NY's Clean Conscience Pledge

Common Cause/NY asked all of the New York Elected Officials to sign a Clean Conscience Pledge. It’s time for each one to commit to support and pass reforms to tackle corruption head on in Albany.

The public's call to clean up the New York State government is echoed in newspapers, on television and radio, and within the halls of Albany. Now we need to move these discussions into real substantive change.

The pledge includes supporting reforms to:

- Limit outside income for legislators so they can focus on constituent needs.
- Limit the ability of special interests to contribute unlimited amounts of money.
- Disclose all discretionary spending to create transparency and expose conflicts of interest.



Sample letter to Elected Officials:

Sign the Clean Conscience Pledge

Dear [Decision Maker],

More than ever, New York needs good elected officials to step forward, and separate themselves from the tarnished legacies of our former legislative leaders. I urge you to work with your colleagues to embrace real solutions by enacting legislation that will bring about real change instead of incremental reform.

I am asking you to sign the Clean Conscience Pledge:

Given the need to further strengthen our state's ethics laws and to create better public trust in New York State government, I, as a New York state legislator, pledge to support, vote for, and work zealously to sign into law legislation that:

- limits outside income for legislators so we can focus on constituent needs,
- limits the ability of special interests to contribute unlimited amounts of money to all candidates for state office by closing the LLC loophole, and
- identifies the purpose for, and recipients of, all state funds allocated to be spent at the discretion of legislators and the governor to increase transparency and eliminate conflicts of interest.

I look forward to seeing your name on the EthicsPledgeNY.org website as a legislator who has signed the pledge, so that I may know you are willing to take serious steps to show the public that ending corruption is a priority.

To receive a copy of the pledge, or indicate that you have already signed and submitted the pledge please email nyoffice@commoncause.org.

Sincerely,

CLICK HERE to tell your State Legislators to sign the Clean Conscience Pledge.











NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

NY Public Servants with Private Income

It's clear that corruption is a systematic problem in Albany where lawmakers can use their office to enrich themselves, often through outside jobs. With many policy leaders and politicians alike calling for banning or severely restricting outside income, the need for accurate information on what outside income looks like for state legislators could not be stronger.

With this in mind, Common Cause/NY produced an exhaustive and detailed analysis of outside income for all 213 members of the New York State Legislature.

The review provides the clearest picture of the type of outside work lawmakers get paid for.

CLICK HERE to dive into the details.











NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

NY Independent Redistricting Amendment 2012, Ballot Initiative 2014

Common Cause/NY, along with NYPIRG and Effective New York, awarded the Salvador Dali prize for most artistically drawn legislative district to the Splattered Bug of the Bronx, Senate District 34.



Reformers have long argued that the method by which the state draws legislative districts is undemocratic and in need of reform.

It is well known that an important factor in maintaining New York State’s political culture is the practice of allowing the majorities in both houses , the State Assembly and the State Senate, to draw their own district lines every ten years.  In effect, this practice allows legislators to choose their voters, rather than the other way around.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo agreed to the lines drawn by the majorities in 2012.  As part of the 2012 agreement, the governor and the state’s legislative leaders also negotiated constitutional changes to the state’s redistricting process and that proposal will go to voters this November.

The New York Independent Redistricting Amendment is a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment.  The measure, upon voter approval, would create an independent redistricting commission to establish state senate, assembly and congressional districts.  The amendment would amend Sections 4 and 5 of the New York Constitution.

Common Cause Executive Director Susan Lerner argued, “The proposed constitutional amendment sets up a hyper-partisan, expensive and ineffective structure for redistricting.  Ultimately this is not an independent process, and the voters lose.”

In a report released this past Monday, the three groups called on voters to reject the fatally flawed redistricting proposal which will be on the ballot this November.

CLICK HERE to read the report.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Common Cause/NY 2014 Agenda

Here are some of the projects they will be working on in 2014.

Continuing the Fight for Fair Elections
Common Causers around the state will spearhead a grassroots effort to educate and mobilize voters in key Senate districts to pressure their Legislators into passing the campaign finance reform bill this year.

Better Disclosure of Big Money in New York City
As the organizational sponsor and drafter of Int. No. 1193-2013, a Top 5 disclosure bill in the New York City Council, Common Cause/NY is pushing for better disclosure of political spending.  The bill would require that election ads paid for by Independent Expenditures must list the 5 largest financial backers of the ad.  Common Cause helped pass similar measures in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Early Voting in New York State
Common Cause is mobilizing a statewide effort to adopt Early Voting for New York’s elections as well as to modernize voter registration and ballot design.

Fair Redistricting in Nassau County
Common Causer is helping lead a broad coalition seeking to reform Nassau County's partisan redistricting process.

CLICK HERE for more information about Common Cause in your state.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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NYC Nov. Election Improper Poll Worker Conduct

As co-facilitators of the NY Voters Coalition, Common Cause/NY and NYPIRG provide assistance to voters on election days, jointly running the Voter Helpline in New York City for over 20 years.  On November 5th, 2013 the good government groups received reports of alarming conduct at five polling places in Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn which, potentially constitute civil rights violations.

In each instance a poll worker instructed voters to vote only for candidates for a particular party.  When challenged, the poll workers reportedly stated that they were trained to tell voters that they must vote only for candidates from the same party.  Despite the fact that the complainants all appear to be independent of one another and that the complaints alleged misconduct in three different boroughs, the allegations are virtually identical.  In one location, voluntary poll monitors, including a Common Cause/NY staff member, received confirmation from the poll worker that she had been told to so instruct voters.

