Gen Z student challenges baby boomer for council seat

He’s young. He’s still in college. And he wants to represent his Valley Stream community on the Town of Hempstead council.

His name is Anthony Cruz, a 20-year-old Democrat, who will have his work cut out for him in a November election. Standing in his way, is incumbent councilwoman Melissa “Missy” Miller, an Atlantic Beach Republican who represents a large chunk of the South Shore.

Miller, 58, is pretty new to the council herself, appointed earlier this year to fill out the remainder of Bruce Blakeman’s term after he rose to become the Nassau County executive. And Cruz aims to cut her time in office short, using the power of the ballot box on Nov. 8.

This might be Cruz’s first brush with local politics, but it isn’t for Miller, who spent five years in the Assembly before stepping down because of family obligations. Miller returned to fill out Blakeman’s term on the town council, and decided it was something she could continue doing.

Cruz, on the other hand, is jump-starting what he believes is a pivotal moment in local politics.

“More and more people — not just in this council district specifically, but really across the Town of Hempstead — are realizing that the change that they want to see can happen, or can rally start to happen, at the local level,” Cruz said.

“We have a really significant opportunity right now to elect someone that isn’t beholden to special interests, or party machine politics, or the establishment, but someone who truly wants to serve. Someone whose first and foremost priority will be the people of our district.”

Cruz has rallied around three core issues for his campaign: empowerment, infrastructure and accessibility. His proposals include creating a database that provides a timeline for infrastructure projects such as repair and renovation of roads and highways under the town’s jurisdiction. He also wants to review the accessibility of town meetings, revisit the possibility of having a remote option, and improve public access to documents and information on the town’s website.

Cruz cemented himself as a student advocate back in 2018 as an incoming Valley Stream Central High School senior when he was picked to serve as a student liaison to the school district’s. Board of Education — a position Cruz said he helped create.

He’s taken on a number of advocacy and leadership roles during his current time at New York University, including as a student government senator and committee chairman for the NYU Steinhardt undergraduate student government.

Staying true to his roots as a school advocate, Cruz made an unsuccessful bid to take the vacated seat of former school trustee Paul DePace just two years ago. He is currently co-president of the Central High Parent-Teacher Association.

If elected, Cruz would make history not only as the youngest Hempstead council member, but as its first elected Gen Z member — those born between 1997 and 2012. And in a political field largely dominated by boomers and Gen X, Cruz isn’t shy about his youth. In fact, he treats it as one of his strengths. 

“I see my youth as an advantage to being able to not only from a representation standpoint but from a policy standpoint,” he said. “It’s about being able to see things from the perspective of how this benefit would, not just the community now, but in the future as well, because this will impact not just our current generation, but my generation who will be growing up in the town of Hempstead 10, 20, 30 years from now.”

For her part, Miller is “running on the same issues I’ve been running on for years: quality of life for our constituents, lower taxes, safer streets, and greater accessibility for our disabled populations.”

“Making sure our board is transparent is something people have complained about in the past, and that is something I will focus on improving during my campaign,” the councilwoman said. “We want to make sure that everyone’s voices are heard.” 

In expanding accessibility for those who are disabled, Miller says her board is in the process of equipping beaches with rollout mats to allow people access to the high tide water line who couldn’t otherwise. 

“Unless you have a beach wheelchair, you can’t get them down to the actual water,” Miller said. “Senior citizens with a cane can’t walk steadily on the sand.”

Cruz knows there are a number of obstacles in his way — from age to political beliefs — but he says he won’t let that discourage him.

“As likely the youngest candidate for local office on Long Island, as someone who would be one of the first Latino people elected to a seat within the Town of Hempstead,” Cruz said, “and as someone who would likely be the first openly queer person elected, it’s particularly important to me to make sure I keep those values of mine and minority communities in mind throughout this campaign.”

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