Kerry Eleveld, class of 2003 (UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism),
won first prize in “news writing” from the National Lesbian and Gay
Journalist Association for her story in Salon on gay millionaires investing
in state political campaigns across the country.
Posted September 3, 2007

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/11/29/gay_millionaires/
You might be wondering wondering why I’m happy about the work of a journalist who’s profiling millionaire campaign contributors. Kerry Eleveld also wrote, skillfully, about my Lt. Governor campaign for the New York Blade.  Congratulations, Kerry!

This Sunday is the 4th anniversary of the Iraq War. The Greens will be assembling at the southwest corner of 38th Street and 5th Ave. at 1pm for the UFPJ march. Bring signs, noisemakers and lots of friends.

The National Priorities Project has put together a database of the cost of war to each state. Check it out for tools to use when trying to convince your apathetic neighbor that the war does affect them.

Many, many years ago I was in the back seat of a car, nearing the border between the North and the Republic of Ireland when hellish weather brought us into a head-on collision. At the time, Irish cars did not have seatbelts in the back seats. Since then, I’ve never taken basic car safety for granted. An Unreasonable Man is the story of the man responsible for seatbelts and every other lifesaving aspect of car manufacture, Ralph Nader. It opens at the IFC Center in the West Village this Wednesday. I had the privilege of attending an advance screening and assure you that this will be eleven dollars well spent. This is a film about raising kids with a sense of justice, how our government includes citizens and how it shuts us out and the rewards and sacrifices that come with being an honest man. It follows Ralph Nader from childhood, through his fight with GM, how he changed the legislative landscape of our nation, the origins of his break with the Democratic Party and his decisions to run for president in 2000 and 2004. If you’re angry with Nader for his presidential runs, you’ll hear your views in this movie. If you voted for him in both elections—your voice is heard, too. Either way, there’s a lot to learn here—both about Nader and about America. The film is well put together, fun as well as informative. Go see it.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 29, 2006
Contact: Ann Link 347-226-1195 eastst@hotmail.com
http://www.alisonduncan.org

NEW YORK, NY – Alison Duncan, the Green Party of New York State’s 2006 candidate for Lieutenant Governor, put forth 25 Green Party challenges today for Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer in his first year in office.

“This year 42,166 New Yorkers chose a Green Party Governor and Lieutenant Governor,” said Duncan. “Over 250,000 votes were cast for Green Party candidates in New York. Sustainability is a core value of the Green Party and these challenges encompass environmental, educational, healthcare, economic and political goals that will build a
sustainable future for New York State. I congratulate Governor Spitzer on his new office with the hope that he will listen to these voters through the next four years and take our challenges seriously.”

25 Green Party Challenges for Spitzer:

I. War in Iraq:
– bring New York State’s National Guard troops home as soon as possible by using his veto power

II. Civil Rights:
– marry same-sex couples at the Empire State Plaza by the end of 2007
– repeal the New York State version of the PATRIOT Act that he drafted with Pataki,
which rescinded constitutional due process and probable cause protections

III. Health Care:
– actively promote the Legislative Commission on Health Care Coverage Act of 2005 (A.6575) sponsored by Assembly Member Richard Gottfried as a first step toward implementing universal, single-payer health care
– increase funding for public health research and programming with an emphasis on prevention, especially prevention of blood-borne diseases such as AIDS
– keep hospitals open that have been targeted by Pataki’s hospital closure commission

IV. Education:
– immediately follow through on his promise to invest $4 to $6 billion in New York City’s schools, commit to investing $8.5 billion statewide, and commit an additional 500 million yearly to fund after-school programs in every district

V. Energy Policy:
– increase the percentage of electricity produced with renewable energy sources (not nuclear) to 25% in the first year, with a goal of 40% by the end of his term
– promote energy conservation and research to create 25,000 new jobs for each year of his term

VI. Criminal Justice Reform:
– submit a bill to the NYS legislature to restore sentencing control to judges — no mandatory minimums and use of alternative sentencing with a focus on restorative justice to prevent recidivism
– submit a bill to the NYS legislature to legalize marijuana and repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws

VII. Death Penalty:
– advocate against the death penalty and refuse to sign any bill to reinstate it
– commit $40 million per year for the permanent funding of legal services programs

