In This Issue
President's Report
Coming Up: Endorsement Votes for NY City Council, District Leaders, Civil Court Judge, and Judicial Delegates: What You
Need to Know
Civil Court Judge Endorsement Process
Petitioning Starts February 28
Refresher: The Role of City Council Members and Democratic
District Leaders
Refresher: The Role of Judicial Delegates
Crackpot Republicans Fight
the Debt Limit
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STAY HEALTHY!
STAY SAFE!
For the latest official information on the coronavirus, click here
or text COVID to 692-692
To see the percentage of the residents in our area who have been vaccinated, click here. (data updated daily)
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ONLINE CLUB MEETING
Wednesday, February 8, 2023, at 8:00 pm
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New York State Attorney General Letitia James
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New York City Comptroller
Brad Lander
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Also:
Candidates for
Judicial Delegate
To see profiles of the JD candidates, click here.
Electronic ballots will be emailed to eligible voters following the meeting.
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Join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
You may also either click on the link below or paste it
into your browser:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81313067006?pwd=NnNQL1EzRXJZcncxTlBWWDEwTjdKdz09
If you are asked for a PASSWORD, enter:
832307
You may also join by using your phone to dial in.
Meeting ID: 813 1306 7006
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AGENDA
7:45--8:00 pm: Log On / Dial in
8:00 pm: Call to Order
Speaker: NY AG Letitia James
Questions and Answers
Speaker: NYC Comptroller Brad Lander
Questions and Answers
Candidates for Judicial Delegate
District Leader Report
State Committee Report
Adjourn
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Don't Miss Out! Renew Your Three Parks Membership Now for 2023
Click here or mail in the membership form at the end of
this newsletter.
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President's Report
By Lorraine Zamora
I hope you all can attend our Club meeting on February 8. It promises to be an exciting program with two of New York’s leading state and city officials—Letitia James, NYS Attorney General, and Brad Lander, NYC Comptroller— giving us their best thoughts and answering our questions. We will also hear briefly from this year’s Judicial Delegate candidates. Then following the meeting, eligible club members will vote electronically to endorse candidates for City Council Member for Districts 6 and 7, and for Male and Female District Leader, Civil Court judge, and Judicial Delegates. Please check for further details later in this newsletter.
Next up, it’s petitioning time! Throughout the month of March, we will be asking for volunteers to help get signatures to put all of our endorsed candidates on the ballot for the June Primary. Petitions are due at the end of March. Again, check for further details later in this newsletter.
As I’m sure you’re aware, it’s been over two years since we’ve had an in-person Club meeting. “You know what” descended upon us in 2020, and since then, Zoom has become a familiar presence in all our households. During that time, the Three Parks board has checked NYC’s Covid stats regularly in hopes of resuming in-person meetings. Just two months ago, the board was ready to sign a contract with the AYH, the hostel on 103rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue, to resume in-person club meetings as early as this February. But then we checked the stats again, and though they are much improved, we were still greatly concerned that getting together in person would be too risky, especially as so many people are still getting Covid—though less seriously than before—and some for the second or even third time.
That said, let me assure you that we will get together again soon. Fingers crossed, sometime this spring. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing you at our February meeting…via Zoom.
Stay healthy, stay with Three Parks, and don’t forget to pay your dues!
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Coming Up: Endorsement Votes for NY City Council, District Leaders, Civil Court Judge, and Judicial Delegates
What You Need to Know
At the January 11 Club meeting, Three Parks members heard from City Council Member candidates for two newly redrawn districts. (See the new district lines here.) For District 6, we heard from incumbent Council Member Gale Brewer. For District 7, we heard from incumbent Council Member Shaun Abreu and from challengers Keith Harris and Ruben Vargas.
Two candidates for Democratic District Leader also spoke at the meeting: our current Female District Leader Cynthia Doty and State Committee Member Daniel Marks Cohen.
Candidates for Judicial Delegate were also nominated. To see brief profiles of the JD candidates, click here.
At the February 8 meeting, we will hear from the candidates for Judicial Delegate. Then following the meeting, eligible Club members will receive electronic endorsement vote ballots by email. The ballots will cover all of the offices listed above, as well as Civil Court Judge (see the article below for more information about the endorsement process for Judge). Voters will then have 48 hours to mark and submit those ballots.
After the balloting is completed, starting at the end of February we will petition for our endorsed candidates. The Primary election will be held in June.
NOTE: Information for eligible voters can be found here.
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Make Sure You Are Eligible to Vote!
In order to vote to endorse candidates, you must be a member of Three Parks Independent Democrats. In addition, you must have met the dues payment and meeting attendance requirements listed on the Rules page of the Endorsement Center on the Three Parks website here.
The list of club members eligible to vote following the February 8 meeting can be found here. If you have met the dues and attendance requirements but your name is not on the list, contact the club's Membership Director Theresa Canter by clicking here.
