Letitia James — A Street Fighter for the People

Letitia James, the winner of the seat for public advocate, attended a vigil on election night of a 9-year-old boy who was killed by a car in Fort Greene, Brooklyn on November 2.

What was she doing on a Brooklyn street when voters were going to the polls to solidify her future as the first black woman in the history of New York to hold citywide office?

That’s just her style.

James, a three-term councilwoman from Brooklyn, ran in the general election without a major opponent.

“This is indeed historic,” James said in her acceptance speech Tuesday night. “I will raise my voice loudly as you known I can do and I’ll be the fierce advocate for working people that you elected me to be.”

At another point she said, “I ran for public advocate because all my life I have seen New Yorkers persevere. I have seen the role the government can play in helping uplift working people.”

In 2003 James was elected, to the council on the Working Families line, representing Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Prospect Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant and parts of Crown Heights, becoming the first member of the party elected to office in New York State.

James, along with her niece and nephew, greeted poll workers this morning at P.S. 11 in Brooklyn.
“It’s a great day for Democrats,” she said. “It’s a great day for progressive values.”

James, 55, will succeed Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, the city’s new mayor. James had the support of labor unions, women’s rights organizations, and minority communities, particularly the African-American community, helping her beat fellow Democrat Daniel Squadron in the runoff by nearly 20 percentage points.

James promised to use the new role to work on behalf of the New Yorkers in need.
“I promise to continue to listen to your voices,” she said. “New Yorkers are at risk of losing the opportunities that allowed us to make it in this city.”

Though the public advocate, commonly known as the city’s watchdog, has little power, holding an annual budget of $2.1 million out of the city’s total budget of $70 billion, she is first in line to become mayor in case of death or disability. James’ responsibility will include handling public complaints about city agencies.

James said that she will maintain her independence from de Blasio’s policies, if she disagrees with them.

James attended New York City public schools, including CUNY’s Lehman College. Upon graduating, she attended Howard University Law School and is working on her master’s degree in public administration at Columbia University’s Graduate School of International and Public Affairs.

As a former public defender for the Legal Aid Society, James represented many young defendants in the criminal justice system. She also served as an assistant to New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

James is known for being outspoken against the Atlantic Yards project of downtown Brooklyn which includes a sports arena and a projected 17 skyscrapers. She said that it would lead to “the Manhattanization of Brooklyn.”

In 2007, James was the lead sponsor of the Safe Housing Act in the council, the bill ensuring families in rental buildings prompt and full repairs to their apartments. As public advocate she said she would focus on affordable housing and the concerns of parents with children in public schools.
A supporter of a clean environment and green job development, James served as chairwoman to the council’s Sanitation Committee. In 2010, she expanded the plastic, clothing and textile recycling program and improved public space recycling. This expansion was the first significant program since created in 1989.