Omari Shakur talks about his campaign for mayor while Lilly Howard, his mother, looks on. Photo credit: MidHudsonNews.com
By Nancy Peckenham
Omari Shakur formally announced his candidacy for mayor of the city of Newburgh on Friday, days after objections to his nominating petition were found insufficient to keep him off the ballot.
Shakur and his mother, former mayoral candidate Lilly Howard, stood on the corner of Broadway and Liberty Street to talk about how when he is elected he would address the issues plaguing the city. They were expecting former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, a Georgia Democrat, to come to endorse Shakur but she was delayed, they said.
Shakur said that he believes that job creation is key to solving problems with distressed housing and crime and said he would support a city manager who “does his job in economic development.” When asked if he had anyone in mind for the position, Shakur said that attorney Michael Mazzariello is one person he’d like to talk to.
Shakur, who lost the Democratic primary for county legislator in 2009, also pledged to address the problem of youth on the streets and said he favors forming a citizens advisory council because solving the entrenched problems of the city will require community involvement.
Mayoral candidate Omari Shakur. Photo credit: MidHudsonNews.com
Shakur stressed that he is a person who understands the majority of city residents whose lives are impacted by poverty and neglect. “We plan on tearing up City Hall and bringing Newburgh back on the streets,” he said. Shakur, who was born and raised in the city, is an ex-convict who, his mother observed, has turned his life around. He has been a frequent critic of city officials, especially following the shooting death of his son in 2006. At Friday’s announcement he wore a leather pendant that read “Fight the Power.”
On September 13, Shakur will appear on the ballot in the Democratic primary as a mayoral candidate along with Judy Kennedy. There will be no Republican primary in the city after Alexander Bolorin’s petition for run on the Republican ticket for city council was found to be invalid. County Elections Commissioner Susan Bahren said that his petition had signatures from people who had already signed another petition for the same office.
Shakur denounced the attempt to keep his name off the ballot. He said that both he and city council candidate Shaniesha Strange had about 900 names a piece on their petitions. While some 400 of those were determined to be invalid, Shakur said that both he and Strange still had far more signatures than required to get on the ballot.
“I’m going to go to the people of the city of Newburgh,” Shakur vowed. “This is my race to lose.”
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