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Notes:
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District 32 - Council Member - Republican - Belle Harbor, Breezy Point, Broad Channel, Howard Beach, Lindenwood, Neponsit, Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Rockaway Park, Roxbury, South Ozone Park, West Hamilton Beach, Woodhaven - Joann Ariola was is a lifelong resident of the 32nd Council District. She was born in Ozone Park and raised in Howard Beach. She attended P.S 63 (Old South), P.S. 207 (Rockwood Park), Our Lady of Grace Catholic School, Stella Maris H.S. on the Rockaway Peninsula and Adelphi Business School. Ariola, a longtime Queens civic leader, wife, mother and grandmother has always focused her activism on forging positive relationships between the residents of Queens and government agencies to promote high quality education for students, raising the quality-of-life residents deserve and working with the NYPD on issues related to public safety. On June 22, 2021, Ariola won a Republican Primary with over 80 percent of the vote and on November 2, 2021, was elected to the NYC City Council in a General Election by a margin of over 65 percent. She is known as a common-sense moderate and is a member of the Republican Minority Caucus as well as the Common-Sense Caucus in the Council. Ariola is a trusted representative for the communities within the 32nd Council District. She has been a strong advocate for Superstorm Sandy victims, continues to fight for more COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites to be located within the district, advocated for increased services for students who were remote learning, and was outspoken on behalf of helping small businesses rebound due to being shuttered during the pandemic. Ariola is committed to working with the mayor and council to return much needed resources to the NYPD for increased staffing, training programs, and re-establishing a better trained anti-crime unit to remove illegal guns from our streets. Ariola will have an aggressive quality-of-life agenda, targeting graffiti, vandalism, illegal dumping on city streets, returning resources for additional trash removal, especially along our business districts, securing funding for infrastructure maintenance and repair as well as seeking more available transportation options to and from the district. Ariola strongly opposes the current warehousing and hotel living options for the homeless population. She will be an advocate for mental health treatment, addiction services, job training and work to reinstate programs that provide permanent home placement. Additionally, Ariola has been outspoken against the closing of Rikers Island and the building of community jails. A large portion of the 32nd Council District is geographically centered around Jamaica Bay. Ariola will continue to work with groups such as the Jamaica Bay Eco Watchers to continue making Jamaica Bay cleaner and NY Rising, Rockaway Rising and the Queens Borough Presidents Hurricane Task Force to ensure the communities surrounding Jamaica Bay become more resilient against future storms.
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