A look at November’s ballot items

November’s ballots might be lacking the political drama of last year’s when voters were choosing the President of the United States but that doesn’t mean they are meaningless. Every election matters, especially one such as this in which New Yorkers have the chance to decide on 3 ballot items. As I do in this column whenever proposals come to the fore, I offer a quick review of each.

It’s not often that ballot items in New York receive the attention that a race for an office might, but this year, Proposal 1 has garnered it. Newspaper reports and editorials, radio talk shows, television ad campaigns, and yard signs have been plentiful -- either for or against -- a state constitutional convention.

Every 20 years, the New York State Constitution requires voters to decide whether or not there should be such a convention. During one, elected delegates can propose amendments to or rewrite the entire state (not federal) Constitution. These get-togethers are a rare bird in the Empire State – since our first Constitution was adopted 240 years ago, there have been only 9 conventions, the last one in 1967. If this were to pass, the delegation would bring all their proposals to the voters in November of 2019.

Back in May, Siena College polls indicated that 62 percent of New Yorkers were in favor of a convention. That support has plummeted in recent months, as the September sampling showed that only 44 percent would vote in favor.

That drop-off is a testament to the barrage of advertising, education and outreach undertaken by numerous foes to a convention. Among them are good government groups, public employee unions, environmental organizations, and conservatives -- a mixed bag of interests who tend to rarely agree on causes. Strange bedfellows indeed. At press time, contributions to their anti-convention campaigns have surpassed $1.3 million while organizations in favor of it have netted just over $300,000.

This writer will be voting against a convention. It would be opening Pandora’s Box.

Sure, there are numerous positively transformative measures that could be proposed and adopted, but years of being subjected to Albany’s ambivalence towards upstaters and the rampant corruption that exists in the legislature and executive branch makes me believe that more harm than good would be initiated.

One of those aforementioned evils will finally be addressed by Proposal 2.

If passed, it would allow judges to reduce or revoke the public pension of a public officer convicted of a felony related to his or her official duties. This has received much attention in recent years as leaders of the Senate and Assembly, their fellow lawmakers and movers-and-shakers near to Governor Cuomo have been charged with breaking the public trust.

In theory it should create a greater disincentive for officials to not break the law (though one would think the specter of prison time is scary enough). Consider the financial plight of someone like former Senate head Dean Skelos (who somehow had his conviction overturned last month due to the narrowing of the definition of corruption). A powerful figure like him brings in just under $96,000 in taxpayer-funded pensions ever year of his retired life. If someone is found guilty of crimes against those same taxpayers, why should he or she be handsomely rewarded by them? 

Your columnist will be voting in favor of this measure. And likely so will most voters: A July Siena College poll showed overwhelming support (75 percent).

Proposal 3 is a pretty tame one as compared to the first two.

As it stands now, municipalities in the Adirondacks are hamstrung when they want to create bike paths, install sewer lines, fix bridges, address dangerous curves or work on utilities in the Park. The Forever Wild aspects of state law prevent them from infringing upon wilderness, even if it is in the smallest amounts. That poses risks to public safety and hinders economic development.

If passed, this proposal would create a 250-acre land bank, which would allow governments in the Blue Line to request state Forest Preserve land for qualifying infrastructure and projects in exchange for the state adding 250 new acres to the preserve. It’s basically a land swap so that affected communities don’t break the law while trying to do their best for residents or tourists like us.

In my travels through the Mountains I’ve seen more than enough places where this power could be utilized in positive ways, so I would encourage my fellow voters to approve this item.

This might be an “off year” for electing people into high-profile offices, but never shirk your ability to vote. There are some local races to tend to and these 3 ballot items represent some significant participative power for New Yorkers. Take advantage of that power….or the powers-that-be will take advantage of you. 

           

 From the 23 October 2017 Greater Niagara Newspapers

The Constitution is more than the 2nd Amendment

It’s a treat when our citizens come out in numbers and with passion in the defense of one of our rights, just as they consistently do with the second amendment. We’ve seen this again in spades following the Las Vegas massacre; gun owners took to social media and the airwaves to decry any attempts to take away all their firearms, whether or not that bogeyman is real.  

Despite all of those efforts and concerns, the activists may not be as sincere as they put on. All of them to a man consistently highlight the importance of the Constitution -- our formative document takes center stage in all debates associated with gun rights. Even those folks with just a passing interest in the Constitution can cite verbatim the entire Second Amendment.

But that is where their constitutionalism seems to begin and end.

If the Constitution is really that important to so many Americans, then where is the uproar when our other rights are infringed?

I’ve hear nary a peep and have not seen one lawn sign or bumper sticker expressing disdain – and there should be lots of it – over the federal government’s elaborate domestic spying programs that we’ve always assumed existed post-9/11 and were finally brought to light by Edward Snowden a few years back.

It sometimes seem that no one cares about high-volume eavesdropping on cell phones, maintenance of phone records, scanning of email messages, and other surveillance endeavors against suspected terrorists and all innocent Americans alike, tactics that are all in defiance of the Fourth Amendment and could be argued are far worse transgressions than anything that the SAFE Act or any other gun regulations have done (and that’s saying a lot).

To see this constitutional selectivity perfectly played out locally and in the form of one high-profile individual just look south across the county border.

