I attended this meeting tonight and and you can view the meeting using the above link.
Before it started the Chairman, Matthew Goldstein, discussed the problem of the new optical scan voting system's ballot. At issue are factors like the font size that will be used and whether there is a way to reasonably ensure that voters will flip over the ballot page for the new optical scanners if it is necessary to put the questions put forward by the Charter Revision Commission on the reverse side. The Commission would need to ask the Board of Elections to indicate on the front of the ballot with language like "Remember To Check Both Sides Of The Ballot".
As the beginning of all meetings, the chairman stated his four principals the commission used in its decision process:
1. The issue must have time to study.
2. The issue must have time to educate the voters.
3. The issue must not doom but create a better functioning government.
4. The issue has a likelihood of passing and not doomed to failure. ( I strongly disagree with this, it is the voters who decide).
There will be a final report vote on August 23, 2010. The report will do the following:
1. Show the history of the 2010 commission.
2. Justification of the questions selected for the 2010 ballot.
3. A road map for future commissions of issues needing more review.
The Ballot Questions approved for the November 2010 General Election.
Some questions passed unanimously and others took much debate.
1. Term Limits
- Should we return to two terms for Mayor, Comptroller, Public Advocate, Borough Presidents, and the City Council (if no, it would stay at three terms).
- Prohibit the City Council changing term limits for themselves, only for future elected council members.
- If two terms passed, current incumbents would still be able to serve their full three terms (this took four votes).
2. Campaign Disclosure
- Individuals making over $1,000 expenditures.
- Organizations making over $5,000 expenditures.
- Must disclosure to the Campaign Finance Board and in campaign literature.
3. Petition Signatures
- Reduce the number of required petition signatures to get on the ballot by 50%. The exact numbers will be in the final report.
4. Voter Assistance Commission
- Merge the current Voter Assistance Commission with the Campaign Finance Board as the Voter Assistance Advisory Board.
5. Ethics
- Make Ethics training mandatory for all officials.
- Increase the integrity violation from $10,000 to $25,000 and loss of any gain realised from violation.
6. Administration Tribunals
- After evaluation and public review, consolidate of the many, around 12, Administration Justice Tribunals. This change would allow the standardization of procedures, use of judges, and putting the tribunals in each of the five boroughs under The Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH).
7. Reporting Requirements
- Create a commission to evaluate the current government reporting requirements to determine what is needed and which reports can be removed.
8. Fair Share
- Create a commission to determine the placement of waste management by public, state, and federal entities fairly across all communities.
I am disappointed that nonpartisan elections or Top Two did not make the 2010 ballot. But the fight will continue.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!
Michael H. Drucker
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