Eight Clergy Endorse Green as "ethics advocate"

Now a total of 31 African American Clergy Support Green to be next Public Advocate
 
New York – Eight African-American clergy endorsed Mark Green to be the next Public Advocate because of his strong record as an “ethical advocate.”
 
The new group of clergy includes: Rev. Keith Bolden, Rev. Norman Coleman, Rev. Jeffrey Crenshaw, Rev. John Davis, Rev. Kevin Quarles, Rev. Dr. Carl Washington, Rev. Jerome Washington, and Rev. Curtis Whitney.  These 8 join 23 other clergy who previously endorsed Green including: Bishop John Boyd, Rev. Assemblyman Karim Camara, Rev. Dr. Gouin Cedieu, Rev. Alfred Cockfield, Rev. Que English, Rev. Sean Gardner, Rev. Evan Gray, Rev. Dr. Harvey P. Jamison, Pastor Cedric Johnson, Rev. Albert Joseph, Rev. Michael Miller, Bishop Rubin Mitchell, Bishop Richard Moore, Rev. Clarence Norman Sr., Rev. Samuel Phillips, Rev. Dr. Luc Piere, Rev. Dr. Calvin Rice, Rev. Cleotha Robertson, Rev. Pamela Ward, Rev. Jerry West, Rev. Dr. Curtis Whitney, and Rev. Dr. Sheldon Williams.
 
Rev. Curtis Whitney speaking on behalf of the group of clergy, said: “We gather here today to support Mark Green who has always been our advocate to again be the Public Advocate so that we can stand together with our communities for economic and social justice.”
 
“Mark hasn’t just fought for our community, he’s also gotten real results.  He took on police misconduct and rebuilt police-community relationships so that our neighborhoods are safer; he took down tobacco ads aimed at our children so that they can grow up strong and healthy; and  he uncovered discrimination by magazines that failed to include people of color in their advertisements so that today’s commercials are as diverse as our communities,” continued Whitney.
 
“Most importantly, Mark has a record we can trust as a consumer advocate who has set the ethical standard for independence in government for years,” said Whitney.  “Especially in a time where Council Members have been caught: setting up phantom non-profits to steal money, taking more money than most people make in a year from lobbyists for a few months of work, and taking hundreds of thousands in contributions after giving millions in City money; we need an ‘ethics advocate’ like Green.”
 
“The Public Advocates office is the watchdog over City Hall,” responded Green, the City's first Public Advocate from 1994-2001.  “The office relies on having an independent advocate who can work alongside community leaders like these members of the clergy to stop politicians from helping themselves and to make sure government assists people in need."