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CB6 Chair Mark Thompson Launches Campaign for City Council

By Mary Johnson | May 24, 2012 8:49pm
Community Board 6 Chair Mark Thompson has formally launched his campaign for City Council.
Community Board 6 Chair Mark Thompson has formally launched his campaign for City Council.
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Mark Thompson

MANHATTAN — Mark Thompson, chair of Community Board 6, has officially launched his campaign for City Council.

Although Thompson registered a campaign committee back in April, he has remained relatively mum about his plans to vie for the seat City Councilman Dan Garodnick will vacate in order to stage a run for comptroller next year.

But in a letter that went out to constituents this week, Thompson formally declared his candidacy for the 4th district and announced the launch of his campaign website.

“As chair of Community Board 6, I have successfully fought for better schools, more parks and safer streets in our neighborhoods,” Thompson wrote in the letter. “Now I want to take that fight to the City Council.”

City Councilman Dan Garodnick is vacating his seat to run for city comptroller in 2013.
City Councilman Dan Garodnick is vacating his seat to run for city comptroller in 2013.
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Thompson, who works as a government relations advisor for Capalino+Company, first suggested he was eyeing the seat a few days after Garodnick announced his intention to replace John Liu, the city’s current comptroller, who has been at the center of a massive campaign finance fraud investigation.

Liu is a presumptive candidate for mayor in the 2013 election.

Dara Adams, a 26-year-old who works for the Department of Education as a liaison to public officials, has also indicated she may make a run for Garodnick’s seat. And Steven Newmark, the deputy council for Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, has suggested that he too could be a contender.

Thompson, a California native who has lived in Stuyvesant Town for the past 22 years, said he’s been planning a run for office for some time. But Garodnick’s departure provided him the opportunity to break in to city government.

"I'm really excited to kick off my campaign,” Thompson said in an interview. “This allows me to reach out to members of the community — whether it’s residents or businesses — and see what their concerns are, and let them know what I'm thinking."