Svante Myrick

Svante Myrick with Elizabeth Warren

Svante Myrick is president of the People for the American Way (PFAW).

He previously served as mayor of Ithaca, New York. He was also Director of Youth Leadership Programs for the YEO Network, an arm of the People for the American Way organizing "progressive elected officials" founded by former Tallahassee Mayor and failed Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum.

Bio

From the People for the American Way website:

Svante Myrick is the President of People For the American Way.

He is one of the most dynamic young, progressive Black leaders today. Previously, he served as executive director of People For and led campaigns focused on transforming public safety, racial equity, voting rights, and empowering young elected officials. Myrick garnered national media attention as the youngest-ever mayor of Ithaca, New York, where he was a leading reformer on drug policy, the environment and public safety.

Myrick’s personal story is compelling and laid the groundwork for his life of service and civic engagement. Raised by his mother, he and his family faced homelessness throughout their lives and relied on school lunch programs and other critical public services. After attending Cornell University, Myrick served as assistant director of student and young alumni programs at the college and tutored Ithaca youth. These experiences shaped his leadership in Ithaca, where he put progressive values into action to improve the lives of the people in his community. As mayor, Myrick’s innovative leadership included a plan to address the heroin epidemic through supervised injection sites, prevention, treatment, and law enforcement.

"Myrick previously served as director of People For’s youth leadership programs. He is a recipient of the John F. Kennedy Frontier Award and People For the American Way Barbara Jordan Leadership Award, and was named by Rolling Stone Magazine as a “Hot Do-Gooder” “public servant to watch,” and in Forbes Magazine’s “30 under 30.” Myrick has been interviewed by local and national TV, radio, and print outlets including CNN, USA Today, and The New York Times on issues such as progressive leadership, racial justice, and millennial civic engagement.

Norman Lear Meeting

Svante Myrick X Post dated December 13, 2022

Svante Myrick posted an image of himself with People for the American Way founder Norman Lear on X on December 13, 2022.

FreeCAT Movement

"Organizers Sabrina Leddy and John Monkovic tell Theresa Alt about how Ithaca DSA has launched the FreeCAT campaign..."

Svante Myrick was referenced in an article from Aubren Villasenor, Staff Writer in an article at the The Ithacan titled "Local community groups rally to remove TCAT ride fares" dated May 3, 2023:

The Ithaca Democratic Socialists of America and the Ithaca Sunrise Movement held a rally on The Commons on May 2 in support of the FreeCAT movement, which aims to remove ride fares from Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit bus services.

The FreeCAT movement began in March 2022 with an online petition posted on the DSA Instagram page. As of May 3, the petition has received 536 signatures. In the FreeCAT vision statement, proponents said that eliminating TCAT fares will increase the standard of living and decrease the number of private vehicles on the road, which would reduce the city’s carbon footprint.

At the rally, about 20 demonstrators carrying signs and flags gathered in support of the movement. The protest attracted a handful of onlookers, including local politicians Daniel Klein, Tompkins County District 7 legislator; Mike Sigler, Tompkins County District 6 legislator; and 4th Ward Alderperson Jorge Defendini on the Ithaca Common Council, in attendance.

In 2019, the City of Ithaca adopted Ithaca’s Green New Deal, with goals of reducing carbon emissions and achieving community-wide carbon neutrality by 2030. In recent years, concern has mounted over the seemingly stalled progress on the resolution, especially following former Mayor Svante Myrick’s departure.

In response to the petition, TCAT tasked its Planning Committee with determining if going fare-free was possible. In its report, the committee concluded that going fare-free is fiscally and operationally impossible at the time.

Scot Vanderpool, general manager of TCAT, however, outlined steps he said could allow for the elimination of fares, including increasing TCAT’s driver count to at least 90, hiring at least two additional mechanics and finding more available vehicle parts. As of February 2022, TCAT had 80 drivers, according to The Ithaca Voice.

