Nominating Committee Election

Transcription

1 October 2018 Staten Island Democratic Association est as Staten Island s reform Democratic Club At our Next Meeting: What s at Stake for Health Care This November and Beyond Mark Hannay from Metro NY Healthcare for All Endorsement Vote for Governor, Lt. Governor, NYS Comptroller, NYS Attorney General, and Congress Nominating Committee Election Tuesday, October 16, 2018, 8:00 P.M. Oriental Plaza, 1845 Richmond Avenue Staten Island, NY S.I.D.A. October 2018 Page 1

2 Editorial Policy Items for publication should be submitted to the newsletter no later than the last Friday of the month before the meeting. Please send items to: Unless explicitly stated, the views herein are those of the authors and not of S.I.D.A. Chris Bauer, Editor (917) Table of Contents President s Statement... 3 What s at Stake for Health Care Speaker... 4 September 2018 Minutes... 6 Nominating Committee... 8 Letters... 9 Internet Memes Peace Action of Staten Island Make Food Not War What s at Stake for Health Care Town Hall Upcoming Meetings Renewal Form I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms are in the physical. - Thomas Jefferson 1787 Submission Deadlines for the newsletter are: November... November 5 December... December 3 S.I.D.A. Executive Committee President... Bobby Digi Member at-large... Roy Moskowitz Vice President... Radhakrishna Mohan Member at-large... Clara Ogburn Executive Secretary... Dennis Brown Member at-large... Liz Price Corresponding & Member at-large...jasmine Robinson Recording Secretary... Marie Dwyer Ex Officio... Michelle Akyempong Treasurer... Bonita Rothman Ex Officio... Belinda Dixon Social Secretary... Sharon Santana Ex Officio... Joann Olbrich Member at-large... Patricia Kane Ex Officio... Rosemarie Mangano Member at-large... Phil Marius Ex Officio... John Mastellone Member at-large... Pearl Minsky Ex Officio... Tom Shcherbenko S.I.D.A. October 2018 Page 2

3 S.I.D.A. President s Statement The October President s statement, at the request of President Bobby Digi, is a guest column by S.I.D.A. Executive Secretary Dennis Brown. This column first appeared in the journal of the September 6 S.I.D.A. banquet. S.I.D.A. began in 1961, a year after John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States. At his inauguration, he challenged America and the world when he said, My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. A new spirit of service, a time of hope and positive change revitalized the world at that time and people spoke of Camelot wistfully. The Peace Corps was established and America reached out to the world at the same time that it reached up to the heavens with the promise of landing men on the moon. Three years later, John F. Kennedy was taken from us by assassination. Five years after his death, 50 years ago, Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy were also taken from us violently by assassination as they fought for Civil Rights and civility in this fractured world. We members of S.I.D.A. have consistently fought for all rights as human rights, and we have continued the struggle valiantly in memory of those who have gone before us and to honor and protect those who will come after us. We must continue still. Fast forward to today when we need that spirit of service, hope and positive change in the face of the repressive administration in Washington which has turned America the last best hope of earth -- away from its promise as stated by President Abraham Lincoln in his annual message to the United States Congress in Washington, D.C. on December 1, 1862: We know how to save the Union We even we here hold the power, and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just; a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless. A year after Lincoln gave that speech during the Civil War, the American poet Emma Lazarus wrote a poem to help raise funds for the construction of a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty which now stands in full view of Staten Island in New York Harbor. The poem reads, A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightning, and her name, MOTHER OF EXILES cries she with silent lips. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! It is not my intention to punish those who deny rights and build walls which separate us from each other. Rather, it is my hope that all of us who struggle for human rights will be able to convince those who deny them that they are only hurting themselves and the world by not recognizing the common humanity we all share. As Martin Luther King wrote, Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. And again, Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. And as Robert S.I.D.A. October 2018 Page 3

4 Kennedy wrote, What we need in the United States is not division.not hatred not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer. - Dennis Brown Executive Secretary What s at Stake for Health Care This November Mark Hannay from the Metro New York Health Care for All Campaign will be the guest at our October 16 General Membership Meeting speaking on the topic What s at Stake for Health Care This November and Beyond.. The following was taken from Metro New York Health Care for All s website Metro New York Health Care for All M etro New York Health Care for All is a city-wide, multi-constituency health care justice coalition. We were founded during the health care reform debate of the early 1990s, and have continued to bring together community groups, labor unions, professional associations, and faith communities to advocate for universal health care, and we engage in other health care justice efforts strategic to that goal. Poll after poll shows that health care remains a top concern for the public as this fall s election season approaches. We re going to leverage that concern to urge New Yorkers to show up and Vote for Health Care! Health care IS on the ballot this fall, and New Yorkers can make a big difference in which way our country and state proceed. Our next Congress and next State Legislature and Governor will determine the future of health care in the U.S. and here in New York, so everyone s vote really matters this fall. Our Vote for Health Care! project has three goals: Register people to vote. Help people understand the key health care issues at stake in the elections. Mobilize people to get to the polls. S.I.D.A. October 2018 Page 4

