[lbo-talk] NYC primary tomorrow

[Nathan Newman]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Liza Featherstone" <lfeather at panix.com>
-Any reason I should vote for any of the people running in the NYC mayoral
-primary? I think I pay pretty close attention to city politics but can't
-figure it out. Most of them seem to talk the talk on housing and some other
-issues, but some seem like corrupt hacks. All seem blindingly unremarkable
-and possibly a bit dim. Am I missing something?
-In re: Bloomberg, there are plenty of things I detest about him: chiefly,
-being a tool of corporate interests. But doesn't the recent Hurricane
-disaster show us that there is much to be said for government that 
functions
-well and is neither corrupt nor racist? We do have that with Mike. He's 
also
-neither sentimental, stupid, nor cheezy, which I admit I find pretty
-compelling and unusual. I'm not planning on voting for him, but the fact
-that I don't really dislike him is kind of demobilizing.

I'm sympathetic to the competency argument in favor of Bloomberg and at this 
point the debate may be academic-- with so many of the unions throwing in 
with Bloomberg, I'm not sure any Dem could pull off a win.

But I just can't vote for Bloomberg given his vetos of every decent piece of 
legislation coming out of the City Council.  He vetoed requirements that 
city contractors offer benefits to domestic partners and the health care for 
Wal-Mart workers bill that just passed the council.   And I know from 
experience that anticipated vetos by his office is stifling even more 
legislation that could be barreling out of the council.

We have a remarkably progressive City Council in NYC, but Bloomberg's 
presence is playing an incredibly stifling role.

And the silence of Bloomberg in the face of Bush's assaults on urban America 
and lack of funding for security in NYC is disgraceful.   The largest city 
in the nation should be an advocate against Bush's anti-urban agenda and 
Bloomberg has failed in what should be his national role.   He may make the 
local trains run on time-- and yes 311 is good -- but that's not enough.

So I'll be voting for Ferrer.  He has a good solid progressive record and he 
will, if nothing else, not veto all the legislation that Bloomberg has. 
And I actually do like his strong commitment to affordable housing backed by 
an honest admission that it will take serious money from new taxes.

At the city level, housing is possibly my number one issue and Ferrer is 
taking the issue .  Here's the summary of his platform on housing:
http://www.ferrer2005.com/main.cfm?actionId=globalShowStaticContent&screenKey=engNews&htmlId=3402
As Mayor, Fernando Ferrer will target four goals for creating an affordable 
New York:

  a.. Require that 30 percent of newly created units be set aside for 
moderate and low-income individuals in targeted "growth zones" -- and 
provide substantial financial incentives for developers to set aside an 
additional 20% of the units for affordable housing.

  b.. Dedicate $8.5 billion over ten years for the development and 
preservation of 167,000 affordable housing units throughout the City.

  c.. End tax giveaways to developers who refuse to include affordable 
housing in their new developments.

  d.. Provide real Mayoral leadership in Albany and Washington, D.C. to 
fight for housing resources for New York.
Nothing flashy but it's exactly what's needed.

So that's how my vote is going.

Nathan