Third candidate enters Albany mayoral race
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Rev. Valerie Faust of Living Word Tabernacle, center, shown here in a 2016 photo, is planning a third run for Albany mayor. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)Cindy Schultz
ALBANY – A third candidate has entered the city s mayoral race.
The Rev. Valerie Faust launched a website announcing her plans for a third run for the office. Faust could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday. She is a pastor at Living Word Tabernacle.
She previously ran as a write-in candidate in 2013. She also ran as a candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2009 but was knocked off the ballot because then-Third Ward councilman Corey Ellis’ campaign challenged her petition signatures. She ran as a write-in candidate that year as well.
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In April, the early days of the pandemic, the Center for Law and Justice in Albany published a 15-page report on structural racism and public safety in the city. Among other things, the report called upon city leaders to acknowledge the existence of structural racism in the police department. A month later, there were nationwide protests over similar issues following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
Executive Director Dr. Alice Green said the report served as a follow-up to the organization’s 2019 Albany Community Policing Survey, which she claimed was all but ignored by government officials.
I think the issues that we raised are very difficult ones, racism, structural racism in particular, is very difficult for people to understand and to figure out how to deal with it. And I think trust is another issue. I think maybe law enforcement are deceiving themselves. But I think they believe, really do, that most people in the community trust them. An