Assemblyman Ron Kim's wife Alison Tan has entered the race for city council. NY1's Thabie Sibanda spoke with her about why she wanted to run against incumbent Peter Koo.
Congestion, pollution and overcrowding, those are just a few issues Flushing resident Alison Tan says is affecting the quality of life in the area.
"I'm raising two girls here in this district. I also have two aging parents that will be retiring here. So I have a lot at stake in ensuring that this district is safe and healthy for them to be living in," said Tan.
That's one of the reasons why Tan says she wants to be a councilwoman for the 20th district. She officially announced her run for city council last week. Tan, a democrat, is challenging incumbent Peter Koo in the September primary.
"I think that a lot of quality of life issues are best addressed at the local level and the city council seat is a really powerful platform for that.”
If Tan is elected, she won't be the first politician in the family. Tan says her husband, Assemblyman Ron Kim, supports her run for office.
"He has told me to just do my thing. I have my own ideas. I am intelligent. I am strong and I am capable of providing a strong voice for this community."
And she says she wants to use her voice to improve the area. Tan says over the years she has seen it decline citing the lack of resources available for the growing community.
"The pedestrian traffic deaths that have occurred in this community are endemic of resources that are lacking in this community to support its population growth."
In a statement Councilman Peter Koo said he is welcoming the challenge saying, "A robust, democratic election that focuses on the issues we face will be good for our district." He adds he is "confident that voters will look at [his] track record and [his] commitment to improving [the] community and re-elect [him] to the City Council."
Tan will face Koo in the Democratic primary on September 12.