Vote "NO" on NOv.4th
rugosa
This is a position paper by the Tenants & Neighbors Coalition. for more
info call Joe Heaphy at (212) 695-8922 Ext 311
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION:
VOTE "NO" ON NOVEMBER 4
New Yorkers will be presented with a ballot question when they go to
the polls on Election Day, Tuesday, November 4. You will be asked to
vote "YES" or "NO" on whethere New York State should convene a
constitutional convention as the first step in a three-year process to
amend our state constitution.
WE URGE ALL TENANTS TO VOTE "no"
There are many things wrong with our state constitution adn it needs to
be amended. But because th times are conservative, and because the
process of selecting delegates for teh constitutional convention favour
conservative and big-money interest, there is every expectation that any
redrafted constitution coming out of such a convention would contain
sweeping changes that would be bad for many progressive constituencies.
Tenants have a good deal to fear from a convention. Landlords want to
amend the state constitution to restrict or even end the right of state
and local governments to enact rent and eviction protection laws. It
woul become perfectly legal to write such a restriction into the state
consitution, forever tying the hands of the Legislature.
Should they fail to write anti-rent control provisions into the
constitution itself, the landlords want to amend teh constitution to
allow direct ballot initiatives. This would allow them to bypass the
Legislature entirely, place a statewide referendum on the ballot to end
rent regulation, and spend millions of dollars to persuade upstate
voters to vote against tenants. This is exactly how tenants in Boston
lost rent control: the statewide landlord-sponsored initiative passed
51% to 49%, as the landlords spent millions of dollars to mislead voters
in western Massachusetts, where there was no rent control.
But landlords have no hope of doing any of this if a majority of New
York State voters cast balots against calling a constitutional
convention.
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addendum: also, the largest untouched forest in the u.s.: Bear Mountain,
might no longer be allowed to remain "forever wild" and would be opened
up to commercial logging and housing development.
also, NYS might be no longer obliged to take care of its poor, and this
would gut local welfare protections bigtime, thus further impoverishing
the poor, the old, the infirmed, the disabled, those with HIV, etc.
Also, certain freedoms of speech would no longer be protected in the
State of NY (ask Norman Siegel of the NYCLU about this very real
concern.)
and only political hacks would be allowed to go to the convention.
Pataki's hacks. ew. scarier than Halloween at the KKK.
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BK
What a dumbass reason to vote no! The mere convening of a Constitutional
Convention is not inherhently bad based on the conservative tide inNY. The
result of any amendments or redrafts of the State Constitution would have to
voted and approved by the citizenry of the State, no? Is this not Democracy?
Would you be more comfortable if the state were to convene such a convention
during a liberal tide in NY?
As far as infringements on freedoms speech, the US constiutition supersedes
all state constitutions and you should not fear or feel threatened by the
gas coming from siegel's mouth.
> BK
rugosa
why hide behind an anonymous email address?
the "no" button will be hidden in teh lower-right hand corner of the ballot.
under a whole lotta blank space. kinda symptomatic and an allegory or whatever
for what is going on--hidden and silenced by the major media cuz the powers
that be want to slip a con-con over on teh general public so they can by hook
or crook steal rent control/rent-stabilization protections.
vote no, vote no, vote no to the con-cons.
Har...@whatmeworry.com
Another Rent Control fanatic. Perhpas there should be a
state-wide referendum on Rent Control.