Valle-Bueno designated for judge
On Sunday the Ridgewood Democratic Club held a gathering of electeds, community board members and candidates. Our friend Jasmine Valle-Bueno made quite an impression and has now been designated by the Queens Democratic Party as a candidate for civil court judge. She is currently Principal Law Clerk to the Administrative Judge in Queens Supreme. The mother of two is a vice president of the Queens Latino Lawyers, a member of the executive committee at community board #5 in Queens and is Ridgewood through and through. Claire Valdez, current Assembly member (and candidate for the 7th congressional seat) was the main feature, but they took time to recognize the good work of our friend Ted Renz, who ran the Myrtle Avenue BID and has been a Community Board 5 member for decades.
Smyth goes to school
Dermot Smyth, who was narrowly defeated in a democratic primary bid for City Council in Middle Village, was appointed by CUNY as vice chancellor in charge of governmental affairs. Dermot came into our Woodside offices a short while back and our editorial staff bought in on his
experience, leadership and political savvy. He got overwhelm- ing political support, including from cur- rent council speaker Julie Menin. We also endorsed him in the council race, but he fell short. We know he will be successful for CUNY, as he has deep ties and is considered a straight shooter. CUNY has 26 cam- puses and their advo- cate for budgeting priorities from the state and the city is a deli- cate ask every year.
Dermot spent more than a decade advocating for the UFT.
Won joins in on the fun
Insiders told us a few weeks ago that Woodside Councilwoman Ju- lie Won was seriously considering jumping into the congressional race in the 7th. She has now thrown her hat in the ring. The DSA and Mayor Mamdani have thrown support to Claire Valdez, while Brooklyn BP Antonio Reynoso is also running. As a district that includes Brooklyn and Queens, Won and Valdez are not well known in Brooklyn, but as one of the more progressive districts they certainly have a good shot and winning. The 7th is currently represented by Nydia Velasquez, who is retiring.
