Svante Myrick | |
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Mayor of Ithaca | |
In office January 1, 2012 –February 6, 2022 | |
Preceded by | Carolyn K. Peterson |
Succeeded by | Laura Lewis (Acting) |
Personal details | |
Born | Florida,U.S. | March 15,1987
Political party | Democratic |
Education | Cornell University (AB) |
Svante L. Myrick (born March 15,1987) [1] is an American politician who formerly served as the mayor of Ithaca,New York. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Raised in the town of Earlville,New York,Myrick was elected to the Ithaca Common Council in 2007 while he was a student at Cornell University. After graduating from Cornell in 2009,Myrick ran for mayor of Ithaca in 2011;he defeated two candidates in the Democratic primary and won the general election with 54.9% of the vote. Upon taking office in 2012 at age 24,Myrick became the city's youngest mayor and its first mixed race mayor. Myrick is known for his 2016 proposal to create a city-run supervised heroin injection site. He was re-elected in 2015 and 2019. On January 5,2022,Myrick announced that he had accepted an offer to serve as Executive Director of People For the American Way. On January 1,2023,Myrick assumed the role of president and CEO of People For the American Way. [2]
Born on March 15,1987, [3] Myrick has three siblings. Myrick's father,Jessie,is black;his mother,Leslie,is white. [3] [4] During his infancy,Myrick and his family experienced periodic homelessness. Jessie Myrick's struggles with drug addiction (specifically,an addiction to crack cocaine [5] ) led Leslie Myrick to move her four children from Florida to Earlville,New York,a small village of 900. Myrick was raised in Earlville by his mother and his maternal grandparents,Wilbur and Phyllis Raville. Myrick's family struggled to get by and depended on food stamps,with Leslie Myrick working multiple jobs to provide for her children. [6] Myrick attended public schools and graduated from Sherburne-Earlville High School in 2005. He had asthma while in high school. [7]
Myrick then studied communication at Cornell University,where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and a leader of the Interfraternity Council and Quill and Dagger society. He began his public-service career though volunteer activities while a student,including working with the REACH program (Raising Education Attainment Challenge) and the Ithaca Youth Council. Myrick graduated from Cornell in 2009. [8]
Myrick was elected to the Ithaca Common Council at age 20 in 2007. [9] When he took office in January 2008 (still aged 20),Myrick became the youngest alderperson in the history of the City of Ithaca;he began serving on the Common Council while still a student at Cornell. [8] [10] Myrick's principal contributions while serving as a councilman included forwarding a successful effort to create a "tobacco-free zone" [11] [ better source needed ] on the Ithaca Commons,promoting youth involvement in city government through overseeing the creation of the Ithaca Youth Council, [12] and playing a role in master planning and zoning changes in Ithaca's dense,student-dominated Collegetown neighborhood. [13] [14]
On March 29,2011,Myrick declared his intent to pursue the office of Mayor of Ithaca as a Democrat. [15] In the primary election,he defeated Alderperson J. R. Claiborne and County Legislator Pamela Mackesey. [16] As the Democratic Party nominee,Myrick faced concerns about his age,experience,connection to the community and capability. [17] Myrick earned 54.9% of votes cast in the November general election (a 28.5% margin from the nearest candidate),winning all city voting districts. [18] Myrick defeated Janis Kelly (Republican Party candidate),J. R. Clairborne (Independence Party candidate),and Wade Wykstra (Independent). [19] [20]
Myrick became the City of Ithaca's youngest mayor and first mayor of color [21] when he was sworn into office on January 1,2012 [22] [23] at age 24. [24] He also became the youngest mayor in the history of the State of New York. [25] When Myrick assumed office,he inherited an anticipated $3 million to $3.5 million budget deficit in the City of Ithaca. [26] [ better source needed ] His first city budget,the budget for fiscal year 2013,concentrated on maintaining city services while streamlining City Hall through merging departments,reducing management and adopting new technology systems. [27] The budget also prioritized increasing the wages of the City's lowest-paid employees. [28] [ better source needed ]
On June 6,2013,Myrick delivered the keynote address at the 13th Annual New York State Supportive Housing Conference. The address touched on issues of race and on Myrick's personal history of homelessness. [29] [ better source needed ] On October 1,2013,the City of Ithaca became a Certified Living Wage Employer. [30] On December 5,2013,Myrick participated in the White House Mayor's Manufacturing Summit. Nearly 20 mayors from across the U.S. attended to meet with other local government leaders and share their concerns and ideas for manufacturing progress in their local communities. [31]
