Latest news with #LandUseCommittee
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NYC borough president races: Who's running?
The Brief A borough president reviews land use proposals and gives an advisory opinion that can influence City Council decisions. They also appoint community board members, shaping how neighborhoods grow and where resources go. In the Manhattan borough president race, there is no incumbent, as Mark Levine is running for comptroller. NEW YORK CITY - A borough president reviews land use proposals and gives an advisory opinion that can influence City Council decisions. JUMP TO: BRONX l BROOKLYN l MANHATTAN l STATEN ISLAND l QUEENS MORE: NYC primary election 2025 ultimate voter guide They also appoint community board members, shaping how neighborhoods grow and where resources go. It's a key role for setting local priorities. In the 2025 primary election, only three races are competitive: the Democratic primaries for Manhattan, Brooklyn and Bronx borough presidents. Here's a look at the candidates running, both opposed and unopposed, as well as real-time election results. Election results will become available when polls close at 9 p.m. Local perspective Here are the candidates for each borough: Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson (D) is running for re-election after first winning the seat in 2021. Challenging her in the Democratic primary is City Councilmember Rafael Salamanca (D), who chairs the Council's Land Use Committee. Antonio Reynoso (D) is running for re-election after first winning the Brooklyn borough president seat in 2021. He previously served on the City Council and has picked up endorsements from major unions, elected officials and the Working Families Party. Khari Edwards (D), a corporate executive and community advocate, is running again after losing in 2021. He has not held elected office and is campaigning on education, job training and gun violence prevention. Janine Acquafredda (R) is a real estate broker and the only Republican in the race, automatically advancing to the November ballot. She's focused on public safety, homeownership and defending drivers' rights in the city. There is no incumbent in the Manhattan borough president race, as Mark Levine is running for comptroller. The Democratic candidates are State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, City Councilmember Keith Powers and emergency medicine doctor Calvin Sun. Hoylman-Sigal has served in Albany for 12 years and has passed over 350 bills. He has endorsements from former Manhattan borough presidents, Manhattan Democratic Party leaders, Rep. Jerry Nadler and the Healthcare Workers Union 1199. Powers is a term-limited City Councilmember focused on land use and affordable housing. He has raised slightly more campaign funds than Hoylman-Sigal and is endorsed by several members of Congress, Union 32BJ and the Teamsters. Sun is a doctor with no prior elected office experience. His campaign focuses on healthcare access, cost of living and education, and he has raised significantly less money than the other two candidates. Voters will choose between two candidates running unopposed in their parties in the November general election. Republican Vito Fossella is the current Staten Island borough president. His tenure includes efforts to challenge congestion pricing and oppose voting rights for non-citizens in city elections. Fossella's 2021 campaign was endorsed by former President Donald Trump. His campaign currently holds $77,304 with no public matching funds. Democrat Michael Colombo is focusing on affordable housing, better public transportation and public health. Colombo emphasizes his working-class Staten Island roots over party politics. His campaign has raised $67,805 and has not received matching funds. Voters will decide between two candidates in the November general election since neither faces a primary challenge. Republican Henry "Ike" Ikezi works in real estate and focuses on job training, affordable housing and increasing NYPD presence for public safety. His campaign has raised over $15,000, but currently has under $1,000 available. Democrat Donovan Richards is the current Queens borough president. He has directed funding toward hospitals, affordable housing, clean energy and nonprofits. Richards previously served on the City Council, where he led zoning and public safety committees.
Leader Live
09-05-2025
- Business
- Leader Live
FUW on the private environmental payments for farmers
Are private environmental payments a potential goldmine, or a minefield for farmers? Payments for carbon sequestration, Biodiversity 'Net Gain', ecosystem services such as natural flood management, or habitat creation and 'nutrient trading', are showing an increase in interest from the private market. The FUW's Land Use Committee have recently published a report outlining five key 'needs' to ensure farmers can take advantage of, but also be protected within, these new markets. These include clarity and transparency; regulation and protection; access to schemes and rewarding active management; a balance between land use demands and permanence and last but not least; a fair price. It's important the Union engages in the design of these markets to ensure they work for Wales' family farms whilst protecting food production and our rural communities. Clarity and transparency is needed as it can be difficult for farmers to find opportunities, trusted brokers, and information on the practical and financial implications of these actions. In addition farmers need clarity on how these opportunities will interact with public financing via government-led schemes. Whilst standards and 'principles' have been published by the UK, Scottish and Welsh Government to improve the integrity of these markets, the FUW has argued that these do not go far enough in providing regulations which protect farmers. For example, climate change brings more extreme weather, pathogens and pests but this is not considered a 'force majeure' (e.g. wildfires in planted woodlands) as the unpredictability of climate change has been predicted. Such a situation has the potential to leave the farmer with costly replanting liabilities. Access to these schemes is currently the biggest barrier for smaller farms, especially tenants. The average size of a farm in Wales is 48 hectares, yet the cost of registration, validation and monitoring per project via, for example, the Woodland Carbon Code, means economies of scale are better suited to take advantage of the income available. This perhaps explains why Scotland's estates are already active in these markets. Balancing sometimes conflicting land use demands with the long term commitment of some of these schemes is a real challenge for farmers, in an uncertain trading and political climate, both domestically and globally. Farmers have to weigh up current and potential future income streams with what works for their businesses, families and land types and find projects which complement the farming system, such as Soil Carbon payments. A fair price should be a prerequisite but in reality farmers have seen dwindling government budgets for the maintenance and management of habitat, or schemes which provide 'income foregone' or capital contributions as opposed to genuinely reflecting the management skills, vision, planning time, local knowledge, capital costs and commitments these actions require. The private market, if they are to succeed in their ambitions, will need to prove to farmers that it can provide a long term and fair return for their work.
