Binghamton University student Bella Rubinton announced her candidacy on Facebook on Friday for mayor of the city of Binghamton for the September 2017 Democratic primary, with hopes to improve relationships between students and Binghamton residents while maintaining transparency.

Rubinton, a 21-year-old junior majoring in Judaic studies, said that while she is young, she believes her age can be an advantage by bringing an outsider’s perspective into Binghamton politics. Rubinton is originally from Long Island but she currently resides on the West Side of Binghamton and has been a resident of the city since fall 2014.

“I think that in terms of my age, what would work is that I have new ideas [and] I’m not tied to the Binghamton establishment,” Rubinton said. “I know people in the Binghamton establishment … but I’m not going to be influenced by what career politicians want me to do.”

Rubinton has volunteered for three campaigns, including Kim Myers’ campaign for Broome County Legislature. She also volunteered for Eileen Konecny, who ran for Town of Union supervisor, and in New York City she worked on Helen Rosenthal’s campaign for city council.

Rubinton said that she decided to run for mayor after attending city council meetings last year and becoming frustrated with how the current mayor, Rich David, was handling certain issues. One instance in particular was the fact that the Human Rights Commission for Binghamton was taken under mayoral control in 2016; the members of the Human Rights Commission used to be selected with the help of residents and the Commission itself, but now the mayor is in charge of appointing members. With this change, the current members were all removed from their positions.

“The mayor is failing to serve the people of Binghamton by failing to give them an open, impartial forum to air their concerns of discrimination,” Rubinton said. “It’s really a refusal to let the people be heard by a nonpolitical audience.”

Jacob Friedman, Rubinton’s campaign treasurer and a sophomore majoring in accounting, said that while Rubinton is not the most experienced candidate, she maintains a strong work ethic. Friedman and Rubinton met while the two held the position of Student Association (SA) representative for Hinman College, and Friedman is currently on the SA Financial Committee.

“Ms. Rubinton is not running on the platform of being the most qualified; rather, she is running on the platform of being the most dedicated and persistent candidate,” Friedman said. “I have seen first-hand the level of dedication Ms. Rubinton throws into her work.”

Chris DeMarco, Rubinton’s campaign manager and a sophomore majoring in political science, wrote in an email that Rubinton holds a unique perspective because she is a BU student and will be able to be a liaison between the community and the University. DeMarco’s past experience includes working on Martin Babinec’s bid for Congress in 2016.

“Bella is an extremely motivated, driven individual who will stop at nothing to ensure that the best policies are enacted for Binghamton,” DeMarco wrote. “This includes communicating with the citizens to ensure that their needs are met, something that the current Rich David administration has been slow to do.”

However, students such as Michael Lewis, a sophomore majoring in economics, are worried that Rubinton is too inexperienced to run for mayor.

“I don’t think experience is necessary to be a successful politician, but it obviously helps to have held a government job before becoming an executive,” Lewis said.

Rubinton’s next step will be to raise money for her campaign. Her first fundraiser will be on Jan. 21 at Matty B’s in Binghamton at 8 p.m. and all residents of Binghamton are welcome to attend. As of Monday evening, she has no concrete policy proposals, but she ultimately wants to be a transparent candidate who takes responsibility for her actions.

“I’m very into the process of politics, and making that transparent and making sure people know what I’m doing and when I’m doing it,” she said. “I really want to be held accountable.”