Sharon Lee (politician) facts for kids

Sharon Lee is an American politician from New York City. She is a member of the Democratic Party. From January 2020 to December 2020, she served as the borough president of Queens. This was during the most challenging time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sharon Lee made history as the first person of Asian descent to be a borough president in New York City. During her time as borough president, she worked hard to help the people of Queens.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Queens very hard, Sharon Lee led many important efforts. She helped give out tons of food to families in need. She also supported small businesses that were struggling. She organized many online job fairs to help people find work.

She also helped make sure the 2020 presidential election could happen safely. Lee also worked to get more money for hospitals. This included doubling the number of special nurses for victims of violence. She also spoke out for racial justice after the police killing of George Floyd. She also helped Queens residents be counted in the 2020 United States Census.

Sharon Lee also made important investments in the community. She helped get $1 million to fully fund a special unit for firefighters in Corona, Queens. This money helped them buy new equipment to clean their gear. She also helped get $5.4 million for new cancer treatment technology. This was for the oncology unit at Elmhurst Hospital, one of Queens' public hospitals.

Lee also shared her opinions on important land use plans. For example, she recommended against the 2020 Flushing Waterfront rezoning plan. She was also one of the first leaders to speak out against anti-Asian hate. This was especially true after the Atlanta spa shootings.

Before becoming borough president, she was the Deputy Queens Borough President. She held this role from November 2018 to December 2019.

Sharon Lee's Political Journey

Sharon Lee became the Deputy Borough President in November 2018. She then took over as Borough President from Melinda Katz in January 2020. Melinda Katz had been elected as the Queens District Attorney in November 2019. As Borough President, Lee was in charge of Queens' response to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City.

Before these roles, Lee was the Executive Director for the transition team of Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. This was from November to December 2019. She also worked as the Communications Director for the Queens Borough President. She held this job from November 2014 to October 2018.

Earlier in her career, Lee was a Senior Advisor and Press Secretary for former New York City Comptroller John Liu. This was from September 2009 to December 2013. She played a key role in making city spending more open to the public. One example was "Checkbook NYC" in 2010. This program gave people easy access to information about how the city spent its money. She also helped create "MWBE Report Card NYC" in 2021. This tool tracked how well city agencies were meeting their goals for working with minority and women-owned businesses.

Lee also helped uncover a large fraud case called CityTime in 2010. Her team's work led to the city getting back a huge amount of money, about $500 million.

From 2006 to 2009, she was the Policy Director and Press Secretary for former New York City Councilmember John Liu. He was also the Chair of the Transportation Committee.

Sharon Lee believes that healthcare spending should not be cut. She did not run for reelection in the 2020 New York state elections.