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Civil Court Judge Endorsement Process
The endorsement ballot that will be sent to eligible Three Parks voters following the February 8 Club meeting will also include a candidate for Civil Court Judge. To hear from candidates for this position, Three Parks encourages Club members to log on to Zoom on Thursday, February 2, at 7:00 PM for a Judicial Candidate Virtual Forum. The NY County Democratic Executive Committee will nominate one candidate from this forum for Civil Court Judge. Eligible Three Parks members can then use their ballot to vote on whether the Club will endorse this candidate.
To join the Forum on Thursday evening from your computer, tablet, or smartphone, click on the Zoom link below or paste it into your browser:
If you are asked for a PASSWORD, enter: 389001
You may also join by using your phone to dial in.
Phone-in number: 1 646 558 8656
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Petitioning Starts February 28
Petitioning, that recurring process during which we collect voters' signatures in order to get our endorsed candidates on the ballot, will begin this year on February 28 and run through the end of March. Volunteers are needed. If you wish to volunteer, please contact either Lorraine Zamora (by clicking here) or Cynthia Doty (by clicking here).
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Refresher: The Role of City Council Members and Democratic District Leaders
Following the February 8 Club meeting, eligible Three Parks members will vote to endorse candidates for City Council and for Male and Female Democratic District Leader. To help you make your choice, here is a brief overview of the functions and duties of these important elected officials.
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The City Council is New York City’s legislative body. There are 51 elected members, one from each Council district. The Council is separate from the Mayor’s administration but an equal partner in how our City is run.
The Council:
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introduces and votes on legislation having to do with all aspects of City life.
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negotiates the City’s budget with the Mayor and has sole responsibility for approving its adoption.
- monitors City agencies such as the Department of Education and the NYPD to make sure they are effectively serving New Yorkers.
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reviews land use and make decisions about the growth and development of our city.
The Mayor may veto legislation that the Council has approved, but the Council can respond with a two-thirds or more vote enacting a law over the objection of the Mayor to turn a bill into a law.
The District Leader:
- is an unpaid volunteer elected official who represents the party members in his/her district to the party’s apparatus
- sits on the Executive Committee of the County Democratic Committee
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Refresher: The Role of Judicial Delegates
Following the February 8 Club meeting, eligible Three Parks members will also vote to endorse candidates for Judicial Delegates and alternate Delegates. To help you make your choices, here is a refresher on the duties of Judicial Delegates.
- Judicial Delegates select the Democratic nominee for open New York County Supreme Court judgeships.
- Delegates must be available to attend the Judicial Nominating Convention, which is typically held in August. At the Convention, the Delegates will cast votes, by Assembly District, to determine which judicial candidates will appear as the party's nominees on the general election ballot in November.
- Delegates are also expected to meet the judicial candidates prior to the Convention. There will be Supreme Court Judicial Forums and receptions held by the candidates where Delegates can meet the judges running for New York State Supreme Court.
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Crackpot Republicans Fight
the Debt Limit
By Steve Max
1/25/2023
What’s All the Fuss? The debt ceiling is the legal limit on what the government can borrow. Every year Congress raises the limit to cover spending above what taxes bring in. Perhaps this might not be necessary if the rich and corporations paid their fair share, or often any taxes at all, but with the Republican attack on IRS funding, we may never know. (Here is a list of 50 corporations that paid no tax in 2020.)
To the extent that there is a Republican argument for not raising the debt limit, it goes something like this:
- Thrift is good. Debt is bad.
- There is a set amount of money, and the more the government gets, the less there is for everyone else, you, and the wealthy job creators.
- Every family has to live within its income. People who don’t are probably degenerates.
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Government spending is just a trick to take your money and give it to you know who. The rest goes to a National Science Foundation study of satellite cow images.
- The tax-and-spend Democrats are creating oceans of red ink. Your children and grandchildren will have to pay.
The Real Scoop. The Republican debt ceiling tantrum isn’t really about debt, spending or interest payments. It is simply a continuation of their strategy of creating chaos, making people lose confidence in democracy and setting the stage for the next fascist coup.
Here is the story behind the debt and the federal budget....
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President
Lorraine Zamora
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District Leader
Cynthia Doty
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State Committee
Daniel Marks Cohen
Lynn Thomas
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Read more about our grassroots activities.
Follow us on Facebook/Meta here
Follow us on Twitter here
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Read the December Newsletter here
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Print, cut out, and mail this form.
2023 MEMBERSHIP FORM
New Member __________ Renewal __________
Membership Category(check one)
Individual ($25) __________
Family: two adults in the same household ($40) __________
Low Income ($15) __________ Low Income Family ($20) __________
Sponsor ($50) __________ Patron ($100) __________
Name _____________________________________________ Date __________________________
Address ____________________________________________________ Apt. # _______________
City _______________________________________ State ____________ ZIP _________________
Phone (Home) ________________________________ (Cell) ____________________________
Email _______________________________________________________________________________
Please pay your dues with a check, money order or via PayPal by following this link to the Three Parks website. Please make out all checks to Three Parks Independent Democrats.
Mail to: Three Parks Independent Democrats
Cathedral Station, P.O. Box 1316
New York, NY 10025
Attention: Treasurer
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