Bill de Blasio has dedicated his career to making government more responsive and accountable. As a leader in the community and the City Council, Bill has been a devoted advocate for the homeless and impoverished, public school parents, and for the rights of all New Yorkers.
Bill's introduction to New York City government came during David Dinkins' 1989 Mayoral campaign. Following the campaign, Bill served as an aide in the Dinkins Administration, where he worked on projects such as the Safe Streets, Safe City initiative to reduce crime throughout New York City.
In 1997, Bill was appointed to serve as the Regional Director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for New York and New Jersey in the Clinton Administration. At HUD, he helped increase access to and improve affordable housing, including helping take control of the Beekman Houses, a failed development project in the South Bronx. In 1999, Bill was elected to the School Board for District 15 in Brooklyn. There, he led the district to become a pioneer in establishing nearly universal pre-kindergarten and capping first grade class size at 20 students. In 2000, Bill managed Hillary Rodham Clinton's successful campaign for U.S. Senate. The following year, Bill was elected to the New York City Council to serve District 39 in Brooklyn; he was re-elected overwhelmingly in 2003 and 2005.
Throughout his years as a School Board member and a Councilmember, Bill, himself the father of two children in public school, has fought to improve and protect public education and child care. In the spring of 2008, Bill organized a successful coalition of elected officials, parents, children, and advocates to win back millions of dollars in proposed cuts to classroom funding. Since taking office, Bill has helped secure $84 million in additional child care resources, sponsored multiple initiatives to expand subsidized child care for low and moderate income families, and successfully organized communities to save child care centers that the City threatened to close.
As the Chair of the Council's General Welfare Committee, Bill has spent the past eight years working to protect New York City's most vulnerable populations. In this role, Bill helped institute critical changes that allow the Administration for Children's Services (ACS) to better protect our city's children. He has continually fought to secure funding to lower caseloads in preventive service programs to protect the thousands of children at risk of abuse or neglect. Bill has also exercised much needed oversight to change the City's homelessness policy to one that is based in prevention, and he has passed legislation to increase eligible New Yorkers' access to food stamps.
In the Council, Bill authored and passed a law to end a widespread form of housing discrimination. Until last year, landlords in New York City were legally allowed to discriminate against tenants who tried to rent an apartment with a Section 8 voucher or other lawful source of government income, such as Social Security. Prior to the passage of this legislation, these critical affordable housing subsidies were rendered essentially useless for many families who found themselves constantly turned away by landlords across the City.
Bill has also been a leader in the City Council in protecting the environment for future generations of New Yorkers to enjoy. In 2008, the Council passed Bill's landmark electronics recycling legislation to require manufacturers of electronics to collect and recycle their products, which contain hazardous materials. Bill has also authored legislation that would ban Styrofoam, and he has introduced bills and worked with the Department of Education to increase recycling in public schools.
Bill holds a Bachelors degree from New York University and a Masters in International and Public Affairs from Columbia University. He and his wife Chirlane first met while working together in the Dinkins Administration. Bill and Chirlane live with their two children, Chiara and Dante, in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
