Monserratitus of the Queens
So…
Hiram Monserrate didn’t seem to get the message on Tuesday and is apparently looking at running for State Assembly, you know, for that recently vacated seat of the guy who left the Assembly to replace (and beat) some jerk who was expelled for roughing up his girlfriend. How long before Queens will be rid of this infection? What other offices can Hiram lose a run for?
Or is it, as many of us believe, all just a continuing ploy to raise money to pay off his legal fees?
Ousted Senator Monserrate Gunning for Assembly (Gothamist)
County Committee Executive Board Meeting 3/7/2010
In case you didn’t know, MYD ran and elected a number of young people to the exceptionally opaque County Committee last year. Now we’re bringing their information to you. Every month we’re sending a correspondent to the County Committee E-Board meeting to help you understand what’s going on under the covers of NY politics.
What follows is an account of the last County Committee E-Board meeting complete with their Congressional Candidates Forum during which all the candidates running for Congress in Manhattan made their case to this select group of electeds (and us).
Special thanks to our Executive Board Representative this month Michelle Stockwell, who wrote this amazing update.
Want to get involved or learn more? Email ben [at] gomyd [dot] com
Executive Board Meeting
The EB meeting started on time, with hot pizza and an audience comprised of district leaders, community organizers and a few members of MYD. Keith Wright delivered a brief summary of what to expect – no voting, speeches from congressional candidates and no press. He remarked on Gov. Patterson, expressing the opinion that the Gov. should serve out the rest of his term, and that the investigations being conducted around him should take their course. Keith also brought up the Yankees tickets controversy, stating that the discrepancies were not “that big of deal”, since Giuliani and Bloomberg had attended many games too. There was also concerns voiced about the state budget, it’s schedule and the elimination of such programs as homeless prevention and summer jobs. The meeting concluded with a call to think about the voting process for congressional endorsements and a minor, but curious, suggestion of providing district leaders with ID cards.
Congressional Forum
Read more
Congratulations Jose Peralta!
As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Jose Peralta beat Monserratte in a landslide!
With 94 percent of the vote counted, unofficial returns from the overwhelmingly Democratic 13th State Senate District showed Mr. Peralta with 66 percent and Mr. Monserrate with 27 percent. The Republican candidate, Robert Beltrani, an administrative law judge, came in third with 7 percent.
“Tonight we put an end to dysfunction,” Mr. Peralta told a crowd at a restaurant in East Elmhurst. “Our nightmare is over.”
Thank you to everyone who made it out to Queens to canvass, thank you to those who phone banked, and a huge thank you to the amazing MYD Media team who put together some memorable moments for our enjoyment.
Check out Ben’s video of Monserratte campaigning HERE.
Check out Chas’ in depth analysis of a stolen logo HERE.
Check out Chris’ super-villain HERE.
I’m looking forward to what we can accomplish this election season. Email Alex V (political [at] gomyd . com) for info on how to play a role in the field this fall!
Census: It’s Important… Really, REEAALLLY Important
Right-wing radio is making an issue of the fact that the Census Bureau is over budget already. They also don’t think the money spent on the Super Bowl Commercial was wisely allocated. I’m enormously supportive of the idea of the Census being everywhere, including the Super Bowl. In modern society, you have to be completely overwhelmed with something for it to register as a big deal. The Census is certainly a big deal. So I’m glad that I saw an ad at the movie theater last night. It’s on TV, fliers litter the streets, it’s in the papers, on the radio, even on the internet: Census 2010 Website (it’s actually pretty awesome; you should check it out).
On that note, the Census has sent out its questionnaires, and if you’re even thinking about not filling it out or sending it in, read on:
You see, there is a tremendous amount riding on this year’s Census. The political wonk in me wants to wax poetic about the Census’s effects on redistricting: the process which immediately follows the Census where we reexamine each State’s allotment of Congressmembers and redraw our legislative district lines, from Congress to City Council, accordingly. NY will likely lose a congressional seat, and our State Legislature’s lines will be redrawn to either promote or prevent progressive legislation for the next 10 years, depending on the party in power when the lines are drawn.
But, that’s not even the worst consequence on not fulfilling your civic duty. Our esteemed Borough President Scott Stringer just sent me an email that sums it up pretty well:
Based on the results of the Census, the federal government distributes $400 billion in aid among the states – a significant portion of which may benefit New York City.
This funding supports vital social service programs that may affect you or someone you know, such as the Medical Assistance Program for healthcare, Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers for public housing, Federal Transit Capital Investment Grants for transportation initiatives, Title I Grants for our schools, Head Start educational programs and many more. Without these programs, thousands of families would go without public housing assistance and New York City children would lack additional educational programs to help them succeed in school. That is why every person must be counted.
The letter goes on to explain that this is a community outreach effort coordinated by Manhattan elected officials and community groups to get the word out. They have a Facebook group. Become a fan! You can watch a video from the Census below.
Democratic Party In Manhattan
Party politics is complicated and people throw terms around like state committeeman, district leader, party club, and county committee and almost no one knows what they all mean. Over the last week or so, I’ve been working to decode the tea leaves and come to grips with all the various layers of the Democratic Party here in the city and the state.
