Reformer: November 2010

General Election Results and Voters Directory

To inform voters and hold elected officials accountable, Citizens Union issued its 100th anniversary edition of our General Election Voters Directory in October. The handy guide not only indicates which candidates Citizens Union endorsed but provides descriptions of interviews conducted by our Local Candidates Committee and a grid of candidates’ positions on good government issues. A unique feature of the 100th anniversary issue is selected covers and quotations from past Voters Directories. Most of Citizens Union’s endorsed candidates were victorious on Election Day. CU-endorsed winning candidates included Eric Schneiderman, who won by double digits against Dan Donovan for Attorney General, and State Senator Joseph Addabbo, who had one of the more competitive state legislative races in NYC in facing challenger Anthony Como but still won by double digits. CU-favored incumbents State Senator Liz Krueger, State Senator Jeff Klein, Assemblyman Michael Gianaris, and Assemblyman Jonathan Bing, among other reform-minded incumbents, all won. Among those candidates whom CU endorsed and were not victorious were Republican candidates Senator Frank Padavan, who lost to strong reform challenger Tony Avella, and Harry Wilson, who lost in a close race to the incumbent Democratic candidate, Tom DiNapoli, in the race for State Comptroller. These candidates earned our endorsement in part because of their strong support for redistricting, which on the national level, garnered support through ballot referenda in Florida, California, and Minneapolis.

Election Day Tips Press Conference

In addition to our Voters Directory, Citizens Union prepared voters going to the polls on Election Day by  teaming up with other civic groups to release tips  and a  troubleshooting guide for voters  to take into the poll site with them. The guide identified problems that arose on Primary Day and gave voters tips for avoiding those pitfalls on Election Day. The troubleshooting guide was covered on Fox News the Saturday before the Election Day and covered in other new sources on Election Day.

City Council Survey on Election Day Issues

As part of our ongoing work with the City Council to improve election administration, Citizens Union worked to design and conduct a survey of voters exiting the polls after voting in the General Election. Using Primary Day voting problems as a springboard, the poll asked questions about the voters’ Election Day experience at the polls. Thanks to the support of CU volunteers who conducted the survey at their pollsites, CU was able to contribute to the more than 1,200 surveys which were collected. The major problem cited was ballot design, with 1 of 3 voters who participated in the survey identifying it as an issue. Citizens Union’s Dick Dadey appeared with Council Speaker Christine Quinn at a press conference unveiling the survey results, which will be used to bolster the Council’s and CU’s efforts for reforms at the city level.

Gotham Gazette Highlights

With the election over, Gotham Gazette turns its attention to the challenges facing the new administration in Albany and how the governor and his staff can address those challenges. In the first such article, Albany reporter David King looked at the Department of Environmental Conservation, which has been so battered by cuts many advocates feel it cannot do its job.

And if you missed any results, check our updated Who’s Running for What — and return for the official returns in the next week or so.

Other highlights:

Pension Showdown It’s a line in the sand. The Bloomberg administration has vowed to control the ballooning cost of employee benefits. Unions have pledged to fight back.

Her First Assignments Whatever one thinks of Cathleen Black, she will find a lot to do at Tweed. Education experts and activists offer their to-do lists for the chancellor-designee.

Tough Traveling Despite 20 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act, much of New York’s mass transit system remains out of reach for people in wheelchairs and others with physical handicaps.

No Fault Marriages in the Empire State can now just fail without anyone being assigned blame. Judge Emily Jane Goodman explains the new law that is changing the way New Yorkers divorce.

And don’t forget to check out Gotham Gazette’s blog – The Wonkster. In the last few weeks we’ve kept readers up to date on such key stories as the appointment of Cathleen Black as schools chancellor, the latest round of Bloomberg budget cuts and the Cuomo transition.