The City's adopted fiscal year 2014 budget successfully closed the deficit Myrick had inherited in 2012 and brought about the lowest tax levy increase in over a decade. [32] [33] [34]
Myrick joined President Obama during the annual U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting in January 2015. Administration officials discussed ways in which to continue partnering with cities to raise wages and incomes,to strengthen the standing of working families in a new economy and to bolster and expand the middle class. [35]
On August 15,2015,Myrick was invited to join people from 180 countries in the conference of the World Economic Forum in Geneva,Switzerland,for a meeting of the Global Shapers' Community to promote local change for global impact. [36]
Myrick has said that his father's struggles with drug addiction helped inspire him to create a committee to confront the heroin problem. [5] After nearly two years of research,the Municipal Drug Policy Committee formed in April 2014 by Myrick [37] released "The Ithaca Plan:A Public Health and Safety Approach to Drugs and Drug Policy". [38] The Plan proposed to create a Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program (LEAD) in which police officers "divert people directly into the social service system" instead of perpetuating the revolving-door system of incarceration for low-level offenses. The 64-page Plan is centered on several tenets:Prevention,treatment,law enforcement,harm reduction,governance and leadership. [39] On February 25,2016,Ithaca proposed to create the country's first supervised heroin injection site. [40] The proposal received local and national attention. [41]
On April 19 and 22,2013,Myrick joined forces with student organizers of the Youth Power Summit 2013 at Ithaca College Center for Business and Sustainable Enterprise,a climate justice convergence for young people from Tompkins County. He met with students to discuss divestment. [42] [ better source needed ]
Myrick was re-elected in 2015 with 89% of the vote. [43] [44] On March 6,2019,Myrick announced his intent to seek a third term as mayor,and won re-election with 76% of the vote. [45] [46] On January 5,2022,Myrick announced that he had accepted an offer to serve as Executive Director of People For the American Way.
On December 10,2014,Myrick was named as a recipient of the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Awards at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum,created by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and The Institute of Politics at Harvard University to honor Americans under the age of 40 who are changing their communities and the country with their commitment to public service. [47]
In 2016, Politico asked 71 mayors from all around the country to rate each other in a variety of categories. Myrick "received votes for most innovative,biggest turnaround and a mayor to 'keep our eye on'". [48]
Heroin,also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names,is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the dried latex of the Papaver somniferum plant;it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical-grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brown powders sold illegally around the world as heroin are routinely diluted with cutting agents. Black tar heroin is a variable admixture of morphine derivatives—predominantly 6-MAM (6-monoacetylmorphine),which is the result of crude acetylation during clandestine production of street heroin. Heroin is used medically in several countries to relieve pain,such as during childbirth or a heart attack,as well as in opioid replacement therapy.
Ithaca is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County,New York,United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York,Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named after the Greek island of Ithaca. As of 2020,the city's population was 32,108.
Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca,New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music. Ithaca College is known for its media-related programs and entertainment programs within the Roy H. Park School of Communications and the Ithaca College School of Music,Theatre,and Dance. The college has a liberal arts focus,and offers several pre-professional programs,along with some graduate programs.
Tompkins County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census,the population was 105,740. The county seat is Ithaca. The name is in honor of Daniel D. Tompkins,who served as Governor of New York and Vice President of the United States. The county is part of the Southern Tier region of the state.
Cayuga Heights is village in Tompkins County,New York,United States,and an upscale suburb of Ithaca,New York. The population was 4,114 at the 2020 census.
