Deborah Rose is a New York City politician. She was the Council member for the 49th district of the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

. She is a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

and was the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

elected to higher office from

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

. The district includes the neighborhoods of Arlington, Bloomfield,

Bull's Head ''Bull's Head'' (french: Tête de taureau) is a found object artwork by Pablo Picasso, created in 1942 from the seat and handlebars of a bicycle. It is described by Roland Penrose as Picasso's most famous discovery, a simple yet "astonishingly c ...

, Castleton Corners,

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

, Emerson Hill,

Fort Wadsworth Fort Wadsworth is a former Military of the United States, United States military installation on Staten Island in New York City, situated on The Narrows which divide New York Bay into Upper New York Bay, Upper and Lower New York Bay, Lower halv ...

, Graniteville,

Grymes Hill Grymes Hill is a tall hill formed of serpentine rock on Staten Island, New York. It is the second highest natural point on the island and in the five boroughs of New York City. The neighborhood of the same name encompasses an area of and has a ...

, Howland Hook, Mariners Harbor, New Brighton, Park Hill, Port Ivory, Port Richmond, Randall Manor, Rosebank, Shore Acres,

Silver Lake Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

, Stapleton,

Todt Hill Todt Hill ( ) is a hill formed of serpentine rock on Staten Island, New York. It is the highest natural point in the five boroughs of New York City and the highest elevation on the entire Atlantic coastal plain from Florida to Cape Cod. The summi ...

, Tompkinsville, West Brighton,

Westerleigh Westerleigh is a clustered village and civil parish (which includes Henfield) in South Gloucestershire, England, it contains sources of the Frome and has an endpoint of the Frome Valley Walkway. It is north of the M4, south of Yate and nort ...

and Willowbrook on

Life and career

Rose, a native Staten Islander, was born on August 21, 1951, and grew up in the West New Brighton neighborhood on the North Shore of

. One of three children, her parents were the late Louis Carrington, a descendant of Sandy Ground settlers, and the late Muriel Billups, a founder of the Staten Island chapter of the

National Council of Negro Women The National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1935 with the mission to advance the opportunities and the quality of life for African-American women, their families, and communities. Mary McLeod Bethune, the f ...

. Her maternal grandparents owned one of two black-owned funeral homes on Staten Island, and were community leaders. She is a graduate of

Port Richmond High School Port Richmond High School is a public high school on the North Shore of Staten Island, New York City, New York. It is located in the Elm Park neighborhood, at 85 St Josephs Avenue between Innis Street and Charles Avenue. It has approximately 10 ...

, where she was a member of the Staten Island's NAACP youth group and the Vice President of her senior class. She is also a graduate of

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...

. She currently resides in

Arlington, Staten Island Arlington is a neighborhood on the North Shore of Staten Island in New York City. It is a subsection of the Mariners' Harbor neighborhood, located north of the North Shore Branch, and west of Harbor Road. Arlington was given its name by Civil War ...

. Prior to running for the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

seat, she spent several years advocating on school funding issues and health issues. She was elected in 1996 to the now-defunct

New York City Board of Education The Panel for Educational Policy of the Department of Education of the City School District of the City of New York, abbreviated as the Panel for Educational Policy and also known as the New York City Board of Education, is the governing body of ...

. She has been a member of the

Mental Health Society and the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. Established in 1913, the society is organized into six geographical regions of both medical and lay volunteers operating in more than ...

- Women's Breast Partnership. She established the Staten Island Black Women's Health Initiative.

New York City Council

In the September 2009 Democratic primary, Rose defeated incumbent Kenneth Mitchell by 16 percentage points. She defeated Mitchell (

Conservative Party of New York The Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party founded in 1962 following conservative dissatisfaction with the Republican Party in New York. Running on the Conservative Party line, James L. Buckley won election to the U ...

) and Timothy Kuhn ( Republican Party) by a wide margin in the November 2009 general election. She easily was re-elected in 2013. Rose currently serves as the chairperson of the New York City Council Committee on Civil Rights. Rose was the subject of a lawsuit filed by five Staten Island voters. The voters alleged that Rose was underbilled for services provided by Data and Field Services, a political company created by the

Working Families Party The Working Families Party (WFP) is a minor political party in the United States, founded in New York in 1998. There are active chapters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Nev ...

. DFS provides services such as phone banking, polling and get-out-the-vote efforts. Rose should have paid DFS $100,000, but the lawsuit alleged that her campaign was underbilled because she was endorsed by the Working Families Party, a violation of election laws. Rose's campaign settled by paying DFS $8,525, and did not have to acknowledge any wrongdoing on the behalf of her campaign or DFS.

References

External links

Councilwoman Debi Rose (official site)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, Debi Living people New York (state) Democrats New York City Council members African-American New York City Council members African-American women in politics People from West New Brighton, Staten Island Hofstra University alumni Women New York City Council members 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Politicians from Staten Island 1951 births 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women