Caribbean L 14 ife, MAY 21-27, 2021
Brian A. Benjamin, son of Guyanese and Jamaican immigrants, with wife,
Cathleen and daughter, Caroline, as he campaigns for city comptroller. Brian
Benjamin’s campaign
Brian Benjamin runs in
crowded comptroller race
By Tangerine Clarke
Harlem-born, Brian A. Benjamin,
with his wife Cathleen, and their
daughter Caroline beside him, is ready
to take on the job of city comptroller,
with a vision to use the powers of the
office to create important changes that
benefit all New Yorkers, and to maximize
the pension returns for retirees.
The son of Caribbean nations, a
Guyanese mother and Jamaican father,
Benjamin, who copped an endorsement
from former, well respected U.S. Rep
Charles Rangel, said the city comptroller
has the power to audit and investigate
any spending of city resources,
and as such, he will use this tool to
effectively hold the mayor and City
Council accountable, starting with an
audit of the NYPD budget as soon as he
asumes office.
By maximizing oversight of agencies
such as the NYPD, NYCHA, the
MTA, and the Department of Education,
Benjamin said he will reveal
budgetary investments “that do not
reflect our values and shine a light
on waste and mismanagement that is
harming New Yorkers.” Benjamin is a
former affordable-housing developer,
investment advisor, and community
board chair.
A Harvard Business School graduate,
Benjamin, who spent his career
working to improve his community, as
the NYS senator for the 30th District,
successfully fought to divest the state’s
public pension funds from for-profit
prisons, and has been a leader on tenant
protections and criminal justice
reform.
Benjamin serves as presiding officer
of the NYS Senate and is the chair of
the Committee on Budget and Revenue.
He is the only candidate in this race
with relevant investment management
experience, and he is concerned about
the state of the pension fund. Last year,
the fund did not reach its required
return of seven percent, meaning that
hundreds of millions of dollars must be
transferred to the fund that could have
gone to other important priorities, said
Benjamin.
Managing a pension system valued
at over $229 billion is central to the
job, and Benjamin is well prepared
to step up to this task on day one, he
said.
The politician, is adamant that
he will target investments to create
affordable housing, noting that two
percent of the pension fund is supposed
to be invested in economically targeted
investments.
As comptroller, Benjamin said he
will roll out a plan to invest in developing
new income targeting affordable
housing projects as well as permanent
supportive housing to shift resources
from temporary shelters, for the homeless.
Benjamin who founded the grassroots
organization Harlem for Obama
2007, helping to raise a reported
$250,000, said he knows how to achieve
this goal because he helped finance
the construction and rehabilitation of
more than 1,000 units of environmentally
sustainable affordable housing,
which included housing for the homeless,
before being elected senator.
https://www.benjamin2021.com/
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