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Svante Myrick

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Svante Myrick
Mayor of Ithaca
In office
January 1, 2012 – February 6, 2022
Preceded byCarolyn K. Peterson
Succeeded byLaura Lewis (Acting)
Personal details
Born (1987-03-15) March 15, 1987 (age 37)
Florida, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationCornell 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]

Early life and education

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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 an addiction to crack cocaine led Leslie Myrick to move her four children from Florida to Earlville, New York, a small village of 900.[5] Myrick was raised in Earlville by his mother and his maternal grandparents, Wilbur and Phyllis Raville. Myrick's family 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]

Political career

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Ithaca Common Council (2008–2011)

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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]

Mayor of Ithaca (2012–2022)

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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.

Awards and honors

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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]

References

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  1. ^ Owens, Donna (February 2, 2016). "NBCBLK28: Svante Myrick: From Homeless to High Office". NBC News. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  2. ^ "Svante Myrick Named Incoming President of People For". pfaw.org.
  3. ^ a b Eisenstadt, Marnie (March 6, 2017). "Svante Myrick's star power is rising: What's next for Ithaca's young mayor?". syracuse.
  4. ^ Weaver, Teri (November 20, 2011). "Svante Myrick: How a child of modest means became Ithaca's youngest mayor-elect". syracuse.
  5. ^ a b "'Ithaca's Anti-Heroin Plan: Open a Site to Shoot Heroin". The New York Times. 2016-03-22. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
  6. ^ Weaver, Teri (November 20, 2011). "Svante Myrick: How a child of modest means became Ithaca's youngest mayor-elect". Syracuse Post-Standard.
  7. ^ "'We have no time to waste appearing to be happy:' Read transcript of Mayor Myrick's IHS graduation speech". Ithaca Voice. 2014-07-01. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  8. ^ a b https://web.archive.org/web/20090529074931/http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/May09/sp.Myrick.html Cornell Chronicle, Cornell University, May 2009
  9. ^ Murtagh, Joseph. "Mackesey, Myrick, Gallucci jump into the Ithaca mayoral ring". Ithaca Times.
  10. ^ "Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick asks 'Would I have your support' for another term". The Ithaca Voice. February 15, 2019.
  11. ^ "T-Free: Tobacco Free Tompkins". Tompkins Co. Archived from the original on 2014-03-30. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
  12. ^ "Tompkins Weekly, 6 April 2009" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  13. ^ Ben Eisen (2008-09-03). "Collegetown Vision Committee approves master plan". Cornell Daily Sun. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
  14. ^ "City officials try to move past conflicts over c-town". Cornell Daily Sun. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
  15. ^ "Svante Myrick ’09 Enters 2011 Race For Mayor of Ithaca" Archived 2011-11-04 at the Wayback Machine, Cornell Daily Sun, March 30, 2011.
  16. ^ Lawyer, Liz (September 14, 2011). "Myrick wins mayoral primary in Ithaca". The Ithaca Journal. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012.
  17. ^ Cornell Daily Sun Archived 2012-04-04 at the Wayback Machine, November 10, 2011.
  18. ^ http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011111090342 Ithaca Journal[permanent dead link‍], November 10, 2011.
  19. ^ http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011111080393 Ithaca Journal, November 10, 2011.
  20. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20111115022851/http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Nov11/MyrickMayor.html Cornell Chronicle, Cornell University, November 2011
  21. ^ Mearhoff, Sarah. "Mayor Myrick talks political aspirations, #fakenews and why he's hopeful for the future". Ithaca Journal.
  22. ^ "The Making of a Mayor - IC View - Ithaca College". www.ithaca.edu.
  23. ^ "Six Celebrities Who Found Success Early---and Later---In Careers". June 12, 2013.
  24. ^ Weinstein, Matt. "Myrick, saluted by Forbes, remains committed to Ithaca". Ithaca Journal.
  25. ^ Owens, Donna (February 2, 2016). "Ithaca's Youngest and First Black Mayor, Svante Myrick". NBC News.
  26. ^ "Race to City Hall". Buzzsaw Magazine. 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
  27. ^ Wednesday, October 3, 2012 10:30 pm (2012-10-03). "Mayor Svante Myrick presents proposed 2013 budget - Ithaca Times : News". Ithaca. Retrieved 2014-03-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  28. ^ "City of Ithaca Commits to Paying Its Workers a Living Wage! : Tompkins County Workers' Center". Tcworkerscenter.org. 2012-11-09. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
  29. ^ "Network Holds Largest Conference to Date". Supportive Housing Network of New York. 2013-10-06. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
  30. ^ "City named certified living-wage employer". The Ithacan. 2013-12-04. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
  31. ^ "Mayor discusses plans after White House summit". The Ithacan. 2013-12-23. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
  32. ^ Marshall, Jillian (2013-10-02). "Ithaca Mayor proposes lowest tax levy since 2000". WBNG. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
  33. ^ "Mayor of Ithaca unveils 2014 budget - Time Warner Cable News". Centralny.ynn.com. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
  34. ^ Barrett, Erin (2013-11-13). "Council approves final budget without adding IPD officers". Ithaca Times. Ithaca.com. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
  35. ^ "FACT SHEET: President Obama hosts over 200 Mayors from Across the Country at the White House". The White House Office of the Press Secretary. 2015-01-23. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
  36. ^ "Ithaca mayor attends global economic summit". 103.7 Q Country Radio. 2015-08-15. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
  37. ^ "Ithaca Mayor Proposes Supervised Injection Sites". Ithaca Times. 2016-02-24. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
  38. ^ "The Ithaca Plan: A Public Health and Safety Approach to Drugs and Drug Policy". City of Ithaca. 2016-02-25. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
  39. ^ "Mayor Svante Myrick '09 Defends New Drug Policy Plan at Press Conference". Cornell Daily Sun. 2016-02-25. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  40. ^ "Upstate N.Y. mayor proposes nation's first drug injection centers". CNN. 2016-02-25. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
  41. ^ Reynolds, Nick. "Community leaders continue discussions on safe injection facilities". Ithaca Times.
  42. ^ "City of Ithaca Responds to Youth Demands, Becomes First East Coast City to Divest from Fossil Fuels". Youth Power Summit 2013. 2013-04-22. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
  43. ^ "'We Can Do it Better.' Meet the Millennials Taking Over City Hall". Time. 12 October 2017.
  44. ^ Anbinder, Mark H. "Ithaca's mayoral race will have a second candidate".
  45. ^ "Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick announces re-election bid". The Ithaca Voice. March 7, 2019.
  46. ^ "Contest Overview Data: 2019 Tompkins General". Tompkins County Board of Elections. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  47. ^ "The John F. Kennedy New Frontier Awards 2014 Recipients". John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. 2014-12-10. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  48. ^ "America's Mayors: Put Us in Charge—Now". Politico. 2016-08-08. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
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Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Ithaca
2012–2022 		Succeeded by
Laura Lewis
Acting
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