Erie County Sheriff Tim Howard gained notoriety and accolades a few years back for his stance against the SAFE Act and its un-constitutionalism. He went so far as to say his officers wouldn’t enforce that law. To this day, if there’s a gun rights rally or proposed pro-gun legislation, he’s front and center.  

Despite his care for the Second Amendment, his obviously doesn’t give a hoot about the Fourth.  For years his department utilized cell phone spying devices known as Stingray and Kingfish until the media and the ACLU caught wind of its illicit use. The equipment indiscriminately intercepts cell phone transmissions and can capture and eavesdrop on conversations and text exchanges. These are activities that need a warrant (which the Sheriff’s Department lacked) and pinpoint accuracy (Howard has admitted to the press that they tune across multiple transmissions to find the one they want). 

Despite this patently obvious abuse of the Fourth Amendment, Howard still remains something of a constitutional folk hero with conservatives.

Taking into consideration what’s happening at the federal and local levels with the Fourth, Americans should be storming the Bastille over such transgressions. But we’re not. We’re not even raising a minor stink. Most of us might not even care.

And that’s what makes America so easily manipulated by the politicians. They know that most folks are single-issue voters and if they can tug at something near and dear to them – such as guns – they can turn that focused passion into a vote.

We shouldn’t be that way. We should be fighting for every part of the Constitution, not just one. No part is more important than another. The entire document carries meaning, weight and importance: The Constitution and the Bill of Rights were devised as a set of laws to recognize and protect some of the most basic of natural rights while creating a framework for just governance.

      

If we spend too much time and effort focusing on just one part of the Bill of Rights, we could lose our rights to free speech, self defense, privacy, due process of law and self government just by being too selective or self-centered in our needs.

Continue to fight for our rights…but fight for all of them.

From the 16 October 2017 Greater Niagara Newspapers

Columbus Day activists ignore the plight of Native Americans

For the past few years, activists have taken to social media and occasionally the streets to protest our nation’s practice of celebrating Columbus Day as a government and bank holiday. As they see it, Columbus and his crew contributed to Europe’s exploitation of the North American continent’s natural resources while fostering the mass slaughter and degradation of the Native American people.

The activists have turned the table on the holiday and instead celebrate Indigenous People’s Day, honoring the culture and people whose heritage was here before the white man.

While a Native American holiday is truly a must-have – they are remarkable people with a fantastic culture -- the activists come across as blatantly disingenuous. Quite frankly, by living in the past and riding a popular politically-correct movement, they offer little consideration for the plight of modern Native American.

That’s typical with modern political involvement, more appropriately known as “slacktivism”. People use the internet as a sounding board but rarely invest actual time or physical, mental and financial effort beyond the cause du jour. It’s cool to be a part of the in-crowd in that moment, but after that, it becomes an afterthought.

And, the Indigenous people have become the ultimate afterthought.

After that one day of celebration and alleged respect, the masses go back to allowing them to suffer in silence. They become forgotten -- the minority of minorities.

While society and our public policy systems wring hands over the socioeconomic obstacles faced by blacks and Hispanics, almost no consideration is given to the similar plight faced by Native Americans.

Even here in Western New York, that’s an issue. We obsess (and rightly so) over the profound poverty in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, but in a region where we have eleven reservations there is no substantial or sustainable coverage in local papers, radio or TV that addresses, let alone identifies, the similar conditions faced by Natives.  

How bad is their situation? Consider these damning statistics that look at Indigenous populations across the country:

Their high school dropout rate is a staggering 11 percent. For African-Americans that number is 8 percent, for whites just 3.

Their attainment of higher education is also depressed. 17 percent of Native Americans over the age of 25 hold a college degree, while 19 percent of blacks do. A third of Caucasians have a degree.

The poverty rate for Indigenous people is 26 percent, beaten only by that of blacks (28 percent). 11 percent of White Americans are considered poor.

There’s no easy or quick fix. We need schools to put an added focus on these kids. We need to help Native populations develop more community development institutions. We need to hold up high-performing communities as examples to learn from. Above all, we need to end the discrimination and stereotypes placed on Indigenous People and welcome them into our labor markets and into our larger community.

It will take investments of time, money and innovative policy, which they aren’t getting enough of now, despite a third of Native Americans living on reservations. That is where they face a no-win situation similar to those of people living in our inner cities where most of New York’s and the federal government’s anti-poverty resources and economic development activities are invested.

Realize that nary a penny of the Buffalo Billion has been spent on advancing their population. Our Governor chooses instead to use state resources to do battle with the Senecas over casino funds while at the same time launching private and public casinos to compete with their best source of mass income, employment and social advancement. He is pitting the general NY population against those who live on sovereign Native land when we should all be working together for the development of all people. 

The only economic official in the state who has made a concerted effort to help the Native Americans is Steve Hyde in Genesee County whose STAMP project will bring well-paying manufacturing jobs to the border of the Tonawanda Reservation.

More public officials should follow Hyde’s lead, think outside of the box and act grandly.

As a matter of fact, those social media activists we mentioned earlier must do the same…get away from the computers and go into the real world. Stop protesting Columbus Day; do something real, measurable, and impactful.

We need everyone to help Native Americans succeed. If we don’t, we are only contributing to the carnage that Columbus allegedly wrought 525 years ago.

From the 06 October 2017 Greater Niagara Newspapers