BRONX VETERANS DAY PARADE TO BE HELD ON SEPTEMBER  25th.

THE BRONX VETERANS COMMITTEE WOULD BE HONORED TO HAVE YOU JOIN OUR VETERANS FOR OUR 3^RD ANNUAL BRONX VETERANS PARADE.

The Parade: Starts 11:00am at E. 178^th St & Crotona Pkway. Travel along Southern Blvd to E.180^th Street, making right turn           

                      at E. 180^th Street, and on to 1^st stop (Old Soldiers Cemetery), then 2^nd/last stop (Vidalia Park).

Wreath Laying Ceremony: At Old Soldiers Cemetery (E. 180th Street, b/w Southern Boulevard and Boston Rd).

Reviewing Stand, Socialization & Entertainment: Until 5:00pm in Vidalia Park on E.180th Street (b/w Vyse & Daly Ave),

COME ONE!      COME ALL!  

Salute the Veterans!

3^RD Annual Bronx Veterans Parade                             

                         

 SAVE THE DATE                                              Saturday, 9/25/10

                         (RAIN OR SHINE) 

              The Line Up: Starts 9:00am at  

               E.178^th Street & Crotona Pkway                              

                                                                       

                    

CO-CHAIRPERSON: Raymond Lettsome

(718) 824-2197


 

SGM Santiago 1917559-6248

   CHAIRPERSON:

   Dolores Steele          

   (718) 506-6533

Croton Filter Project - CFMC Meeting Next Week

Agenda

Croton Facility Monitoring Committee Meeting

Thursday, September 16, 2010 – 7:00 PM

DEP Community Office, 3660 Jerome Avenue, Bronx NY 10467

 

I Welcome      Damian McShane, Chairman
 

II Consider, Adopt 6/17/10 Meeting Minutes CFMC Representatives
 

III Construction Update and Look-ahead  Bernard Daly, DEP

      Including Status of Force Main
 

IV Brief Update on Croton Jobs, Training  Mark Lanaghan, DEP  

      Including M/WBE Meeting on 10/13/10 

V  Status of Public Access Report   Mark Lanaghan  
 

VI CFMC Discussion, Set Next Meeting  CFMC Representatives
 

VII Adjourn

 

Dan Padernacht Endorses Gustavo Rivera in 33rd State Senate District

   In front of the municipal building, and across the street from City Hall, Dan Padernacht officially  ended his campaign for the 33rd State Senate District.  All the elected officials including Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., New York City Comptroller John Liu and Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio, State Senators Eric Schniderman and Liz Kruger, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, and former Bronx Borough President Freddy Ferrer said that Dan Padernacht was doing the right thing by ending his campaign for the 33rd State Senate and endorsing Gustavo Rivera to defeat incumbent Pedro Espada Jr. 

   Ruben Diaz Jr. said that it is not only knowing when you have to step up, but more important to know when to step aside for the good of the community. Freddy Ferrer said to Mr. Padernacht "Dan you did the right thing,and that does not always happen in politics". Assemblyman Dinowitz said that it is not often that people put the good of the community before their own political ambitions. Dinowitz and those gathered again thanked Dan Padernacht for his unselfish act of withdrawing to support Gustavo Rivera to defeat Pedro Espada Jr. 

   Dan Padernacht thanked everyone for their words of praise, and for creating a unified democratic front. He added that "it was a difficult decision to withdraw, but in order to defeat Pedro Espada Jr. we needed a united front".  He ended by saying that he will help Gustavo Rivera defeat Pedro Espada Jr. in any way he can.

   Gustavo Rivera then thanked all who came to support him, and mostly Dan Padernacht saying "from the first time we met Dan showed me that ha cared about community issues". Rivera added that with your support we will win on September 14th, and that he wants people like Dan Padernacht and Assemblyman Dinowitz, and others to be with him in Albany. " This is not about me or Pedro ,but it is about the needs of the people of the district and the Bronx.

