Press Release
Charter Review Commission Must Delay Ballot Proposals Due to Rushed Process
Given historically quick timeline, expansive scope of Commission's work, and lack of public input, Commission's proposals must wait until next year's ballot
Press
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The council in April invited Susan Lerner, of the New York advocacy group Common Cause, to discuss the commission. Lerner said the current practice of having council members draw their own districts is a blatant conflict of interest.
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“Just think if we had ranked choice voting for the special election for public advocate where we had 17 people running. It would have been easier for the voted to make sense of that crowded field,” said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause New York.
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The commission has until Dec. 1 to announce rules that will become law unless lawmakers hold a rare end-of-year special session to reject them. It’s a looming timeline for such a weighty subject, according to the letter from advocacy groups, which also include Reinvent Albany, Common Cause New York and the Brennan Center for Justice. “You have a challenging task crafting a public financing system, made even more challenging by your lack of staff support and getting it completed in the 37 working days left,” reads the letter.
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A half dozen good-government organizations on Monday in a letter to the commission determining the contours and specifics of New York’s system of publicly financed campaigns urged the panel to release a draft report of its recommendations... The letter was signed by Laura Ladd Bierman, League of Women Voters of New York State; Betsy Gotbaum, Citizens Union; Blair Horner, New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG); John Kaehny, Reinvent Albany; Susan Lerner, Common Cause New York; and Lawrence Norden, Brennan Center for Justice.
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“New Yorkers deserve elections that lift up our voices, and push candidates to campaign better,” said Susan Lerner.
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On Sept. 19, the Rank the Vote coalition launched. It is spearheaded by the good government group Common Cause. It explicitly advocates that New Yorkers vote “yes on 1,” the ballot question that includes the proposal instituting ranked choice voting in primaries and special elections.
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“For almost three years, Common Cause/NY has said Keith Wright can either be party chairman or a lobbyist but he can’t have it both ways,” Susan Lerner, executive director of the group said. “The opportunities to wield his political position for personal enrichment, or use his position to advance a client’s agenda present a clear conflict of interest.”
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“This is really not acceptable conduct by any government agency,” said Susan Lerner, the head of watchdog group Common Cause New York. “The data is subject to FOIL, there is no excuse for playing games.”
“Certainly the spirit of the law has been violated,” she added. “This sort of game-playing should not be countenanced.”
“Certainly the spirit of the law has been violated,” she added. “This sort of game-playing should not be countenanced.”
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Representatives for Blake and Airbnb denied any connection between Blake’s consulting work and his support of the Airbnb bill, and Blake was paid by Hilltop for work with out-of-state clients. Even so, Susan Lerner of the good government group Common Cause New York told the Times Union that the situation has “the appearance of a conflict of interest.”
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"It has the appearance of a conflict of interest," said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, a leading good government group. "The basis on which all of this took place, we don't know. But no legislator should be in this situation."
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But nonpartisan groups like Common Cause NY say they have long recognized that Independence has survived and prospered for a quarter century through its name. Executive Director Susan Lerner said Dixon is proving no exception. “She is not an independent, she is a member of the Independence Party endorsed by Republicans,” Lerner said. “This seems to be misleading the voters.”
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“I know that they are very security-conscious, but they need to compile a program, they absolutely need to put that in with the state,” said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, a nonprofit dedicated to good government.