Sabrina Leddy, chair of the FreeCAT movement, spoke at the rally, demanding greater contributions to TCAT from Cornell University and refuting the TCAT Board’s statements that going fare-free is impossible.

“The TCAT board released yet another statement asserting their refusal to go fare-free because there are too many financial roadblocks,” Leddy said. “Every time they do this, they go to great lengths to detail those roadblocks and they make no mention of Cornell and its ability to [cover] those concerns with a fraction of a percent of the university’s billions of wealth.”

Klein, who served on the TCAT board for seven years and is an author of the TCAT report, said TCAT does not currently have the resources to overcome the financial and logistical difficulties of going fare-free.

“I know they’re suggesting people are using that as obstructionism,” Klein said. “I understand why they’re saying that. But [TCAT] simply does not have enough drivers and mechanics to do more because research suggests that if you go free, then you immediately increase the number of riders by 20%.”

Activists point to Cornell University as the solution to TCAT’s financial problems. On Jan. 20, Cornell agreed to increase its funding to TCAT as one of three underwriters. While TCAT originally requested an 8% increase from all of its underwriters, Cornell negotiated to increase by 5%, meaning the other two underwriters — the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County — also could only increase funding by 5%, despite already agreeing to the 8% increase.

Klein said that in order to go fare-free, the underwriting funding grant which makes up a portion of TCAT’s $19 million budget — which currently stands at approximately $3 million according to The Ithaca Times — would have to increase by $2–3 million.

Jane Glaubman, a member of the DSA, said in a speech that Cornell has a history of benefiting from public services, like through the Morrill Land Grant Act.

“I would like [the crowd] to say, ‘Cornell owes us everything,’” Glaubman said.

The Morrill Land Grant Act was chartered in 1862 and provided the university with nearly 1 million acres of land. Land that was sold in the early 1900s to increase the school’s endowment to $5 million is equivalent to $150 million today.

Annika Rowland, a Cornell graduate student and member of the DSA, said recent TCAT reports do not take into account if Cornell provided greater tax contributions to the county.

“If [the reports] were redone to consider Cornell paying what they should be paying based on their ridership, the report would look very different,” Rowland said.

Cornell University has approximately $2.1 billion in assessed value of tax-exempt property, contributing $1.3 million per year to the city, of which $802,000 is for fire services, according to The Ithaca Voice. The university’s contributions are dictated under a Memorium of Understanding agreement, which is in place until next year, something activists say the county must take advantage of.

Following the speeches, demonstrators marched from The Commons to the Tompkins County Legislative Chambers, chanting “FreeCAT,” carrying signs demanding action, including “Free and Expanded TCAT for all,” “FreeCAT for the Climate,” and “No Fare is a Fair Fare.” Demonstrators also sang a variation of “The Wheels On The Bus,” with modified lyrics in support of no fares. A copy of the petition was placed on each of the legislators’ desks.

The legislative chambers were full of demonstrators, other members of the public and the legislators themselves. Eric Nord, Glaubman and other Ithaca residents spoke in support of the FreeCAT movement.

“I’m here to remind you that the FreeCAT campaign is a rare opportunity to stand up to a dominant private interest to provide critical resources for the community,” Nord said.

At the meeting, Leddy called on the legislators to look out for the Ithaca community.

“Please be brave,” Leddy said. “As Cornell’s fall-fare payment to TCAT is negotiated by some members of this body [and], as its tax-exempt status and how much its paying [are] brought into question in the coming year, be brave — please stand with us.”

2017: Svante Myrick as Director of Youth Leadership Programs

From a People for the American Way press release dated January 13, 2017 (Laura Epstein or Drew Courtney were listed as contacts):

People for the American Way Foundation today announced that Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick, a member of the Young Elected Officials Network (YEO) for nine years, will be joining the organization as Director of Youth Leadership Programs. Myrick will follow current Director of Youth Leadership Programs, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum. Gillum, who is also the founder of the YEO Network, a group of over 1,000 progressive elected officials across the country, is planning to focus his attention on political challenges confronting his home state of Florida.