New Voting Machine Demo at Bronx Courthouse

   Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and the Board of Elections gave those in attendance a demonstration on exactly how the new ballot scan voting machines work. Board of Elections spokeswoman Valerie Vasquez along with Bronx Board of Elections Commissioners J.C. Polanco (republican) and Naomi Barrera (democrat) who were on hand to say a few words on just how easy it is to use the new voting machines. Ms. Vasquez said that there has been community outreach with neighborhood demos such as today's, to ads on buses, in newspapers, and on television and radio. BP Diaz said that it is important for people come out and vote. He added that "this is a very important election, and we will be using new voting machines".

   The demo started with BP Diaz being given a sample ballot to fill out in one of the available privacy booths that was equipped with a magnifying sheet if needed. BP Diaz read the items on each line to be voted, and said aloud his choices on the sample ballot. When he was finished filling out the sample ballot he was instructed to feed the finished ballot in to the Ballot Scan Machine (see photo below). After accepting the ballot the number one came up in the vote tally area to show that the ballot was accepted and counted. BP Diaz asked for another sample ballot this time to mark more than one choice in the same line. When he fed the finished second ballot into the Ballot Scan Machine a red and green light came up warning that there was an error on the ballot. The red light was to be touched if the voter wants to redo their choices on a different ballot, or the green light can be touched if the voter wants the incorrect ballot to be processed anyway with the error. Voters will be given up to three times to cast a ballot on the new machines if an error happens.

  We would caution you however to check you ballot before you start marking it for any errant stray marks that may have gotten onto it by accident that could be read by the Ballot Scan Machine to void one or more lines. If you do receive a ballot with a mark on it you should go to the person in charge at the polling site to report it, and you may want to also call the board of elections at 212-487-5300 to report it also.

   We must say that we might agree with the candidate in the 33rd State Senate District who has asked for federal observers to oversee the election in that district, and we can think of other districts where impartial observers might be needed. We however hope that it does not come to a court case like was the case in the 2000 Florida election.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. feeds sample ballot into the new Ballot Scan Voting Machine. Ms. Valerie Vasquez of the Board of Elections is also in the photo.

  

Dan Padernacht ending 33rd State Senate Bid and Endorsing Gustavo Rivera

   Tuesday morning at City Hall 33rd State Senate candidate Dan Padernacht will be ending his state senate campaign, and endorsing Gustavo Rivera in the race to defeat Pedro Espada Jr. 

   We sat down with Dan Padernacht who said "while I believe that I am percentage points ahead, I can't be sure that Pedro Espada Jr. will be defeated in a three way race". "My goal has been to defeat Pedro Espada Jr., and I will now support Gustavo Rivera for the good of the Democratic Party". 

   While Padernacht's name will still appear on the ballot he will be campaigning with Gustavo Rivera around the 33rd State Senate District, urging his supporters to defeat Pedro Espada Jr. by voting for Gustavo Rivera.

Bronx Borough President hosts a demonstration of the new voting system to be used on Primary Election Day

  

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. will urge Bronx voters to seek out information about the new voting system, in preparation for the New York City Primary Election to be held on September 14th. Along with representatives of the New York City Board of Elections, Borough President Diaz will be hosting a demonstration of the new system.

The Board of Elections in the City of New York is performing daily demonstrations of the new voting system in neighborhoods throughout the city to allow voters and the media to see how the new system works, ask questions and to practice voting with a paper ballot. The demonstrations are part of the board’s ongoing, comprehensive public education program to raise awareness among New York City voters that there is a new way to vote that assures all votes will continue to be counted accurately.

This system is being implemented in compliance with the Help America Vote Act, passed in October 2002 by Congress, which requires a voting system that produces a permanent, verifiable paper record. The lever machines previously used in the city did not comply with this requirement.  The new voting system will be in place in all poll sites for the Primary Election on Sept. 14, 2010 and the General Election on Nov. 2, 2010.

For further information on the new voting system, please visit www.vote.nyc.ny.us. Any Bronx organization interested in scheduling a demonstration can do so through the website. Information is provided in several languages.