Events

CU Annual Awards Dinner

	On Thursday, October 28th, 390 fans of political reform gathered for a spectacular evening at The Pierre to celebrate the accomplishments of Citizens Union’s 2010 honorees and support Citizens Union’s work. Attendees and contributors applauded the highest-grossing event in the organization’s history and reinforced the vital importance of “being in the room” with people whose political perspectives may differ from one another. A simple glance at the honoree roster illustrated the range of perspectives that Citizens Union coalesces in pursuit of sound policy solutions that serve the common good.
	Energy was high as the enthusiastic audience warmly welcomed honorees Frank Macchiarola, David Dinkins, Lisa Caputo and Randy Mastro, each of whom underscored the importance of Citizens Union’s message of accountability and inclusiveness, particularly in today’s heated climate of political divisiveness and fiscal challenge.
	Randy Mastro drew appreciative (cross-partisan!) laughter toward evening’s end when commenting that CU’s Civic Leadership Award seemed a distant notion during his days in the Giuliani administration, when he regularly fielded criticism from Citizens Union regarding the administration’s policies. Mastro went on to say: “But that’s kind of the point…It’s about doing the right thing. It’s about having the courage of your convictions. And it’s about having principles worth fighting for – that’s what makes this organization so great.”
	We are grateful to all honorees and their presenters – Stephen Berger, Hon. Basil Paterson, Ellen Levine and Hon. Rudy Giuliani – for graciously participating in this event. And, of course, we thank our many supporters whose generosity helped Citizens Union raise over $730,000 to fund our ongoing work.

State Comptroller Candidates Debate

Citizens Union, in collaboration with NY1 and Pace University, co-hosted a live, televised debate between the state comptroller candidates for the General Election, Tom DiNapoli and Harry Wilson, on Monday, October 4th. The hour-long debate took place at Pace University in Lower Manhattan. The debate was televised on NY1 and YNN, reaching audiences throughout the state. Panelists included CU’s Executive Director Dick Dadey, Grace Rauh of NY1, Liz Benjamin of YNN’s Capitol Tonight, and NY1 Noticias’ Juan Manuel Benitez. The debate was moderated by NY1’s Pat Kiernan. CU announced its support for Republican candidate Harry Wilson after the debate, who ultimately lost to incumbent Democrat Tom DiNapoli.

You can watch the State Comptroller debate in its entirety on NY1’s website.

Who is Citizens Union?

Bob Grant

For the past few years Bob Grant has been volunteering at Citizens Union, assisting at events and helping out in the office. This year he joined the Local Candidates Committee and gained firsthand knowledge of how candidates in his home borough of Queens would or would not work for reform of state government. When he originally joined Citizens Union in 2002, he was looking to participate in something that would have an impact on the affairs of his city and state.

“I think Citizens Union is a group of people who are more active, more conscientious, and more concerned than the average person on the street,” said Bob.

Bob grew up in the Ridgewood neighborhood of Queens. He went to college at Notre Dame and from 1977-1983 was on active duty in the U.S. Army. He remained an army officer in reserve for 28 years serving on special missions to South Korea and Bosnia and retired a Lieutenant Colonel in 2005. He has been a public school teacher since 1983 and is currently assigned at Forest Hills High School. He thinks his engagement with Citizens Union helps him teach his students how to think objectively about civic issues.

“The most important thing about Citizens Union is its nonpartisanship,” said Bob. “It’s important to get a balanced view on all the issues and Citizens Union does that very well.”

Join Citizens Union as a Member

Join CU as a member and help ReShape NY. As a reconfigured state legislature assembles in 2011, Citizens Union is poised to activate its coalition effort to stop partisan gerrymandering and change how legislative lines are drawn. Your membership gift of $30 or more s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s our ability to mobilize a successful statewide campaign. Contribute today!

 

Interning at Citizens Union and Gotham Gazette

In addition to membership in Citizens Union, we have other opportunities to get involved in our work. For students of government, journalism, or those who have an active interest in civic affairs, Citizens Union and Gotham Gazette have internship programs which accept applications year-round. We rely on our interns to expand our capacity, and could not do all that we do without their help. If you know of any interested candidates or would like to apply for internships, please see more information about CU’s  Spring 2011 Policy and Research Internship , our  Development Internship  and Gotham Gazette’s Outreach Internship and Editorial Internship.

 

Citizens Union In the News

To read recent coverage of our work visit the In the News section of our website.