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League
of Preservation Voters:
Strengthening Our Communities
by Educating
Elected Officials about Preservation
FALL 2009 PRESERVATION
VOTER GUIDES
All pdfs
For more information,
please call (212) 614-9107
The Historic Districts
Council has developed a program to help communities and elected
officials partner together to better preserve the historic resources
that make each neighborhood unique. This program includes neighborhood
roundtables, candidate forums and educational outreach to prospective
elected officials to help them see the importance of historic
preservation, especially local landmark designation.
HDC first launched its League of Preservation Voters in Brooklyn’s
40th Council District, which runs along the southern and southeastern
edges of Prospect Park and expands to the east; a number of neighborhoods
within the 40th District are designated historic districts, including
Prospect
Park South and Ditmas
Park. In November 2006, Council Member Yvette Clarke won
the election for the 11th Congressional District and nearly one
dozen candidates ran for the open Council Seat. Seizing upon the
unexpected election period, HDC recognized the opportunity to
reach out to prospective candidates and begin a dialogue with
them about important issues of preservation and development affecting
the district. Through this process we were able educate both the
candidates and the community on these issues, and, since taking
office, the election’s victor, Dr. Matthieu Eugene, has
supported the designations of a number individual landmarks and
the newly-designated Midwood
Park-Fiske Terrace Historic District.
Based on this successful effort, HDC has expanded the program
citywide, starting in the 30th
Council District in Queens, which encompasses Middle Village,
Ridgewood, Glendale, Woodhaven and parts of Richmond Hill. A special
election was held in June 2008 to fill the open Council Seat,
and we met with local community organizations to discuss their
top concerns for their neighborhoods. HDC compiled a Voter Guide
with candidate responses to selected preservation and development
questions and hosted a candidate forum where the public addressed
candidates directly on a range of community-related issues.
We launched new initiatives again
in February 2009 during the special elections in District
49 (Staten Island) and District
21 (Queens).
HDC’s initiative
will culminate with the creation of a citywide preservation platform
aimed at candidates in the 2009 municipal elections. During that
election cycle a large majority of local political representatives
will change due to term limits, providing concerned neighborhood
activists a rare opportunity to catalyze real change in the way
the preservation community engages elected officials. By working
with candidates throughout the city, HDC and its Neighborhood
Partners will identify new allies in the fight to protect our
city’s historic resources and begin a dialogue with them
about important preservation and development issues affecting
the district. The resulting partnerships will benefit the entire
community, regardless of who wins each election.
For more information about the
League of Preservation Voters, please contact the Historic Districts
Council at 212-614-9107 or email HDC at hdc@hdc.org.
*Please note that the
League of Preservation Voters is nonpartisan
and does not endorse any candidate for political office.
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