VIII. Housing:
– build 250,000 units of affordable housing each year of his term — the criteria “affordable” being that all New Yorkers are able to find housing near their work for no more than 30% of their family income
– repeal the Urstadt Law that bars New York City from adopting rent limitations and tenant protections that are more restrictive than those allowed by the state

IX. Agriculture:
– submit a bill for labeling laws that identify food by origin (defining “family farm,” “small farm), and whether genetically engineered
– submit a bill to require every public school cafeteria to serve locally grown food — with a priority on small, organic farms

X. Labor:
– repeal the Taylor Law to give public unions negotiating tools that are as powerful as management’s while protecting public safety
– give union organizers full access to organize workfare workers and prisoners in New York State

XI. Electoral Reform:
– promote conversion to hand-counted paper ballots
– institute instant runoff voting by actively promoting A03509 and A03510 sponsored by Assembly Member Fred Thiele to establish an instant runoff voting method for certain primary and local elections

XII. Multiparty Democracy:
– introduce legislation to more fairly define ballot status of political parties by either enrollment or the vote totals of any statewide or federal office
– introduce clean election legislation that doesn’t penalize third parties
– introduce legislation to provide for proportional representation of political parties on the county and state boards of elections

XIII. Public Authorities:
– spearhead a public review of public authorities including their mandates, governing structures and budgets; and implement a comprehensive reform with a focus on transparency and accountability.

First, thank you to everyone who volunteered with the campaign by organizing events, writing, scheduling, driving, flyering, putting up road signs, hosting house parties and many other things. Green campaigns can only be as strong as our volunteers. Thank you, also, to everyone who contributed money to the campaign–enabling me to travel, print literature, run ads among other things. A breakdown of all the traveling, media events and interviews, endorsements received, literature distributed, etc… has been prepared by Ann Link, my incredible media coordinator and can be found on the sidebar.

A few thoughts on the campaign, the party and the future……
Personally, campaigning for Lt. Governor was an enormously rewarding, exhausting and educative experience. It was also a 6-month, 24/7 assault on my self -esteem. I’m happy to say that I’m stronger for it. Partway through I thought I would end up either jaded and devastated or solidly grounded in realistic assessments and a genuine appreciation for what it took to make it to the finish line–both internally and collaboratively. I recently attended a third party forum–analyzing the green results–and thought that the party might be having similar experiences. The GP is out there to be criticized and analyzed. We continually put candidates out there and continually accept a survey of 30-50% of the voting population. These criticisms and analyses are important–how else could we change and grow? Equally important is our self-esteem. When I was a child I was lucky to have very exacting teachers–in piano, ballet and writing. They offered criticism as a sign of respect. They wouldn’t be troubled to give an opinion unless they were presented with substantial hard work and talent. Often the criticism was hard to hear and sometimes a path towards improvement was all but clear. The core message, however, that my work was important–important enough to spend time and energy on criticizing was clear. Since the election we’ve received a few notes of thanks, a few congratulations and a lot of criticism. Some of the criticism comes from self-analysis and a determination to keep growing, keep working. Some comes from folks who now regret the they didn’t participate more as well as from folks and organizations who envy the numbers that we’re crying over. Some of the external criticism is generous, specific and full of hope and appreciation. In our vote totals, in excess of 70,000 voters who are not green party members voted for a green party candidate in this election. These are not passive votes. Every voter who pulled a green lever had a reason. In the gamut of criticisms I’ve heard after this election, I haven’t heard any dismissals. I’ve heard a lot of impassioned Wednesday morning campaign managing. The Green races this year were important. We are a party of hard work and talent with no shortage of teachers willing to invest their energy. Obviously party activists will have to wade through the feedback we’re getting and our path ahead is still an experimental one. We did not achieve our objective of 50,000 votes for governor and a secure ballot line for the next four years. There were musical contest I didn’t win as a child and that was never easy either. I am emerging from this campaign personally strong and politically determined not to squander our talents but to hone them with continued hard work. I hope you’ll join me.

Greens and other activists have been meeting in this past month to start moving ahead–reorganizing, refocusing, working on some long term goals….I’ll be keeping up this blog so be sure to check in to learn how you can get involved.