percent while Jamaican Wellington Sharpe, was third, with about 12 percent.
The 40th district is made up of a large immigrant population. Prior to Yvette Clarke winning the seat in 2001, the post was occupied by her mother, Una Clarke. Eugene will serve through the end of 2007 but will have to face-off in a Democratic primary on September 11 and again at the November 6th general election. Whoever wins that election will serve until the end of Clarke?s term in 2009. ? Hardbeatnews.com
The council generally functions as a parliamentary or congressional style legislative body, proposing bills, holding votes, and passing laws to help govern the city; the mayor is a voting member of the council who serves as chairman. In larger cities the council may elect other executive positions as well, such as a council president and speaker.
Hope this explanation is accurate and will help you understand this body of municipal legislature.
Looking up at the first picture, Eugene looks like Patrick Ewing there.
Last edited by TiCam : 02-22-07 at 08:56 PM.
Reason: Automerged Doublepost
High Hopes for City Council's First Haitian 
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