WHEN:    Tuesday, September 7

TIME:        1:00 PM

WHERE:   The Bronx County Courthouse 851 Grand Concourse, 1st Floor- Rotunda

Gustavo Rivera sends Letter to Justice Department to ask for Federal Observers in Primary Election in 33rd

    In a letter to Mr. Justin Weinstein-Tull of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department in Washington D.C. dated September 3, 2010 Mr. Gustavo José Rivera says that he is a candidate for the office of State Senator in New York’s 33rd State Senate District. He writes to request that the U.S. Department of Justice

send federal election observers to the 33rd Senate District, in Bronx County, New York on Primary Election Day, September 14, 2010.

   Mr. Rivera mentions that there has been a pattern of intimidation to people who signed Mr. Rivera's petition of Hispanic origin to outright threats by a staff member of Senator Pedro Espada Jr. to Mr. Rivera's campaign workers at the Bronx Board of Elections.

   The letter goes on to say that this year new voting machines will be used, and it is expected that in the 33rd senate district minimal information have gotten to the voters on how these new voting machine operate.

   Mr. Rivera adds in the letter that the incumbent Pedro Espada Jr. is under investigation by the Bronx District Attorney, New york State Attorney General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

   In closing there is another request that federal observers cover the 33rd State Senate District.  

  To see the entire letter go to  http://www.scribd.com/doc/36867726/Jgr-Doj-Letter

J.Gustavo Rivera Ducks 33rd District Debate for Another Outside Endorsement.

   Last night there was a debate scheduled at the Fordham Lutheran Church in the southern part of the 33rd State Senate District. It was known that incumbent 33rd State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. would skip this debate just like Espada skipped the first debate on Bronxtalk, not wanting to defend his questionable behavior in the state senate and elsewhere. What was not known was that challenger J. Gustavo Rivera would also bail out at the last minute by attending an event out out of the district rather than being with the voters of the 33rd State Senate District. Mr. J. Gustavo Rivera's policy director said Rivera would be attending a candidates' forum in the east Bronx, near Westchester Square, an event hosted by the Bronx branches of the NAACP. 

   Last week, Rivera's campaign said he would participate in the debate, organized by Transportation Alternatives at Fordham Lutheran Church, moderated by the Bronx News Network You can go to the BNN website to read their story and comments from people at http://www.bronxnewsnetwork.org/ .

   Getting back to the debate at Fordham Lutheran Church Mr. Dan Padernacht Democratic candidate for the 33rd State Senate came to the debate in the southern part of the district,  as did Mr. John Reynolds the candidate of the Green Party who was also invited.

   This debate was on mass transit and other community related issues which would have been an excellent forum for Mr. J. Gustavo Rivera to give the voters his position on the issues, but Mr. J. Gustavo Rivera showed his lack of concern for the voters by going instead to an event out of the district he is running for. 

   Mr. Padernacht was very kind though to Mr. Rivera by answering the questions as if Mr. Rivera was there to the point, with Mr. Reynolds of the Green party saying most of the time that he agreed with Mr. Padernacht on the issue. In his closing statement however Mr. Padernacht said that he expected Pedro Espada Jr. not to show, But for Mr. J. Gustavo Rivera to bail out at the last minute shows that he is no different than Pedro Espada Jr. 

   A spokesperson for Transportation Alternatives the sponsor of the debate said that they do not endorse any candidates as they are a 501c3 corporation.

   After the debate I asked Mr. Padernacht if he missed anything in the Bronxtalk debate which Mr. J. Gustavo Rivera did attend, and he said yes I did. "When Mr. J. Gustavo Rivera said that he worked in the senate conference to help the democrats gain a majority, I should have said so it was you that helped put Pedro Espada Jr. in the position he now is". 

   It is our opinion that Mr. Dan Padernacht was the hands down winner of both debates and would have been if all the candidates had attended. Mr. J. Gustavo Rivera showed by not attending the second debate that he will politics ahead of the people of the 33rd State Senate District, and it is well known that the incumbent Pedro Espada Jr. has put his own self interests ahead of anything else.