Petition Distribution (January 11) and Petition Clinic/Obama Campaign Kick-off (January 14)

Here is one we received from the Ben Franklin Club about the beginning of the election season we like to call "Duck Season.  Watch as candidates Duck Debates, Duck Questions, and even Duck out of the race as one Republican Presidential candidate has done this past week.

 

This will be a busy political year. Our efforts will focus on Congress, Assembly, State Senate and local party offices (district leaders, state committee, judicial delegates, and county committee), all of whom will be elected in this year’s primary election.  While the primary date has not yet been set, it is expected to be in June rather than September.  That means petitioning for our endorsed candidates will start in early March.   

We would like you to join us in this important effort. Of course, the Club is also supporting the re-election of President Barack Obama.  On this Wednesday, January 11, we will make petitions available for the President and Delegates to the National Convention. The following Saturday, January 14, we will hold a petition clinic and then formally kick off our participation in the 2012 Obama presidential campaign.

The petitioning later this year is done wholly within our assembly district, unlike the petitioning for President.  It is a challenge because in order to qualify our grassroots county committee candidates, we have to collect signatures in each of about a hundred election districts. You may be most familiar with that petitioning -- a critical task in which your participation has always been essential.

The Club will be open on Wednesday, January 11, at which time petitions and the names and addresses of your fellow Democrats in your building or neighborhood will be available.  The following Saturday before the Obama campaign kickoff we are holding a petition clinic for first-time petitioners, those who want to sharpen their skills, and experienced hands who wish to share their experience. Here are the dates and times of these January campaign events:

• PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ELECTION PETITION DISTRIBUTION Wednesday, January 11 from 11am–1 pm and 7 pm–8:30 pm

• PETITION CLINIC  - Saturday, January 14 from 11 am–12 pm  

• OBAMA CAMPAIGN KICK-OFF - Saturday, January 14 at 1 pm

Please come by and be part of the action.

Jeffrey Dinowitz, Assemblyman
Bruce Feld, District Leader
Randi Martos, District Leader

 

A Bad Start for the New Year 

From Senator Ruben Diaz Sr.

  New York State Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz released the following statement in response to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s 2012 State of the State Address:

Although I may be the lone voice crying in the wilderness, I need to publicly and ardently disagree with New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and his plans to call for an amendment to the State Constitution to legalize casino gambling.  I also need to express my strong opposition to his proposal in his State of the State Address to build a DNA databank of samples taken from criminal defendants in New York State.

Like the rest of us, Governor Cuomo must know that by legalizing casino gambling, gambling addiction will increase and more and more families and children will suffer. Rent will not get paid.  Food will not be on the table.  In a State where poverty levels have increased, gambling revenues will not draw from expendable income but from families’ necessities.  Instead of helping the many New Yorkers who already suffer from gambling addiction, this amendment will only continue to destroy their worlds and further exploit vulnerable and poor New Yorkers and their families.

Governor Cuomo has already legalized gay marriage.  Now he wants to legalize casino gambling.  What’s next – legalizing prostitution and marijuana and drugs – all in good “faith” to make money to raise tax revenues for the State?

In regard to Governor Cuomo’s hopes to build the DNA database, he must be aware of the racial injustice that exists within New York’s prison system.  It is unsettling how on one hand, the Governor says that he opposes harsh fingerprinting requirements for families who need food stamps, and on the other hand, he wants to expand the DNA databank samples of criminal defendants.  The racial imbalance targeted by both of these rules is clear, and the disregard of civil liberties and privacy protection laws and the implications it gives to the authorities is also clear.

To some, Governor Cuomo may seem to be unstoppable, but I do not see him as our economic savior.  I see him as quite the opposite.

State Senator Ruben Diaz To Celebrate Three Kings Day In The Bronx

  On Saturday, January 7^th, State Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz along with Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr., Assemblyman Marcos Crespo, The New York Hispanic Clergy Organization and other elected officials, will come together to provide the children of our community a Three Kings Day Celebration.  The first 500 children between the ages 1- 9 years old, will receive  a toy and a book bag. “There will also be live music and entertainment for the children,” stated Senator Díaz.
 
