Councilwoman Maria Baez and Assemblyman Jose Rivera first met in 1982, when Rivera had just been elected to the Assembly for the first time, and Baez was a struggling single mom living on Creston Avenue. Rivera gave her a job - the first job she'd ever had - and the "rest is history," he says.
Last month, we sat down with Baez to talk about her career (including the important role Rivera has played), her achievements, and some of the criticism she's faced these past two years - being AWOL from Council meetings, her office's mammoth cell phone bills, etc. We also spoke with several of her supporters, including a long-time friend who calls Baez the "best thing that's ever happened to this community." And we heard from those who see her in a very different light. One community leader says Baez has been "invisible" and a "non-entity."
You can read the story here.
Baez, in case you missed it, faces a tough Democratic primary on Sept. 15 against two determined opponents: Fernando Cabrera and Yudelka Tapia. There will be profiles of Cabrera and Tapia (as well as a version of the Baez article) in next week’s Norwood News and September's Mount Hope Monitor. We'll link to them on the blog.
PHOTO: Rivera and Baez at a rally outside Baez's campaign office on July 16 (ALMA WATKINS)
See people I was right......read my last posting in previous article.
ReplyDeleteRivera is behind this whole race. Not look at this picture....MARIA is actually smiling .... yeah right.
Maria Baez lied through the entire article.
ReplyDeleteMaria Baez is lying her head off. She does not live in Davidson Avenue. She lives with her daughter in Throggs Neck and in the Poconos. She claims that she is ill, and yet this profile failed to point out that she did not have a medical excuse in all of her absences, with the exception of 1%. She claims she has brought a lot of monies, and yet Joel Rivera has brought in almost twice as much into his district. She has not brought in new monies. This is sad in a district rampant with a 19% unemployment and lack of services. We don’t even have one youth center in the district. Is she out of her mind, trying to give more rights to landloards?! It just shows you how out of touch she is with the community. Maria Baez is being investigated for her handling of tax payer monies. She had a $17,000+ phone bill per month and she tries to say that she just had the wrong plan? It just show how poor of a leaders and what a grand liar she is.
I believe Fernando Cabrera is the right man for the job. This is why the Bronx Democratic Party, all of the major unions, local elected officials and community leaders endorsed Fernando Cabrera. We need NEW leadership in District 14 and Cabrera will bring it on.
Maria is such a LIAR - she was ill, yeah right. Where are her medical records???? Proof that she was sick? All of a sudden she is well and ready to run District 14........ NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GET OUT AND GO BACK TO THROGS NECK AND POCONOS.
ReplyDeleteAnyone on for a tour of her Poconos home?
YO YO Juanepoo???
ReplyDeleteIf you want maria baez out of the district because you say she is mistreating the office by abusing it and by not attending-
then Juane-how do you live with the fact that your candidate was a comunity board 7 member-with a worser attendance than maria baez
I have stayed silent on this issue because I am hesitant to support or trust any politician. But, this is one race I have to speak up about. There is no doubt the Bronx needs some new elected officials, and from everything I've read, Maria Baez it seems needs to lead them out. I don't know if Cabrera is the one to replace her, so I will about him when they print it. But, Baez seems to have lost the public's trust, and seems to be a very unsophisticated in general. Just looking at the cell phone issue alone, if you spend 17000 on a cell phone because you picked the wrong plan, that alone should disqualify you from deciding on budgets. I don't know.
ReplyDeleteI guess the money she gave to 2401 Davidson Tenant Association was also because she "chose the wrong plan-NFP" to invest in.. Boo.. Come up with a better one.. thats lame.
ReplyDeleteMrsjuanaquintana info is very interesting and the press should find out more about this. Getting a hold of this information will prove that this Cabrera person is definitely not a fit to represent one of the poorest district. Number one requirement for accountability and maximum performance is ATTENDANCE. NOT ANOTHER MARIA BAEZ IN DISTRICT 14, EVEN WORST BECAUSE THIS ONE IS REPUBLICAN. AS OF LAST YEAR.
ReplyDeleteConcern Citizen you are an incorrect citizen supporting Yudelka who has just lost their campaign manager, who can manage to get campaign finance monies due to the campaign finance mess she has, and lost 5 times.
ReplyDelete