5 It was a full house at the United Federation of Teachers on August 9 as we all came together to celebrate the anniversaries of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security which are happening since late July through mid-august. We committed ourselves to joining forces to preserve, improve, and expand these three bedrock programs of our nation s social contract, which support millions of New Yorkers and protect our families. We also reaffirmed our commitment to fighting for universal health care nationally, particularly a universal Medicare program. We were delighted to be joined by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) and Rep. Yvette Clarke (NY-9) as they inspired us for our work ahead. We want to thank our partners at the UFT and with the New York State Alliance for Retired Americans New York City Chapter for their crucial behind-the-scenes support. On August 8, we met with leaders and representatives of grassroots groups in southwest Brooklyn to plan how to roll out our Vote for Health Care! project in their congressional district, which is a crucial one for New York City. It was a follow-up discussion to one we held in on July 23 in the other part of the district over on Staten Island. Mark Hannay Mark Hannay is Director of Metro New York Health Care for All, a citywide coalition of community groups and labor unions that advocates for universal health care, and undertakes strategic issue campaigns to that goal. He is also a member of the Steering Committees of various statewide coalitions, including Health Care for All New York- a statewide consumer advocacy coalition focusing on state government, New Yorkers for Accessible Health Coverage, Medicaid Matters New York, and the Campaign for New York Health. He also chairs the board of the national Universal Health Care Action Network, and serves on the board of the NY Metro Chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program. Mark began his health activist career in 1991 as a member of the Insurance and Health Care Access Committee of ACT UP/New York. During the Clinton health care reform period of , Mark worked as a Public Policy Associate at Gay Men s Health Crisis, where he focused on health care and insurance issues for people living with HIV. Since 2002, Mark has co-hosted the weekly Health Action program broadcast over WBAI/Pacifica radio, and hosts the monthly Health Care on the Air monthly cable TV program broadcast over public access cable channels in Manhattan. Mark was a recipient of the 2012 Tisch Community Health Prize given by the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, was the inaugural recipient of the Health Advocate of the Year Award given by the Public Health Association of New York City in 2005, and also received its Health Media Professional Award in He served on the Community Funding Board and the Board of Directors of the North Star Fund from , and served on the Community Advisory Committee of the New York State Health Foundation from In 2015, Mark was appointed to the Steering Committee of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene s Population Health Improvement Program, and serves on its Advanced Primary Care Planning Group by Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett. In 2016, Mark received the Health Advocate of the Year Award from Families USA, a national health policy organization. Mark is a graduate of the University of Rochester with a degree in psychology, and studied psychology at the graduate level at New York University. S.I.D.A. October 2018 Page 5

6 September 2018 Minutes V General Meeting September 18, 2018 Oriental Plaza 1845 Richmond Avenue ice President Mohan, in the absence of President Digi, called the meeting to order at 8:15 p.m. Richenda Kramer made a motion to accept minutes from the August meeting as published in the newsletter. Peter Killen seconded the motion. The motion carried. Mohan asked members to cooperate by following a few basic ground rules to help conduct the meetings and to keep them running smoothly and efficiently. He reminded members that the club follows Robert s Rules of Order. Mohan also reported that the club did their best to stage the recent Annual Banquet with 109 people attending the event. He also apologized about the fact the meeting was conflicting with Yom Kippur, and we will try to avoid scheduling meetings on these holidays in the future. Vice President s Report Marie Dwyer, filling in for Mohan who was chairing the meeting, presented a summary of the highlights from the Executive Committee meeting held on August 30. Executive Secretary s Report Executive Secretary Dennis Brown mentioned that Carmen Cognetta would be the featured guest speaker providing members with an analysis from the primaries held September 13. Dennis felt that this information is very important to help us elect good Democrats, influence the body politic and to bring issues to the forefront. Dennis also expressed the fact that the club supported Matt Titone for Surrogate Court Judge and he was happy that Assemblyman Titone won the recent primary. Dennis announced that the Young Dems planned to send a letter to Chairman Gulino requesting that he unite the party by supporting Matt Titone for Surrogate Court Judge. Treasurer s Report Dennis Brown provided members with the Treasurer s Report for Treasurer Bonnie Rothman, who was observing Yom Kippur. Richard Reichard mentioned that he learned that the Executive Committee raised the amount that the club donates for refreshments for S.I.D.A. sponsored fundraisers from $100 to $300. He felt that, although the club extends certain liberties to the Executive Committee, this issue should have been brought to the General membership for a vote. (Note that there is nothing in Club s By-laws prohibiting Executive Committee from making that decision). Guest Speaker Carmen Cognetta led a discussion on the results from the September 13 Primary. He reported that only 21% of registered Democrats came out to vote. Carmen feels we need to energize new people to vote. He also spoke about what he feels will happen in the upcoming general election. After his presentation, Carmen took questions from several members in attendance. S.I.D.A. October 2018 Page 6

