This month, Citizens Union completed our search for a new Executive Director, announcing Grace Rauh to fill this pivotal leadership position. As an award-winning journalist and founding Executive Director of the 5BORO Institute, Grace has the experience, energy, and credibility to lead Citizens Union to new heights and help us build a new reform era in New York. As a journalist, Grace spent years holding elected officials accountable, asking tough questions, and making government more transparent to the public. She understands the importance of ethics, accountability, and civic engagement—not just as ideals, but as essential tools to strengthen our democracy.

She assumes this role at a critical juncture, when we face a crisis of confidence in City Hall, waning engagement in our local elections, and decreasing faith in our representative democracy. But every crisis contains an opportunity if we seize it, and Citizens Union sees this as a time of great possibility, as we continue to build momentum in our efforts to open primaries—a long-standing goal—and celebrate a legal victory for even-year elections.

We are also excited that the 5BORO Institute will join our organization as a new policy program—the “5BORO Institute at Citizens Union”. Since its founding, 5BORO has conducted impactful research on effective government and affordability. With this expansion, we are enhancing our capacity to advance practical policies on the crucial issues New Yorkers are facing.

Together, we will build a new era of reform in New York.

All the Best,

John Avlon
Chairman, Citizens Union/Citizens Union Foundation

POLICY UPDATES

Staying Informed about Charter Reform: New York’s Historic Open Primary Opportunity

This month, we made significant headway on our top charter reform priorities: opening our primaries and moving city elections to even years. The Charter Revision Commission began its second round of hearings this month and sought input on proposals that were included in their preliminary report.

Citizens Union Board Chair John Avlon testified on the benefits of opening our city’s primaries, stressing turrent system disenfranchises more than a million independent voters.

Watch John Avlon’s testimony before the Charter Revision Commission.

The reforms also generated buzz in the news:

Listen to Charter Revision Commission Chair Richard Buery Jr. tout reforms on The Brian Lehrer Show.

Read John Avlon’s op-ed making the case for open primaries in the New York Daily News.

Listen to CU Policy Director Ben Weinberg on even-year local elections on WNYC.

Together, we have a historic opportunity to open our elections and ensure that candidates appeal to the broadest array of New Yorkers. Remember, representative elections have representative results.

Candidate Preferences for Manhattan Borough President, Council Races

After undertaking a rigorous evaluation process, Citizens Union announced our ordered candidate preferences in the race for Manhattan Borough President and 12 contested City Council seats. We are proud to support candidates who are committed to fair and open elections and honest and accountable government.

To name just a few of our choices:

Manhattan Borough President: Citizens Union prefers Keith Powers first and Brad Hoylman-Sigal second
Council District 39: Citizens Union prefers Maya Kornberg
Council District 4: Citizens Union prefers Vanessa Aronson first, Ben Wetzler second, and Virginia Maloney third.

Stay tuned for our preferences in the Mayoral and Comptroller elections in June!

You can also check out our full list of preferred candidates in our online-only voter guide, which received a digital facelift this year.

Victory! Even-Year Election Law Stands Strong

We celebrated a unanimous state appellate court ruling affirming a state law moving local county and town elections to even-numbered years. The decision overturned a state Supreme Court decision last year that invalidated the law and allowed the election calendar transition to continue. The Court of Appeals will hear this case in September.

Aligning local elections with state and federal races is a proven way to increase voter engagement and make local governments more reflective of the communities they represent. Citizens Union has been proud to champion this legislation. This law, though, does not apply to New York City and other cities throughout the state, and we will use this victory to further our push for consolidated elections in NYC.

Read our response to the ruling to learn about the benefits of even-year local elections.

More about Grace’s Vision and 5BORO at CU

Our announcement of Grace Rauh as our Executive Director made a splash in the news. Together, she and Board Chairman John Avlon made headlines, reaffirming our core mission and calling for a new era of reform in New York.