This activity will take place :

        On:                        Saturday,  January 7, 2012

        At:                        P.S 5
                                564 Jackson Avenue (corner 149^th St.)

Time:                        12:00 pm


For more information, please contact Brendaliz Candelaria at (917) 701-0297.

 

Honoring the Legacy of 

Reverend Dr. Marting Luther King Jr.

Keeping His Dream and Hope Alive For all Future Generations Trinity Baptist Church     In Conjunction With Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. Invites You to A Community Interfaith Service    Honoring the Legacy of   Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.   Monday, January 16, 2012 10:00am Trinity Baptist Church  808 East 224th Street, Bronx, NY (Between Barnes & Bronxwood Avenues)   Please RSVP to 718.590.3989 smalave@bronxbp.nyc.gov

LIU STATEMENT ON MSG CHANNEL BLACKOUT FOR NEARLY 2 MILLION CABLE SUBSCRIBERS

City Comptroller John C. Liu today stated the following about the blackout of Madison Square Garden-owned channels for Time Warner Cable customers:

“New Yorkers deserve to get what they pay for. This ongoing corporate dispute does nothing more than unfairly punish their customers and City residents.  What started as a blackout of the Fuse channel has now escalated to the MSG sports networks, causing nearly 2 million customers to be without access to their beloved Knicks and Rangers. We have asked the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications to step up and hold the company accountable and
make sure it reimburses subscribers for the loss of these channels. Anything less is unacceptable.”

Background:

Last week, Comptroller Liu’s office contacted DoITT concerning the blackout of the Fuse channel for Time Warner customers as a result of the ongoing cable dispute. As the City agency responsible for enforcing cable agreements, Comptroller Liu demanded that DoITT develop a plan for future blackouts, as well as update his office on what discussions have taken place with cable providers regarding consumer protections.

Four months ago, the New York City Franchise Concession and Review Commission authorized cable franchise agreements with Time Warner and Cablevision. As a member of the FCRC, Comptroller Liu expressed concern that the City needed to protect cable consumers during blackouts such as the one that Time Warner subscribers are now faced with.

In addition, Comptroller Liu has written to the FCC expressing support for additional consumer protections during blackouts, as well as DoITT concerning the blackout of the Tennis Channel during the U.S. Open.

No Accountability in NYC School System, Cuomo to Set Up Commission as to Why

   That has been what we have said for the past eight and one-half years when as a member of the Chancellor's Parent Advisory Council I saw first hand the lack of experience that then new schools chancellor Joel Klein had. In his first six months there were no answers, and nine years later there still are no answers now from the man who was the real chancellor Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott. Chancellor Klein finally left as test scores plummeted  Then another person who never should have been appointed chancellor was thrown under the bus in less than four months as she was dragging Mayor Bloomberg down in his approval ratings. This time Bloomberg had to have a real person as chancellor, and the man who really was running the school system was also given the title of chancellor that being Dennis Walcott.

   Mayor Bloomberg pushed hard for mayoral control of the schools that did away with the old Board of education. Bloomberg promised accountability and to streamline the education budget, as he said the old system was wasteful and inefficient. The education budget exploded and there were no answers as to where the money was going. No bid contracts and outside consultants were now common place at the Department of Education, and year after year parents were treated as outsiders when their questions came up. 

    This past week seems to have been the straw that broke the governors back however as New York City (and other large cities) failed to reach a year end agreement with the teachers union over a new teacher evaluation contract that will cost $60 million dollars in school funding to be lost, some monies of which certain schools have already started to spend. 

   It is reported that in his State of the State speech on Tuesday Governor Cuomo will blast the New York City and other city school districts of not performing up to standards and for a lack accountability, and then announce that he is forming a commission to find out why and to reform the school system. We are sure this will be a black eye to Mayor Bloomberg, and we hope it is the end to mayoral control which has failed everyone.