7 By-Laws Committee Report Chair Joann Olbrich had no report Human Rights Committee Chair Clara Ogburn reported that the committee plans to meet again in December or January. Media and Public Relations Chair Roy Moskowitz was absent due to Yom Kippur, and there was no report Issues Committee Co-Chair Richard Reichard reported that he and Co-Chair Phil Marius are working on a policy platform for the club. Richard urged members to join the committee. Dan Chilton and David Wynard expressed interest in joining the committee. Mohan suggested that the committee chairs send out an urging more members to join. Young Dems Letter Young Democrats President Thomas Blancero spoke to members about the fact that since AssemblymanMatt Titone won handily in the recent primary for Surrogate Court Judge he feels that the party needs to move forward. He mentioned that he drafted a letter to Chairman Gulino asking him to endorse Matt Titone for Surrogate Court Judge and asking that Anthony Catalano, running on the Reform Party line, step aside. Thomas mentioned that the letter was circulated to all the Staten Island Democratic clubs and almost all were in favor of supporting the letter. Thomas hopes that Chairman Gulino will make a responsible decision to support the idea and unite the Democratic party. Cindy Voorspuy made the following motion: I move to affirm our support for President Digi in signing the letter calling for the party to unify behind the winner of the Democratic primary for Surrogate Court Judge, Matthew Titone. Mary Kain seconded the motion. The motion carried with 1 against and 0 abstentions. Endorsement Votes 64 th Assembly District Adam Baumel, Democratic Candidate for 64 th Assembly District, told members that he has an event scheduled for the end of the month at the Burrito Bar. He mentioned that he is looking for members to sign on the host committee. Adam also told members that there has been some progress in the Local 3 charter strike. He told members to look at his platform on his website Peter Killen made a motion that: S.I.D.A. fully support Adam Baumel as the Democratic Candidate for the 64 th Assembly District. Dennis Brown seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. 63 rd Assembly District Chris Bauer madea motion that: S.I.D.A. support Michael Cusick for the 63 rd Assembly District. The motion carried unanimously. 11 th Congressional District Chris Bauer also made a motion that: S.I.D.A. support Max Rose, Democratic Candidate for Congress. Mary Kain seconded the motion. felt we should not endorse Max Rose due to his S.I.D.A. October 2018 Page 7

8 recent commercial. There was some discussion about the motion. Tom Shcherbenko made a motion to table the discussion. David Wynard seconded the motion. The motion carried. 18 for the motion and 8 against. New Business Mohan announced the deadline for sending newsletter items to Chris Bauer is September 29. Marie read a thank you note from Susan Chew. Chris Bauer announced that he has lawn signs available for Matt Titone. The meeting was adjourned at 10:18 p.m. Respectfully submitted Marie Dwyer Corresponding & Recording Secretary Nominating Committee B elow are excerpts from the S.I.D.A. by-laws pertaining to the election of the Executive Committee. ARTICLE VII Elections Section 1: Time Officers and members-at-large of the Executive Committee shall be elected at the ieannual meeting. (Article IV, Section 1: Annual Meeting The annual meeting of the club shall be in January, on a date to be fixed by the Executive Committee.) Section 2: Nominations a) Nominating Committee At the October meeting there shall be elected by ballot a Nomination Committee of nine members of the club. Balloting for members of the Nominating Committee shall conform, as nearly as may be, to the procedure for election of members-at-large of the Executive Committee as set forth in Section 4b of this Article. The Nominating Committee shall select nominees for each of the offices and for members-at-large of the Executive Committee, which selection shall be made by majority vote of the Nominating Committee. At the November meeting, the Nominating Committee shall submit to the members of the club a written report setting forth the nominees for various positions. If requested by two members of the Nominating Committee, the report shall include a minority report in which additional nominations may be made for any position or positions and such nominees shall be deemed to have been nominated in addition to the nominees of the majority. The report shall also set forth the procedure for nomination by petition. b) Nomination by Petition Additional nomination may be made by petition signed by 15% of those members in good standing or 15 members, whichever is fewer, as of the final date for the submission of such petitions namely the December meeting at which all candidates shall be presented to the membership as an order of business. Nominating petitions shall be submitted to the Corresponding and Recording Secretary, or in his or her absence to an officer designated by the President or Acting President. c) Nomination from the Floor Nominations from the floor may be made only in the event that no eligible candidate has been otherwise nominated for an office. S.I.D.A. October 2018 Page 8