They received these complaints in person, on their Voter Hotline and online via PollWatchUSA.  All reports have been verified and are believed to be credible.

Joining with their Voter Hotline partners, NYPIRG, a joint letter was sent to the New York City Board of Elections and relevant law enforcement agencies detailing the nature of each complaint and violations of law.

"Competitive and free elections are essential to our democracy, and these disturbing reports directly undermine those principles.  Voters can not trust the election process if election administration is so flagrantly flawed.  We are calling on the BOE to zealously investigate these allegations and correct the problem immediately," said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY.

"The reported behavior of these poll workers from sites across the city is deeply troubling.  An investigation into whether these allegations were a failure of training, were outright illegal acts, were isolated or were caused in some other way needs to be determined, and the cause released to the public," said Neal Rosenstein, Government Reform Coordinator for NYPIRG.  "Public confidence in the conduct of elections is vital to both voter participation and trust in our elected system," he added.

CLICK HERE to read the letter.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Poll Watch USA

PollWatchUSA is a non-partisan way to crowd source reporting problems at the polls on election day.

The goal is to facilitate solving poll problems as quickly as possible so that any voter who wants to vote is able to do so easily.

It is a joint project of Common Cause/NY, Reboot and Websa and won first prize at the Civic Engagement Hackathon sponsored by the Personal Democracy Forum in June, 2012.

The PollWatchUSA tool allows anyone with a smart phone to act as a poll monitor.

In the event of an emergency, the application offers the option to connect voters to the Common Cause election protection hotline, where they can receive immediate assistance.

CLICK HERE for the website.

There was a contest for a "I Voted" sticker design. This won and I was one of the voters for it.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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NYC Town Halls About the 2013 Elections

Common Cause/NY is joining with CBS Channel 2, WCBS 880, 1010 WINS, and El Diario to host a series of Town Halls style meetings before the Mayoral debates.

Heading into the election, they want to learn what issues are important to you.

-What would you ask the candidates?

-What concerns do you have in your community?

By hearing from you, they can better represent your concerns to those who would be our elected officials.

The meetings will be held in each of the 5 boroughs:

-Manhattan - June 6 (Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture)
-Bronx - June 11 (Lehman College)
-Brooklyn – June 18 (St. Francis College)
-Queens – June 25 (N.Y. Hall of Science
-Staten Island – June 27 (Wagner College)

CLICK HERE if you want to attend.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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NY Fair Elections Telephone Town Hall

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has agreed to join Common Cause/NY and its partners in the Fair Elections Coalition on a special telephone town hall to talk about Fair Elections!

The campaign to create a small donor matching system is rapidly gaining steam. putting elections back in the hands of voters.

What activists do in your communities over the next few months will determine whether we win or lose.

On the call, you'll hear from Governor Cuomo about why he wants Fair Elections, get the latest update on activity in Albany, and you will get tapped into all the activity happening on the ground.

We have the chance to reform the way money controls politics and increase the power of voters, instead of leaving the process in the hands of big money interests that currently dominate Albany.

The call will take place on Monday, March 11th at 7:00 pm. We need you to join us.

CLICK HERE to RSVP and receive your call-in information.


CLICK HERE for more information about The Fair Elections for New York Campaign.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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NYC Public Advocate and City Council Redistricting Maps

New York City Public Advocate, Bill de Blasio, and 2013 Mayoral candidate is stepping into the City Council redistricting mess, proposing new regulations to get the process sunlit.

“We just witnessed a district being redrawn to pave the way for a serial sexual harasser to stay in elected office. That’s just wrong,” said de Blasio of the current uproar over the Districting Commission's new maps -- which for now, unless they get pulled back, drawn again and resubmitted, as Council Speaker Chris Quinn wants -- clear a possible way for Assemblyman Vito Lopez to get to City Hall.

De Blasio's legislation would require:

* Publicly documenting all phone conversations, in-person meetings and written communications from elected or party officials, and their staff or agents, to Districting Commission members and staff;

* Logging all communications to Commission members and Commission staff, including the date, participants in the discussion, and a one-sentence description of the subject matter and specific districts that were discussed;

* Publishing all logged communication and documentation on the New York City Districting Commission website.

De Blasio's proposal has the backing of Common Cause/New York Executive Director Susan Lerner, who said in a statement, “Redistricting is about assuring fair and competitive elections for the voters, not an easy path to victory for politicians. Unfortunately, the process is constantly being corrupted by self-serving interests which make a mockery of our democracy. The public deserves a full and open accounting of the facts which determine our political representation."

As mentioned earlier, the Commission -- which has been widely reported to have nudged the lines to help Lopez at the request of his ally, Councilman Erik Dilan -- says on first blush it appears it has the power to withdraw its proposal and submit a new one. However that impression may be fairly new.

The process to withdraw and redo the maps has not been worked out yet or been determined the Charter allows this type of action.

UPDATE

The city’s Districting Commission will meet this morning, 12/4/2012, to formally withdraw the new City Council maps it presented last month creating a new district seemingly tailored for a Vito Lopez candidacy. The meeting was called in response to Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s demand on Thursday that the body alter its proposed council lines so Lopez, now an assemblyman, stays in his current 37th District. The 15-member body will then vote on whether to hold another round of public hearings on the new lines it intends to draw. The council must ultimately approve the new district lines. It must then send the maps to the US Justice Department for a final green light.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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