A commission convened by the Mayor has proposed three amendments to the NYC Charter that will be on the ballot this November during the general election. Below is a guide for voters from the New York City Campaign Finance Board.

Proposal #1: Campaign Finance

This proposal would amend the City Charter to lower the amount a candidate for City elected office may accept from a contributor. It would also increase the public funding used to match a portion of the contributions received by a candidate who participates in the City’s public financing program.

In addition, the proposal would make public matching funds available earlier in the election year to participating candidates who can demonstrate need for the funds. It would also ease a requirement that candidates for Mayor, Comptroller, or Public Advocate must meet to qualify for matching funds.

The amendments would apply to participating candidates who choose to have the amendments apply to their campaigns beginning with the 2021 primary election, and would then apply to all candidates beginning in 2022.

Proposal #2: Civic Engagement Commission

This proposal would amend the City Charter to:

Create a Civic Engagement Commission that would implement, no later than the City Fiscal Year beginning July 1, 2020, a Citywide participatory budgeting program established by the Mayor to promote participation by City residents in making recommendations for projects in their communities;

Require the Commission to partner with community based organizations and civic leaders, as well as other City agencies, to support and encourage civic engagement efforts;

Require the Commission to establish a program to provide language interpreters at City poll sites, to be implemented for the general election in 2020;

Permit the Mayor to assign relevant powers and duties of certain other City agencies to the Commission;

Provide that the Civic Engagement Commission would have 15 members, with 8 members appointed by the Mayor, 2 members by the City Council Speaker and 1 member by each Borough President; and

Provide for one of the Mayor’s appointees to be Commission Chair and for the Chair to employ and direct Commission staff.

Proposal # 3: Community Boards

This proposal would amend the City Charter to:

Impose term limits of a maximum of four consecutive full two-year terms for community board members with certain exceptions for the initial transition to the new term limits system;

Require Borough Presidents to seek out persons of diverse backgrounds in making appointments to community boards. The proposal would also add new application and reporting requirements related to these appointments; and

If Question 2, “Civic Engagement Commission,” is approved, require the proposed Civic Engagement Commission to provide resources, assistance, and training related to land use and other matters to community boards.

Update: At its fall meeting on 10/4/18, Grand Street Democrats voted to recommend a “Yes” vote for only Proposal #1, and voted to recommend a “No” vote for Proposals #2 and #3.

Grand Street Democrats officially is responsible for Part A of Assembly District 65. That’s a small slice of the Lower East Side comprised of all four Grand Street co-ops (East River, Hillman, Amalgamated, and Seward Park); half a dozen buildings of Vladeck Houses on Jackson Street; a block of low-rises bordered by Henry, Clinton, East Broadway, and Montgomery; and a few additional addresses sprinkled in between.

We know who won last week’s primary, but how did they do just in our part?

Andrew Cuomo won more votes for Governor, but by a much smaller margin than in the state overall.

Jumaane Williams picked up more votes here for Lt. Governor than the statewide winner, Kathy Hochul. (Though you can see that Williams matched Cynthia Nixon’s vote total, while Hochul had a 24% drop-off from Cuomo, her running-mate.)

In a four-way race for Attorney General, Zephyr Teachout won the neighborhood, with eventual winner Tish James a close second.

Robert Rosenthal lost a close race for Civil Court Judge in the 2nd Judicial District, but bested Wendy Li by 17 points in our neighborhood.

Finally, in the race for Democratic State Committee, Chris Marte beat his opponent here by an even bigger margin than in the full Assembly District.

Sister District is a national organization working to connect Democrats in deep blue districts (like us) with state candidates in purple districts who are at the front lines of the blue wave.

This year, New York’s Sister District chapters are supporting Liz Hanbidge and Tina Davis in Pennsylvania. GSD volunteers helped phone bank for Hanbidge earlier this year, and now we have a chance to meet both candidates at a fundraiser on Monday, September 24.

Sister District Fundraiser for Liz Hanbidge and Tina Davis

Monday, September 24
6:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Sid Gold’s Request Room
165 W. 26th St.

Stars from Frozen and Wicked and other shows will perform, and there will be an auction for backstage passes to Broadway hits.

You can attend without donating or donate without attending, but please do both!

In last Thursday’s primary, local activist Christopher Marte won a resounding victory over his challenger for a position on the NY State Democratic Committee.

This is an internal party position, usually dominated by Albany insiders. Chris brings with him a history of community activism and a commitment to progressive policies, and promises to join a small but growing progressive caucus within this party apparatus dedicated to making our party’s internal rules and deliberations more transparent and equitable.

Congratulations, Chris!

Grand Street Democrats had a chance to vote in five contests on Thursday, September 13. The winners are:

• Andrew Cuomo for Governor
• Kathy Hochul for Lt. Governor
• Letitia James for Attorney General
• Wendy Li for Civil Court Judge
• Christopher Marte for Democratic State Committee

Congratulations to all the candidates, and thank you to all our volunteers in the neighborhood who helped get out the vote!