The City Council’s Own Appalachian Arrangement?
By Gary Tilzer
 

“Someone intentionally designed this scheme. It was no mistake.” Norman Siegel    

(This is the first in a series of artilce on how the public became disconnected from the voting process - in the media capital of the world.) 

Local TV newscasts and the internet are now the public's number one source of news.  While there are signs that newspapers, magazines and cable TV are using their internet sites to expand news coverage, most local TV news stations do little more than repeat the limited news they cover on the air, on their station’s website. 

Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long's opinion article on the need to reform Albany in the New York Post on New Year's Day, best represents the main mission of any politician - say anything the public wants to hear to “stay in power.” After more than a decade of being an insider in the Pataki Administration and reaping its rewards, Long’s reaction to the democratic take over of the executive office is an about turn to the outsider calling for reforms.

Long’s switch reminds one of a fixed wrestling match where the fighters follow a script written to give the public what they want that evening. Same fighters every night, some nights the wrestler wins, some nights he loses, all designed to fool the public. By continuing to have these same leaders and people in office, it robs the state of representatives who believe in what they say, and do what they promise. Long is the first of many who for years grew rich with their friends, courtesy of Albany’s dysfunctional government, who will now join the public outcry for reforms, simply to save their jobs.

Everyone recognizes that bid rigging of cement or traffic light contracts are the work of organized crime. However when elected officials rig our state and city elections to ensure that every incumbent gets reelected, no one calls their deliberate strategy criminal and organized.

Newspaper editorials and good government groups push for individual fixes to our crisis in local government – for example, public financing of state campaigns. But, no one says outright that our right to representative democracy has been hijacked. Local elections have become the “ins” verses the “outs” and the process has been rigged to block any of the “outs” from winning. Our local elections have become so noncompetitive, that, behind public view, most incumbents, regardless of party or reform beliefs, work together as the “ins” to keep the outs “out.”

With the Federal Applet Court recent ruling in favor of Judge Gleeson decision to do away with Judicial Conventions system of picking Supreme Court Judges, most of the discussion has been focused on how these judges will be elected.  The courts have said this year Judicial Conventions will be the last one and ordered direct elections in the future if Albany fails to come up with a constitutional substitute way to elected judges.  The fear among party leaders is that challenges to other constitution issues that have long been ignored, will be trigged by Gleeson decision.  Election law legal experts believe that these additions constitutional questions will also have a dramatic impact on how Judges are elected. 

With the Federal Appellate Court recent ruling in favor of Judge Gleeson decision to do away with Judicial Conventions system of picking Supreme Court Judges, most of the news coverage has been focused on how these judges will be elected.  The courts have said this year Judicial Conventions will be the last one and ordered direct elections in the future if Albany fails to come up with a constitutional substitute way to elected judges.  The fear among party leaders is that challenges to other constitution issues that have long been ignored, will be trigged by Gleeson decision.  Election law legal experts believe that these additions constitutional questions will also have a dramatic impact on how Judges are elected. 

There is a lot of talk about the lack of press coverage of the race that involves indicted Assemblywoman Diana Gordon.  While it is important to get rid of an elected official that has abused and profited by their position, politics will not change in Brooklyn as long as the core group is still running it.  This core group seems to have survived the change from Norman and Vito mainly because of an unknowing or an uncaring voting public and because of a press who no long see it role to inform the public like the late Jack Newfield did for us since the 60's. 

But, there are outside forces like the like Federal Judge Gleeson decision to declare Judicial Conventions unconstitutional that will have sea changes on the politics of the city.  Two important political races in the city which offer that type of sea change have also have also received almost no press coverage.  When there is press coverage it only lists who is running or endorsing, no background or analysis.