“I’ve always been interested in government, but in different roles. I’m a history nerd; I used to read my history textbooks ahead because we would never finish them at school. When I was 8 or 9, I saw President Taft in the textbook - he was president and a Supreme Court Justice. At that moment, I realized that no woman, let alone Latina, had ever served as president. I immediately went to my mom and told her that I was going to change that. 

Fast forward to college, I applied to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute for a summer internship program. I was accepted and got to spend a summer in DC with a Congress member. It’s bipartisan; I’m Democrat, but I was placed with a Republican from upstate. It was my first formal exposure to government, working for someone from another party and learning about issues outside of NYC. It was also the first time I was away from home because I commuted to college. So it was a learning experience in many senses. After the summer, however, I remember thinking that I would probably never run for office; I would rather be something like a chief of staff. I thought running for office meant I would be in the spotlight too much and I was intimidated by the thought of fundraising. Then I went to law school and government really left my mind. 

I only started getting more involved in government again when I moved to New Rochelle. In 2016, the library board had a vacancy, and no one on the board had kids or lived close to the library. My kids were 3 and 6 at the time and we lived walking distance from the library. I was encouraged to run, so I did and won. Simultaneously, I was becoming increasingly involved at community meetings, especially relating to parks and traffic calming. Eventually, I was asked to run for council.

I was sworn in as a council member in January 2020. It was really a trial by fire. In March, Covid hit and we were really the epicenter for a while. Then, we had our own police killing of a Black man. Within my first 6 months, we were dealing with unprecedented issues, so I had to learn a lot very quickly. Mayor Bramson asked me to sit as the facilitator of the police review board, and I got to immediately engage with residents across the city with this very important topic. As the facilitator, I had to learn how to listen empathically - listen to understand, not to respond, while also producing a report that reflected proposed changes. Last year, I participated in the citizen police academy and did a ride-along with officers to better understand policing.

Through my council work, I was encouraged by many people, including Mayor Bramson, to consider running for mayor. I was hesitant at first, but then I thought why not. Now, as mayor, my goals are to improve communication, create solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change, and see the LINC come to fruition. Communication is really important because the city is doing a lot of good things, but we’re not getting the word out enough to citizens. I want people to feel connected to the city; they should see the mayor in their neighborhoods and at community events. 

I was sworn in only at the beginning of January, so I still have a lot to adapt to, but advice from my dad really grounds me. When I first started law school, I walked onto campus and people were selling bar prep classes for thousands of dollars. I was really confused as to why you would have to buy one as a first year student; I wouldn’t be taking the bar until 3 years later, and to be honest, I didn’t even know you were supposed to take a bar

prep class. It felt like a scam. I called my dad and asked him what to do, but he told me that he really didn’t know. He hadn’t gone to law school and didn’t know anyone who had. My dad just reminded me that I had made the right decisions up until that point. So now whenever I feel like I don’t know what the right answer is, I hear my dad say, ‘Trust your instincts, kid.’” - Mayor Yadira Ramos-Herbert