A Voice in Port Jervis, and Guantanamo Bay Too, Miller Runs for Mayor
Elizabeth Miller has several roles as Common Council member and works for a nonprofit for people who lost family members in 9/11, as she did.
When Elizabeth Miller first decided she would run for Port Jervis mayor, she recalled, she was sitting on the floor of her mother’s office in the house on Holbrook St. in the West End of Port Jervis where she grew up.
“I thought, why not bring a fresh perspective?” she said.
She announced her decision to her mother, who said, “I think you should, Elizabeth.”
Miller, a Democrat, said she had pondered the decision all weekend, the weekend of Martin Luther King Day. She had completed her first year as First Ward councilwoman on Port Jervis Common Council and considered whether to run for that position again or pursue the opening left by Mayor Kelly Decker’s decision not to run again after 11 years in office.
Miller conceded her youth; she’s not quite 29. But she has taken on significant roles —as chair of the Finance Committee, as Code Committee member evaluating local laws, and member of the Community Development Agency board.
Asked what she has accomplished in those positions, she said she advocated for a human resources position. Creating that job had been discussed in previous years but not actualized. Now the position is posted, and Miller drafted the job description.
“The human resources person is important for the working environment and employee relations,” said Miller.
She noted that she had also helped negotiate contracts for city employees "with fair salary percentage increases, reflecting the economy.”
On the finance committee, Miller emphasized her role in keeping residents informed about how their taxes are spent.
“I welcome them to meetings. I’m happy knowing my taxes go the Department of Public Works, collecting garbage, plowing, keeping streets and parks clean,” she said.
Communication between the city and residents is an element of her platform.
“Not everyone has social media,” Miller said. “I’d like to have a newsletter.”
She points out that she didn’t grow up glued to a cell phone. Her childhood preceded a world blanketed by them. She rode a bike through her West End neighborhood.
Another way of enabling communication Miller would like to launch is an ethics board with two residents from each ward that meets quarterly to address issues of “fairness and honesty” brought up by residents, to offer “constructive criticsm,” she said.
She also envisions new housing opportunities, drawing people to Port Jervis for the trails and river. She wants to spotlight new businesses and expand business focus beyond Front St., pursuing grants for that purpose. She sees potential economic and recreational growth by facilitating the impact of the $10 million New York State Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant, the uses of which are now being decided.
The foundation of Miller’s perception of Port Jervis was shaped when she was six, after the 9/11 destruction of the World Trade Center killed her father, a New York City firefighter. That experience motivated her home, education and work choices, she explained.
“After 9/11, people brought food. They came to watch me play softball,” Miller recalled, and that continued support brought her back to Port Jervis after college. She bought a house in the West End.
“I love it here and try to give back, though I can’t please everyone,” she said.
Meanwhile, Miller pondered how 9/11 happened and who was responsible, an exploration she pursued in college, majoring in history and Arabic as an undergraduate at Bloomburg University of Pennsylvania and then getting an M.A. in Arabic Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. No, the Arab culture was not the culprit, she said.
She is project director for the nonprofit, 9/11 Families for a Peaceful Tomorrow, which involves people around the U.S. and internationally who lost family members in 9/11 . She connected with them when she was invited to the trial at Guantanamo Bay for those convicted of perpetrating 9/11. She advocated for life sentences instead of death, so families of those lost would be able to talk to them and possibly make peace with what had happened, she said.
Community focused news can only succeed with community support. Please consider the various subscription levels.
Would love to hear more about her plans as mayor- interested! And curious her similarity and differences with current mayor style