Edward Gene Rendell is an American lawyer,prosecutor,politician,and author who served as the 45th governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011. He served as chair of the national Democratic Party from 1999 to 2001,as the 96th mayor of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2000,and as district attorney of Philadelphia from 1978 to 1986.
Supervised injection sites (SIS) or drug consumption rooms (DCRs) are a health and social response to drug-related problems. They are fixed or mobile spaces where people who use drugs are provided with sterile drug use equipment and can use illicit drugs under the supervision of trained staff. They are usually located in areas where there is an open drug scene and where injecting in public places is common. The primary target group for DCR services are people who engage in risky drug use.
Ithaca Tompkins International Airport is a county-owned airport located in the Town of Lansing,three miles northeast of Ithaca,the county seat and only city in Tompkins County,New York. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2019–2023 categorized it as a primary commercial service facility. Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 99,070 passenger boardings in 2018.
The Ithaca Commons is a two-block pedestrian mall in the business improvement district known as Downtown Ithaca that serves as the city's cultural and economic center. The Commons is a popular regional destination,and is filled with upscale restaurants and shops,public art,and frequent community festivals.
Tompkins County Public Library (TCPL) is the public library for residents of Tompkins County,New York. The library has one branch which is located in Ithaca,New York.
Gimme! Coffee is a coffee roaster and third-wave coffee shop,based in New York,US,with espresso bars in Ithaca and Trumansburg. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic,Gimme! in 2020 closed the Manhattan and Brooklyn-based locations,and began an Ithaca-area delivery service. Gimme! Coffee also has a wholesale service that caters to coffee and espresso establishments. In January 2020,Colleen Anunu replaced founder Kevin Cuddeback as CEO after he had served 20 years in the role;Anunu then made the company into a worker-owned cooperative,which it remains in July 25,2022. Gimme says that it forms relationships with farmers who grow coffee;farmers may receive a price premium which can help them improve their operations.
WVBR-FM is a commercial,student-owned and volunteer-run college radio station that broadcasts to Ithaca,New York,United States,and surrounding areas. It operates at 3 kilowatts from a transmitter on Hungerford Hill,in Ithaca. Prior to 2016,WVBR had a translator on 105.5 FM. The website WVBR.com provides an additional web-based stream.
Sherburne-Earlville Central School is a public school located in Sherburne,New York.
The Shops at Ithaca Mall,formerly known as the Pyramid Mall Ithaca,is a shopping center located in Lansing,New York,just north of the city of Ithaca. The mall is situated in the junction between NYS Route 13 and North Triphammer Road. With a range of national chain stores and a food court,The Shops at Ithaca Mall caters to the Tompkins County and Cortland County region. The mall's current anchor stores are Target,Regal Cinemas,2 Cayuga Health centers,Michaels,and Best Buy.
Thomas Willard Reed II is an American lobbyist,attorney,and politician from the state of New York. Reed served as the U.S. representative for New York's 23rd congressional district;the district is in New York's Southern Tier. A Republican,Reed first joined the U.S. House after winning a special election to replace Eric Massa in 2010. He previously served one term as mayor of Corning,New York.
The Ithaca Discovery Trail is a collaboration among hands-on museums and the public library in Tompkins County,New York. Its member institutions are:Cayuga Nature Center,Cornell Lab of Ornithology,Cornell Botanic Gardens,Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art,Museum of the Earth,Sciencenter,The History Center of Tompkins County,and Tompkins County Public Library.
The Cayuga Nature Center (CNC) is an educational institution addressing nature and environmental issues. It is located on the west side of Cayuga Lake in Tompkins County,New York.
Tompkins Financial Corporation is a small,diversified financial services company based in Ithaca,New York. It is the parent of the Tompkins Trust Company,as well as several other banks,an insurance agency,and a wealth management division.
900 Stewart Avenue is a building in Ithaca,New York,noted for its Egyptian Revival architecture,its dramatic placement partway down a cliff,and being the residence of astronomer Carl Sagan. The building is on a ledge about 50 feet (15 m) below street level,overlooking Fall Creek and Ithaca Falls.
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