Alderman being honored today in Washington
Jeffrey Ventura Morell, D-Ward 1, will be recognized during the second annual “Dominicans on the Hill.”
KINGSTON, N.Y. » Alderman Jeffrey Ventura Morell will be recognized Thursday in Washington, D.C., during the second annual “Dominicans on the Hill” event hosted by U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat.
Ventura Morell, D-Ward 1, said Dominicans on the Hill is a yearly event to encourage more participation from young Dominican-Americans and to highlight other members of the community who are rising and making history, not only in politics but also in the arts, business and nonprofit world.
He said Espaillat, who represents New York’s 13th Congressional District (Manhattan, Bronx), contacted him about participating this year. Ventura Morell said this will be his first trip to Washington.
Espaillat, a Democrat, is the first Dominican-American elected to Congress.
Candace Person, deputy chief of staff and director of communications for Espaillat, said the congressman “started the event as an opportunity to celebrate and highlight the achievements of Dominican-Americans in communities around the nation and to bring leaders together to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing Dominicans and Latinx communities.”
“This year’s event will focus on the upcoming 2020 Census, diversity in sports, media and entertainment, and the state of the judiciary,” Person said.
She said the congressman anticipates 500 guests for this year’s event, which kicks off at noon Thursday at the U.S. Capitol. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is scheduled to speak.
Ventura Morell said he was told he would be recognized during the event for being the first Dominican-American and Latino ever elected in the city of Kingston, as well as the first person of color to chair the Kingston Common Council’s Laws and Rules Committee.
He currently is serving his second two-year term on the council and began chairing the Laws and Rules Committee in January.
“I’m beyond honored to be included in the event, as seeing Congressman Espaillat (who’s my mother’s representative in Congress) follow his path is one of the things that encouraged me and made me realize that there might be a place for someone like me to get involved and make a difference,” Ventura Morell wrote in an email.
He said he is not sure how the congressman learned about him but believes it was because one of his constituent’s mothers serves on a community board in New York City and mentioned him to Espaillat.
Ventura Morell said he was born in the Dominican Republic but his mother, Marizela Morell, brought him to the United States when he was 5 months old.
“She was a single mother,” Ventura Morell said. “And she basically did it so that I could have a better future than what she foresaw for herself. So I have a lot in common with the congressman in terms of our history. He’s a big inspiration to me.”
Ventura Morell said he and his husband, Lyndel Urbano, would travel to Washington on Wednesday for a welcoming ceremony and then attend the Dominicans on the Hill event the following day.
While in Washington, Ventura Morell plans to visit the Smithsonian and National Portrait Gallery.