Three Parks December 2021 Newsletter

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Monthly Newsletter

December 2021

In This Issue

President's Report

State Committee Report

Join Us on December 4 to Help Pass the NY Health Act

Starting Now: Endorsement Votes for NYS Senate and Assembly, NYS Governor, US Congress, and Other Offices. What You Need to Know

The Defeat of Three Pro-Democracy Ballot Proposals Is a Warning to Progressives: Don't Take Anything for Granted

Cents and Non-Cents About Inflation.

No, It Isn't Biden's Fault.

STAY HEALTHY!

STAY SAFE!

For the latest official information from NYC

on the coronavirus, click here

or text COVID

to 692-692

To see the percentage of the residents in our area who have been vaccinated, click here. (data updated daily)

ONLINE CLUB MEETING

Wednesday, December 8, 2021, at 8:00 pm

June 2022 Democratic Primary Endorsements

Area Candidates for

NY State Senate, Dist. 30

NY State Senate, Dist. 31

NY State Assembly, Dist. 69

An online endorsement vote will follow. Eligible voters will find instructions and a voting schedule here.

Join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.

Click here

You may also either click on the link below or paste it

into your browser:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86082803155?pwd=VzhaWituQkNCb1R6azlNWGhsaEp3Zz09

If you are asked for a PASSWORD, enter:

497105

You may also join by using your phone to dial in.

Phone-in number: 1 929 205 6099

Meeting ID: 818 8355 0343

AGENDA

7:45--8:00 pm: Log On / Dial in

8:00 pm: Call to Order

Speakers: Candidates for NYS Senate, Dist. 30

Questions and Answers

Speakers: Candidates for NYS Senate, Dist. 31

Questions and Answers

Speakers: Candidates for NYS Assembly, Dist. 69

Questions and Answers

Adjourn

President’s Report

By Lorraine Zamora

I hope everyone enjoyed the Thanksgiving and Hanukkah holiday weekend and found time to spend with your family and friends, either at home or away. Though it may have resulted in heavily traveled roads, crowded airports, and long lines at the supermarkets, it comforts me to know that we still honor the tradition of getting together and giving thanks. Pray that it never becomes a partisan issue.

Endorsement time is here again. Our December club meeting will be the first in a series of four meetings to endorse candidates running in the June 2022 Democratic primary for New York State and other offices. On December 8, we will welcome Cordell Cleare and Shana Harmongoff running for the State Senate. (Ali Diini has a scheduling conflict and cannot attend). Also, Danny O’Donnell, running unopposed for Assemblymember, will attend the meeting.

On January 12, we will welcome candidates for NYS Governor and Lt. Governor; on January 26, candidates for NYS Attorney General and NYS Comptroller; and on February 9, candidates for U.S. Congress, Judges, Judicial Delegates and Democratic State Committee. Last, on March 9, we will elect the 2022 Three Parks Board of Directors.

Please check elsewhere in this newsletter and on the Three Parks website for the eligibility requirements to vote in the 2022 endorsement process.

The next Three Parks newsletter will not be published until January 3. Let me take a moment now to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and Kwanzaa holiday. It’s been quite a year. So much to be thankful for, and yet so much still to be done.

Most important, I thank the Board of Directors and all the wonderful club members for all that you do.

State Committee Report

By Daniel Marks Cohen

Following the poor showing of the Democrats on Election Day this November, I joined with a group of members of the New York State Democratic Committee to bring a motion of “no confidence” in the ability of current party chair, Jay Jacobs, to lead the party. This motion follows several high-profile defeats, including important losses on statewide ballot initiatives 1, 3 and 4, and the loss of winnable Democratic offices in New York City, on Long Island, in Buffalo, and in Syracuse. Together we released the following statement:

"There ought to be no question that the November 2 election was a series of devastating defeats for the Democratic Party and New Yorkers -- defeats which could have been avoided with better leadership.

The failure of three ballot initiatives related to voting reform is a stain on the Democratic party in New York State. In 21 states and the District of Columbia, same-day voter registration is the law of the land; it helps lay the foundation for an inclusive democracy. But Democratic party leader Jay Jacobs made no investments to promote these important proposals, while Republican party leaders toured the state rallying against them, investing more than $3 million which was funneled through the state’s Conservative Party. New York Senate Democratic Leadership requested assistance from our State Democratic party with the ballot proposition campaign, to no avail. Our Democratic leaders in Congress and across the country are fighting for voting rights, but in our own state, our Democratic leader was either unaware that these proposals might not pass, or unconcerned. Either way, it speaks to a need for new leadership at the earliest opportunity.

In this election cycle, our Democrats on Long Island, Upstate, and in Brooklyn and Queens, were attacked with disinformation and lies from Republicans and were too often left undefended by the state party. In what should have been victories, our candidates were defeated, and these losses will move New York backwards in our fight against the pandemic and our fight for safe and thriving communities.

