Councilwoman Maria Quiñones Sanchez is a veteran activist with more than three decades of service in Philadelphia and is currently serving her third four-year term as district 7 representative on the Philadelphia City Council.
Last February, she ran for re-election with the support of several organizations including the Hunting Park Employers Association, the community development organization Esperanza, and SEIU (Service Employees International Union), a union representing nearly 1.9 million workers in more than 100 occupations in the United States and Canada.
It is also supported by Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club, a voluntary political action committee that serves the greater Philadelphia region and endorses candidates who advocate for this community; the National Union of Hospital and Healthcare Employees, District 1199C; the AFSCME 33 District Council; One Pennsylvania, an organization that advocates for economic justice and community political participation; as well as community leaders and chief organizers from across the district and the city
The electoral process will take place on May 21 and in Philadelphia, Democrats and registered Republicans will be able to vote in the primary elections to elect Mayor, 17 seats in the City Council, Register of Wills, Sheriff and the three seats of the City Commissioner, as well as Judgeships on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and Municipal Court.
During her work as a legislator, which began in 2008, Quiñones Sanchez, of Puerto Rican origin, has advocated for the creation and preservation of jobs by investing in a trained and educated workforce. She has demanded ethics and transparency in the government and has worked to revitalize neighborhood economies by reforming unsafe demolition practices and securing the rights of women, families and workers across the city.
In November 2007, she became the first Latina to be elected to a district seat in City Council after winning nearly 80% of the votes to become a city councilwoman, as can be seen in her public profile on the Philadelphia City Council website.
Her legislative accomplishments during her most recent term include the creation of a Philadelphia Land Bank that confers strategic neighborhood revitalization in a single transparent agency which empowers residents, small businesses, community groups, nonprofits and developers across the city in order to transform and reorient vacant and blighted lands.
Another recent achievement was to lead a historic business tax reform to make Philadelphia’s manufacturing industry competitive in the global market by reducing the tax liability of local businesses by nearly 50%.
She has fought to keep Philadelphia residents in their homes by passing tax foreclosure reform and AVI assistance for vulnerable homeowners, a Longtime Owner-Occupant Program, a strong Homestead exemption and a property tax deferral program.
It also passed landmark water affordability legislation to ensure that all Philadelphia residents can access clean and affordable running water by tethering repayment to ability to pay,
Maria Quiñones Sanchez serves on the City Council as Chair of the Committee of Appropriations, Chair of the Committee on Licenses and Inspections, Vice Chair of the Committee on Streets and Services, and Vice Chair of the Committee on Public Health and Human Services. She is also a member of the following committees: Rules, Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs; Education; Labor and Civil Service; and Housing, Neighborhood Development and Homeless.
Prior to serving on the City Council, she worked as Regional Director for the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration (PRFAA), for Pennsylvania and Delaware.
She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Women’s Campaign Fund, a statewide political action committee that works to elect progressive women to the State Legislature.
Translated by: José Espinoza
Noticias Newswire
