Artist and activist Julian Raven, who has complained in the past about Elmira city government and has a free speech lawsuit pending against the city, is ready to tackle what he sees as Elmira’s governance issues from the inside.
Over the weekend, Raven formally launched his independent campaign for mayor, tying his candidacy to America’s 250th anniversary.
Raven, who launched his campaign at the Steele Memorial Library, included a presentation of his “Elmira Declaration of Resilience,” which he described as a civic call to renewal inspired by the Declaration of Independence and the men who signed it.
“Those men changed history because they were willing to bind themselves to a vision,” Raven said. “Two hundred and fifty years later, can we do anything less for Elmira?”
The next mayoral election will take place in 2027. Incumbent Elmira Mayor Dan Mandell, a Republican who is in his third term in office, has not officially announced if he plans to run for another four-year term next year.
Raven outlined three major structural reforms he believes are essential to restore effective government and renewed citizen enthusiasm.
He called for an amendment to the city charter that would eliminate the current council/city manager form of government and restore the office of mayor to a full-time executive.
Raven also announced his intention to recruit six independent council candidates to run alongside his mayoral campaign, arguing that the scale of Elmira’s fiscal and structural challenges demands unusual cooperation between the executive and legislative branches for renewal to occur.
Raven’s third proposal would be to start a public discussion regarding renaming Elmira as “The City of Resilience, New York.”
Raven also wants to address Elmira’s homeless problem. Following his announcement, he met with several members of the city’s homeless community and listened to their stories.
“I refuse to see homelessness as a blur of stigmatized nameless faces,” Raven said. “Every person has a story. Every person has value. Before we prescribe solutions, we must first understand the people we are trying to help.”
Raven is not currently a city resident but said he plans to be in time to be able to run.
Raven has launched a website for his candidacy for Elmira mayor at ravenformayor.com.
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Artist suing city Julian Raven launches campaign for Elmira mayor
Reporting by Jeff Murray, Elmira Star-Gazette / Elmira Star-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jeff Murray, Elmira Star-Gazette | USA TODAY Network