Join Us on December 4 to Help Pass the NY Health Act

The New York Health Act is the bill that could finally bring the benefits of Medicare to New Yorkers of all ages. The Act already has enough co-sponsors to pass both houses of the NY state legislature, but the leadership must bring it to a vote. It is urgent to pass the bill now, before the balance of power shifts in Washington.

Three Parks is already working to help pass the Act. On November 17, at a sidewalk table at Broadway, we gathered signatures from local residents on 115 postcards to be sent to state legislators. We also distributed over 300 flyers and took the opportunity to explain the issue to numerous friends and neighbors.

Following the success of that event, we have scheduled a second session. Come join us!

Tell Our Legislators:

Pass the New York Health Act!

When: Saturday, Dec. 4, 2:00 to 4:00 PM

Where: Broadway (west side) at 104th Street

RSVP Here

Starting Now: Endorsement Votes

for NYS Senate and Assembly,

NYS Governor, US Congress, and

Other Offices

What You Need to Know

Starting in December and running into the early months of 2022, Three Parks will be holding endorsement votes for candidates for Governor, US Congress, NY Attorney General, NY State Senate, NY State Assembly, and other offices that are up for election in 2022.

Candidates for each office will be invited to speak at our regular club meetings, currently held via Zoom. Here is the tentative schedule.

Schedule of Candidates / Offices

December 8

January 12

January 26

February 9

March 9

NYS Senate, NYS Assembly

NYS Governor, Lt. Governor

NYS Atty. General, NYS Comptroller

US Congress, Judges, Judicial Delegates

Dem. State Committee

Three Parks Board

Check the Endorsement Meeting Schedules page on the Three Parks website and your email for any schedule changes.

At each club meeting, each candidate will make brief remarks and take questions.

Following each meeting, eligible voters may vote electronically during a set time period. Instructions and schedules for voting electronically will be posted on the Endorsement Voting Procedures page of the Three Parks website.

Make Sure You Are Eligible to Vote!

In order to vote to endorse candidates and for the Board and officers, you must be a member of Three Parks Independent Democrats. Also, your dues must be current for the year in which the endorsement vote is held. In addition, you must have attended, as a member, at least one Club meeting in the six months prior to the endorsement vote. For new members, membership becomes effective one month after dues payment. For more information, click here.

The Defeat of Three Pro-Democracy Ballot Proposals Is a Warning to Progressives: Don’t Take Anything

for Granted

By Miriam Rabban

In the November election, five progressive proposals were presented to New York State voters. Three Parks backed all five and sought to build support for them through its newsletter and e-mail blasts. Other progressive organizations backed them as well. But in the end, only two of the five passed. Voters rejected three proposals that would have made access to the polls easier and addressed issues with redistricting. The defeat of these measures is a wake-up call for progressive activists. It reminds us that we cannot take support for voting rights in New York State for granted. If we want to expand those rights and strengthen our democracy, the hard work of vigorous campaigning and informing the public is essential.

Two of the five measures passed. Proposal #2 added the right to clean air, clean water and a healthful environment to the NY State Constitution’s Bill of Rights. The clear language in proposal #2, in contrast to the complex wording in other proposals, may well have contributed toward its passage. Proposal #5, which also passed, increased the jurisdiction of NYC Civil Courts by raising the monetary limit for claims filed in those courts from $25,000 to $50,000. This will help address the enormous backlog in higher courts by reducing their dockets.

Of the three measures that were defeated, two would have expanded access to the polls. Proposal #3 would have eliminated the requirement that voters register at least 10 days before an election. Its passage would have allowed the NY State legislature to provide for a shorter period, including same-day registration. Proposal #4 would have eliminated the requirement that people who request absentee ballots provide reasons for the request.

Proposal #1, which was also defeated, would have amended the redistricting process and changed who is counted where. Among the measures in the proposal were requirements that all NYS residents be counted in the census regardless of citizenship status, and that incarcerated people be counted for reapportionment purposes at their last place of residence rather than where they are incarcerated.

Cents and Non-Cents About Inflation.

No, It Isn’t Biden’s Fault.

By Steve Max

11/23/2021

Yes, inflation is back, only 6% as of October, which is nothing like the 13.5% that brought down Jimmy Carter in the election of 1980. The exact numbers don't really matter. Rising prices, especially gasoline prices, are always bad news for the party in power. We must remember, and keep saying, that Biden is trying to improve the quality of life for all Americans, and of course the Republicans will try to change the subject and create division.

If you were taught anything at all about inflation, it was probably that "inflation is too many dollars chasing too few goods." The problem with this traditional definition is that it creates the impression that people aren’t involved. The dollars run after the goods, the goods run away from the dollars; all untouched by human hands.

Actually, inflation is rising prices, and people raise prices. Prices don't raise themselves. Psychology has a lot to do with it. If you buy a sack of flour for your bagel factory, you price the bagels not on what you already paid for the flour, but on what you anticipate the next sack will cost. Once the idea of inflation get started, it takes on a life of its own with everyone raising prices to get ahead of what they think the next guy is going to do.