“I couldn’t be more excited to welcome Svante to a new leadership role with the People for the American Way Foundation team,” said People for the American Way Foundation President Michael Keegan. “He’s been an inspiring leader for the city of Ithaca and an extremely active member of the YEO Network, and we’re thrilled that he’ll be in a position to share his passion and his creativity with young leaders all across the country. I’m also deeply grateful for the extraordinary work that Andrew Gillum has done as Director of Youth Leadership Programs and founder of the YEO Network. Andrew is an inspirational leader and his impact on our organization and the progressive movement is hard to overstate. From school boards to the halls of Congress, Andrew has had an indelible impact on the next generation of progressive leaders. Under Andrew’s leadership, the YEO program has expanded to include over 1,000 leaders across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. While we’re sad to see Andrew go, we can’t wait to see what’s next for one of the strongest progressive leaders in our country right now. And, of course, we look forward to continuing to work with him as a member of the YEO Network.”

“People for the American Way Foundation’s unique work with the next generation of progressive leadership has already had a tremendous impact on the face of power in this country, and I couldn’t be prouder of the change that we’ve helped to make,” said outgoing People for the American Way Foundation Director of Youth Leadership Programs and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum “From mobilizing young people to get out the vote with their peers to creating the YEO Network, I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunities I’ve had at People for the American Way Foundation. I look forward to pursuing new opportunities for progressive leadership in Florida, and I am so glad that Svante, who brings such a long history of involvement in the YEO Network, will be taking the reins of Youth Leadership Programs at People for the American Way Foundation.”

“As a member of the YEO Network for nine years, I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the most creative, effective, progressive leaders in our country. I’ve learned so much from Andrew and my fellow YEOs, and I can’t wait to lead and grow the program,” said incoming People for the American Way Foundation Director of Youth Leadership Programs and Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick. “As I continue to steadfastly serve as Ithaca Mayor, I look forward to sharing my experiences with and learning from the over 1,000 members of the YEO Network.”

Svante Myrick, 29, is the youngest-ever mayor of Ithaca, New York. Raised by his mother, Myrick and his family faced homelessness throughout their lives and relied on school lunch programs and other critical public services. After attending Cornell University, Myrick served as Assistant Director of Student and Young Alumni programs at the college and tutored Ithaca youth. These experiences shape his leadership in Ithaca, where he’s put progressive values into action to improve the lives of the people of Ithaca. As mayor, Myrick’s innovative leadership has, for example, included putting forth a plan to address the heroin epidemic through supervised injection sites, prevention, treatment, and law enforcement. Svante is the recipient of the John F. Kennedy Frontier Award, YEO’s Barbara Jordan Leadership Award and named this year by Rolling Stone Magazine “Hot Do-Gooder” public servant to watch and most recently again in Forbes Magazine. “Meet the 2017 Class of 30 under 30.”

Make Progress National Summit 2014

Generation Progress' Make Progress National Summit 2014 included speakers such as Senator Elizabeth Warren, Nancy Pelosi, Filmmaker Andrew Rossi, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Sec. of Labor Thomas Perez Vice President of the United States Joe Biden, Sen. Chris Murphy, Executive Director of Generation Progress Anne Johnson, President of the Center for American Progress Neera Tanden, Policy Director at Generation Progress Sarah Audelo, Rep. Patrick J. Murphy, Former NFL player Donte Stallworth, Representative of House District 74 (TX) Mary Gonzalez, Mayor of Ithaca, NY Svante Myrick, Economic Policy Analyst Sarah Ayres, Educational Advocate Natalia Abrams, Executive Director of National Guestworker Alliance Saket Soni, Executive Director of the Energy Action Coalition Maura Cowley, Young Elected Officials Policy & Programs Director Dawn Huckelbridge, Filmmaker Tara Kutz, Student activist Ronnie Mosley, Roosevelt Institute Fellow Dorian Warren, Iraq War Veteran Tony Woods, Newtown High School graduate Sarah Clements.