15th Council District - Raquel Batista

  You see a very pregnant 15th Council District candidate Raquel Batista standing outside her campaign headquarters located at 308 East 181st Street just one block from the 46th Precinct. By now candidate Batista should be the proud mother of a newborn baby (a girl she told me).

  Everything else aside Raquel Batista is no stranger to the community or even politics. Candidate Batista mentioned her Voter Rights work at the Puerto Rican Defense Fund now Latino Justice. We spoke of the recent decision by the Supreme Court to strike down an important section of the Voter Rights Act. Batista told me she was an observer one election year, and of the lack of bilingual poll workers citing that in a very large poll site where there was only one for the many many election districts. She then went into her work as an organizer for the Northwest Bronx Church & Clergy Coalition when NWBCC was planning for the future of the Kingsbridge Armory.

  On the topic of education (my favorite) we differed, because candidate Batista like others in the 15th council race believe that Parent Coordinators are a good thing to schools. She said it is a good thing to have someone be able to communicate with the parents. When I asked candidate Batista to give me the job description of the parent coordinator she like others could not. Batista was also concerned about all the school closings, lack of accountability, Charter School oversight, and the lack of resources. She wants to see more oversight by the city council on public education with the chancellor (an educator) being approved by the city council. This interview was done before the much lower test results was announced.

  On to other topics, candidate Batista said the Bronx has its own problems. Housing - how to preserve the aging housing stock, and keep it affordable. Transportation - how to speed up the slow mass transit system mentioning the surface buses. Merchants - how to help them stay in business.

  In all I had a good conversation with 15th City Council candidate Raquel Batista, her answers were real, she really wants to help the district, and perhaps if she does not win the winner will ask Ms. Batista to become a part of their staff.

  Good luck on the birth of your baby girl.

UPDATE:
In her 39^th week of pregnancy, Raquel Batista went into labor Monday morning August 12th.