9 d) Notice All names of persons nominated will be included in the mailed notice of the annual meeting. Traditionally the way the above by-laws have been implemented is that at the October meeting members in good standing in attendance are given a ballot listing all the club's members in good standing. (One must have been a member for at least 45 days in order to vote.) Members then mark up to nine people on the ballot, and the top nine vote-getters form the Nominating Committee, with the person getting the most votes being the chair. If there is a tie for the ninth place, all those in the tie get on. Letters We in S.I.D.A. like to make our views known. The following are some of the letters written by S.I.D.A. members that have appeared in print. Unless otherwise indicated, all letters were in the Staten Island Advance and/or posted on the Advance s website Unless explicitly stated, the views herein are those of the authors and are not the views of S.I.D.A. Online September 4, 2018 Printed September 9, 2018 A Slight Edge for Melania's Parents? hile you read this, 500 children remain forcibly separated from their parents by the Wgovernment of the United States. The trauma they are enduring will haunt them forever. Let me add some additional context. I am the child of a war refugee. My mother spoke heavily accented and limited English. In grade school there were occasional taunts, since I spoke differently than my peers, but life for me in America has been great. A product of public education from elementary through graduate school, I've benefited from the system and built a satisfying life. I am not alone. Since America's founding, we've grown from 3 million to 330 million, almost entirely through immigration and the children of those immigrants. This richly diverse society has achieved worldwide economic, political and social preeminence. My mother later brought her non-english speaking parents here, to America, just as Melania Trump recently did. The fact that she had that option couldn't have had anything to do with her blue eyes and blonde hair, could it? What do you think? - Phil Jonas S.I.D.A. October 2018 Page 9

10 On-line September 27, 2018 Printed September 30, 2018 A Better World Than Trump's is Possible According to the silive.com coverage of Trump's speech to the United Nations today, "Trump boasts of America's might, draws headshakes at UN," Trump laid out his America First policy for all the world leaders gathered at the UN General Assembly to hear. Trump seems to think that, if every nation only cares about itself, the world will be a better place. In the 20 th century that kind of nationalistic approach by Germany, Japan, and other countries led to World Wars. The reason we have the United Nations is to think beyond our borders so that together we can solve problems that affect all of us earthlings, like war, like the threat of nuclear weapons, like climate change. At Peace Action, we ask people to see the interconnectedness of nations and the importance of cooperation and diplomacy. And right now, we ask everyone to make sure they are registered to vote and to please vote their values on Nov. 6. A better world than Trump's is possible. - Sally Jones Internet Memes S.I.D.A. October 2018 Page 10

11 Peace Action of Staten Island Make Food Not War Awards Dinner Peace Action of Staten Island's annual fundraiser honoring Staten Island's Own Peace Makers & Advocates: Safiyyah Abdul-Qawiyy (Founder, Muslim Sisterhood of Staten Island) Patricia Okoumou (#RETURNTHECHILDREN Protestor who scaled Lady Liberty) Ramsey Orta (Eric Garner s friend who recorded his killing & sparked a movement) Cesar Vargas, Esq. (Co-Director, Dream Action Coalition) Saturday, October 27, :00-8:00 pm Olivet Presbyterian Church, Broadway and Myrtle Ave S.I.D.A. October 2018 Page 11

12 What s at Stake for Health Care Town Hall S.I.D.A. October 2018 Page 12

13 October 16, 2018 General Meeting 8:00p.m. Oriental Plaza, 1845 Richmond Ave. Mark Hannay on What s at Stake with Health Care this November Endorsement Vote for Statewide Races and Congress Nominating Committee Election November 20, 2018 General Meeting 8:00p.m. TBD Speaker TBD Nominating Committee Report It s Time to Join or Renew Your S.I.D.A. Membership! To become a member, renew membership, or make a donation, call Bonita Rothman at (917) , or complete and return the coupon. Voting privileges begin 45 days after joining DUES DONATION $25 - Family $5 $20 - Individual $50 $15 - Senior, Student, or Unemployed $100 Other Check (payable to: S.I.D.A.) Cash I understand SIDA is a Democratic Party club. I (or we, if this is a Family Membership) am (are) at least 17 years of age and an enrolled Democrat, or intend to enroll as a Democrat upon becoming eligible. Signature Name(s) Address Apt # City State Zip Phone Make checks payable S.I.D.A. to S.I.D.A. and send to: P.O. Box Staten Island, NY For internal use only: Comp: Received $: Deposited $: Entered Sht: Computer: S.I.D.A. October 2018 Page 13