A long-time economic, environmental and social justice advocate has entered the race for the Third Ward seat on Albany's Common Council.
Dan Plaat currently chairs the Albany County Green Party. He's running for the seat currently held by Democrat Joyce Love, who has decided not to seek a third term.
The third ward runs from Ontario to North Pearl Street, bordered mostly by Central and Washington Avenues on its southwestern side and First Street from northwest to southeast. Its southeastern side is bordered by State Street on the bottom end and Livingston Avenue at the top.
Plaat says he felt compelled to run because the ward is "blighted and neglected" thanks to "lack of community and city support to break the cycle of poverty."
"There's a lack of cooperative economics. There's a lack of shared ownership. There's a lack in the initiatives and a culture to reduce waste and our expenses, as well as people's level the exploitation they suffer from. And then there is the issue of the political oligarchy that we have in the city. So what I hear from people is a general frustration with the lack of accountability of our city leadership," Plaat said.
The 36-year-old Albany native and Elk Street resident fell short in runs for Albany County Executive in 2015 and for city mayor in 2017.
"I ran an outreach campaign for mayor to build the Green Party. And that was a whole eight years ago," said Plaat. "And a lot has happened both in my personal life, the passing of my father, getting a full-time job, actually getting civil employment, building my own life, as well as just doing more of everything, whether it be community projects, finding more friends. Kind of building myself up so and also, this time, I have a team. But before that, I've been part of the Green Party Since 2015 and then before that, it was occupy Albany and then Occupy movement."
Plaat says he is running as an Independent "under the Green Party brand."
Plaat says his community-focused approach contrasts with other candidates, emphasizing his long-term residency and civil involvement.
"I've been involved with community projects going on over a decade, and I am attuned to both the systemic problems and the day to day meat and potatoes problems," Plaat said. "You know, I walk through the neighborhood constantly. I work and live downtown. I don't go anywhere else. There's really nowhere else I'd rather be despite the problems, but that is the point. That I see them and that I understand them, not only through talking to people and sharing their struggles, but having that broader understanding of what to do about it, which would be, you know, the initiatives for cooperative economics, the need for public works and jobs, the kind of policies and initiatives that are just sitting on the shelf, like I brought it up eight years ago, municipal internet, why has it not been enacted? Compost pickups. What is the holdup?"
Democrats Lukee Forbes, James Davis and Arthur Lumpkin are on the ballot for the June 24 primary.
