Councilwoman Corazon Pineda has focused her term on education, and was successful in getting her colleagues, Democrat and Republican alike, to increase funds for the Yonkers Public Schools over and above what had been proposed by the Mayor. She brought back over $20 Million in funding for Yonkers schools, parks, infrastructure & public space; co-sponsored a law establishing a living wage for city contractors and subcontractors, required companies that do business in Yonkers and receive city funding to hire Yonkers residents; introduced legislation urging Mayor Spano to equip the Yonkers Police Department with body cameras; co-sponsored a bill that increases the income eligibility for the Senior Citizen and Disabled Rent Increase Exemptions (SCRIE & DRIE) and enables more of our seniors and disabled to age in place; and introduced a resolution urging the Mayor to designate Yonkers a Sanctuary City.

Councilwoman Pineda believes that when you call yourself a Democrat, you should actually stand up for progressive, Democratic values. That’s why she was endorsed by the following Yonkers Democratic leaders: Congressman Eliot Engel, NYS Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assemblywoman Shelley Mayer, Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, County Legislator Ken Jenkins, City Council Minority Leader Michael Sabatino, and Councilman Christopher Johnson, as well as the endorsement of the Working Families Party, Independence Party, SWAC-PAC, Community Voices Heard, and many unions including the Yonkers Federation of Teachers, Westchester-Putnam AFL-CIO, SEIU’s 1199, 32BJ and Local 704, Teamsters 456, TWU Local 100, and CSEA.

The DMO serves to connect, engage, and empower elected officials who identify as Democrats across the US. To further that mission, they initiated the highly selective Blue Star Candidate program to strengthen DMO membership by drawing national attention to local Democratic candidates, in particular when such an election would shift a mayor’s seat or council majority from red to blue. These candidates have been vetted and recommended by the DMO national board. According to DMO President Joe Buscaino, a Los Angeles Councilman, Corazon Pineda is a “National example of a grass roots progressive whom the national party should recognize and help enable to serve the residents of her up and coming community.”