On the Candidates: Maritza Davila

When Maritza Davila was a little girl growing up in Bushwick, she was afraid to walk to school. Traversing the empty lots and burned out buildings, and navigating the abandoned city blocks populated by drug addicts, gang members and criminals that ran through her neighborhood proved to be a daily struggle. One lot in particular frightened Davila the most. On Bushwick Avenue, the menacing parcel represented decades of neglect and political negligence, dilapidation and urban wreckage. But now, years later, the lot has been rehabilitated, transformed into an affordable housing complex complete with a community garden—thanks to Davila herself, female district leader, tenant organizer, community activist and candidate for City Council in the 34th district of Brooklyn.
“I know every square inch of this community,” Davila said with a smile. “I’ve lived here all my life.”
Once a single mother raising three children at the age of 25, Davila spent her nights huddled in a burned out building in Bushwick. The landlord had since abandoned the parcel, leaving it to descend into disarray. Left without heat, hot water or necessary repairs, Davila and her children, and the five other families who occupied the building—most of which consisted of single mothers and multiple children—lived in squalor. Until one day, Davila couldn’t take it anymore, and sought help at the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council. Shortly thereafter, Davila, with the support of RBCC, organized her building into a tenant association, took the absentee landlord to court and won custody of the building, which the residents fixed up like new. It was then that Davila knew it wasn’t just coincidence: She was born to organize.
“We were no nonsense,” Davila said. “I saw what a difference we made in that building, just standing up for ourselves. We had to stand up for ourselves all our lives living in a community like that, but we were taking a different approach through organizing and education, it was the key. And I knew, that was my calling.”
Shortly thereafter, Davila met Assemblyman Vito Lopez, who was impressed by her outgoing manner and hired her as a legislative aid. After working with Lopez for two years, Davila accepted a position at Ridgewood Bushwick, as a tenant and community organizer, where she was able to hone her skills, and after nearly 20 years on the job, Davila decided that holding a seat in city council would allow her to make bigger, bolder changes in and for the community.
“Grassroots organizing, doorknocking and talking to people and getting to understand what they feel and their fears are, and addressing them through grassroots organizing was my strong suit. I identified with those people.
“I feel that I have done a lot of grassroots organizing—door-knocking, talking to people—over the past twenty years or so, I understand how they feel, and what their fears are. I identify with them,” Davila said. “And now, I need to go out and start servicing my community on a different level, a much higher level.”
Among issues most important to her, Davila emphasized her commitment to paying very close attention to discretionary funding streams, and making sure discretionary monies are being used practically, properly and effectively. In addition, Davila plans to create more youth programs to provide safe, healthy alternatives to gang involvement; exponentially increase police presence in the district; provide ESL classes and other resources for community members struggling with learning the English language; and create more community groups, in all areas of the 34th district, that reflect the needs of each unique neighborhood; and provide funding and support to the struggling school system.
“I will make the diverse community coalesce while helping them maintain their individual ethnic and cultural character,” Davila said. “Every part of this district is different. Ridgewood consists of small-home owners, and they need youth services—it’s all houses, so there is nothing for the teenagers to do after school. Then, you go to the Southside and you have guys on the streets playing dominoes, it’s beautiful, so culturally beautiful. You can’t help but to embrace all of it. I want to keep the community together, however I want them to be able to voice their own opinions.”
Davila also served as president of the School Board in 2001, right before it was abolished, which bolstered her involvement in the New York City school system. She also runs several programs through RBCC, and serves as the female district leader for the 53 assembly district. But above all, she is a grassroots organizer, and believes with the support of legislative power, she can affect real changes in the community, for the better.
“Organizing is what I do best,” Davila said. “It’s exactly who I am.”