Districts
The start of the confusion is that there are many different “districts” that every voter belongs to. Lets go through the types of districts that are important to Democratic party structure from biggest to smallest, starting with the Assembly District. As a disclaimer, I am only sure of this structure in Manhattan. The state committee is the same everywhere, but district leader can mean different things in different Boroughs, and certainly the structure does not translate well to different parts of the state which can have assembly districts spanning multiple counties, town committees, etc.
State Assembly Districts
Each voter is in an assembly district, and each assembly district (shockingly!) elects a member of the state assembly, the New York State equivalent of the House of Representatives. There are 12 assembly districts that are within New York County (a.k.a. Manhattan), numbered from 64 to 75. After the 2000 Census, each assembly district contained about 126,510 people. Obviously that has changed over time, and the districts will be redrawn soon after the upcoming census. Every assembly district is represented in the New York State Democratic Committee (the state-level governing body of the Democratic Party) by two Democratic State Committee members: one male and one female.
Executive Districts (Assembly District “Parts”)
In certain counties within New York City, each assembly district is broken down into “parts.” In these counties, each assembly district can have between two and four parts. Unlike assembly districts, these parts need not be contiguous, but are always within the same assembly district. Each part is presented by two elected District Leaders: one male and one female. District Leaders serve on the Executive Committee of their County Democratic Committee, and are more or less the NYC analog to Democratic chairmen of cities/towns/villages outside the five boroughs. Local Clubs, which often exist within one assembly district, can represent more than one Assembly District Part.
Election Districts
Election districts (sometimes called “EDs” by people who spend time on campaigns) are the smallest and most basic district type, and they are the building blocks out of which all the larger district types are constructed. The ED is made up of all the people who are assigned to vote on a particular voting machine (certain large EDs may have two voting machines, but you get the point). A typical ED has between 400 to 800 registered voters and never more than 1,000. Each ED can be directly represented on its County Democratic Committee by two (or sometimes up to four) county committee members.
Committees
We’re represented by various Democratic committees, that correspond to each of the districts above. Let’s go through them from biggest to smallest.
LogoGate – The Final Day?
Hopefully after tonight the only place anyone we will ever see this logo again is in a trash can.
Did Someone Copyright that Logo (Ben Smith @ Politico)
MYD Meeting Tonight! New Location!
Quick reminder that tonight’s General Meeting is at a new location:
Van Diemens – 383 3rd Avenue, near 28th Street (map)
7:00 – 8:00pm, drinks begin at 8:00pm
Followed by guest speaker, candidate Reshma Saujani.
Texas Board of Education Rewriting History
On Friday, the Texas Board of Education approved new social studies standards for their state. This might not sound all that important, but Texas is the second largest textbook buyer in the country, and since the largest market (California) has no money, it disproportionally affects what our nation’s students learn in their history classes.
After experts write proposed standards, the Board can amend them by majority vote. Seven of the 14 members make up a seriously conservative bloc and they have passed more than 160 amendments to the standards. The NY Times Magazine wrote a story on the board last month, and noted that one of the prominent conservative members
moved that Margaret Sanger, the birth-control pioneer, be included because she “and her followers promoted eugenics,” that language be inserted about Ronald Reagan’s “leadership in restoring national confidence” following Jimmy Carter’s presidency and that students be instructed to “describe the causes and key organizations and individuals of the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s, including Phyllis Schlafly, the Contract With America, the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority and the National Rifle Association.
Most of the amendments passed. Sad to think that for many students across the country, history is being shaped and rewritten by a bloc of members on the Texas Board of Education.
Monserrate Shunned in Jackson Heights – We Have Video
Yours truly was down at Jose Peralta HQ last Sunday helping to make sure Hiram Monserrate, the domestic abusing coup instigator re-running for State Senate in a special election after he was thrown out, doesn’t come within spitting distance of the finish line.
While I’m there video taping a rally, this guy decides to campaign right outside the door. What ensues is both hilarious and ridiculous. Watching Monserrate stumble around without a clue as to what he’s doing is sure to bring a smile to anyone’s fact. Whata mook.
More Bad News From The MTA, More Hypocrisy From Albany
(Graph is by Streetsblog.)
Ready to pay more for less subway and bus service? On Friday, the New York Post reported that the MTA may raise fares this year, as the transit agency’s finances continue to deteriorate. The package of transit, student MetroCard, and paratransit cuts currently planned would close a $383 million budget gap — but since they were announced, that gap has grown to $750 million. What are some of the reasons? Per the Post, “the state cut aid to the MTA, took money from its tax revenues, and miscalculated how much the agency would get in payroll tax revenues.”
Responding to the story, Streetsblog dug a little deeper into last year’s budget deal (the same one where the state basically abandoned its commitment to help pay for free student MetroCards) to illustrate what state politicians did: They raided funds from certain tax revenues that, by law, are supposed to go to transit in New York City and its suburbs.
By the way, voting in favor of what Streetsblog calls “picking money from straphangers’ pockets” has not stopped state politicians from blasting the MTA for its plans to cut service. The Daily News has written a series of editorials (see part 1, part 2, and part 3) identifying those legislators who showed up at this month’s public hearings to complain about service cuts they helped create. If transit fares do go up this year, riders might want to send the bill to Albany.
