In 2009, New Yorkers will be faced with an overwhelming slate of candidates running for mayor, city council, comptroller and pretty much everything else you can imagine. Voters will be overwhelmed. But in some ways, when it comes to civil liberties, the number one race might be Public Advocate. There will be one candidate in 2009 in NYC that will stand up for civil liberties no matter what: Norman Siegel.
Norman Siegel spent 15 years as head of the New York Civil Liberties Union. Even after that, he has been the number one lawyer defending the civil liberties of New Yorkers across the board. He even led the New York effort for impeachment of Richard Nixon back in the day. No one, NO ONE, is more qualified to be Public Advocate than the man who has advocated for us for more than 20 years. On January 6th in Brooklyn, NY I will be co-hosting a fundraiser for Norman Siegal with my wife and a good friend, Marjorie Gersetn who is known nationally for fighting against DRE machines.
I posted on this yesterday but want to repost (with some modifications) because it is an important race...and starting tomorrow I will have to publicize some other fundraisers coming up for other great candidates. But this one is possibly most important for me.
Come meet, greet, and support Norman Siegel for NYC Public Advocate. Public Advocate was created to be a counter force to the mayor, a defender for the public good against what too often is a moderately dictaorial mayor and a developer-dominated City Council. Mark Green was our most effective Public Advocate to date. He is now head of Air America Radio. Our current Public Advocate, Betsy Gotbaum, has been worse than useless. This is not surprising since she was the candidate supported by our current mayor, who wanted no opposition to his CEO style of leading the city. She did nothing when fires sprouted up all over Brooklyn where developers wanted to build. She did nothing when protesters against the Republican Convention were arrested and held illegally for days. She did nothing when protest was made almost impossible in NYC. Hell, she has essentially done nothing during her whole tenure as Public Advocate. It is unclear to me just what she thought her job was because there have been no major stands taken by her office.
Norman Siegel, already a civil rights attorney to beat all civil rights attorneys, intends to make the Public Advocates office a REAL, effective advocate for the rights of New Yorkers.
Marjorie Gersten, Joy Romanski (Corresponding Secretary for the reform Brooklyn Democratic club Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats...and my wife), and I will be hosting a fundraiser for former executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union (1985-2000), Norman Siegel, who is running for NYC Public Advocate. I can think of no one better suited to be our Public Advocate than Norm Siegel.
Essentially, Norm has already been New York's unelected Public Advocate for years. Norm Siegel's credentials go WAY back. He even spearheaded the NY State campaign for to impeach Richard Nixon!
According to Democracy for NYC (the local branch of Howard Dean's DFA), Norm Siegel has done the following for New Yorkers:
Norman has advocated for and represented myriad groups including:
* the newly created Association of New York City Education Councils
* the Williamsburg community's right to keep its local firehouse open
* Prospect Heights, Brooklyn and Harlem communities working to stop the government from using eminent domain to take their homes for the enrichment of private developers
* firefighters and non-profits seeking the implementation of a skyscraper safety program and provisions for our firefighters to guarantee they have proper working communication equipment
* families who lost a loved one on September 11th, 2001, as they seek the public release of materials from that day, including 911 emergency tapes and transcripts (Norman argued this case in the New York Court of Appeals on February 9th).
When protesters were arrested and held illegally in unsafe conditions during the 2004 Republican Convention, Norm Siegel represented them, and the city took some real hits because of the illegality of their actions (you can see Democracy Now's coverage of this here). Without Norm Siegel, the city would have stepped on our civil rights for the benefit of Bush and no one would have helped.
We will host a fundraiser for Norm on Sunday, January 6th, 4:00 to 6:00pm at Marjorie's house, 50 Willow St, in Brooklyn Heights. For those who don't know her, Marjorie is a nationally recognized advocate for verified voting and a long-time grassroots advocate. Literally, I have been on the phone to people in California and Florida and mentioned Marjorie in passing only to have the person on the other end of the line say, "Oh yeah! I know Marjorie!" She is a force in and of herself.
Suggested Contribution: $25, though again, the main point is to have a chance to meet Norm. Drinks & Refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to Theresa at 212-448-6271 or NYCNormanSie_at_aol.com
If you can't attend but still want to help (though we REALLY want you to meet him!) you can call his campaign at 212-448-6271.
You can read more about my impressions of Norm Siegel here and here.
Please help us elect an advocate with a proven track record of protecting civil rights as New York's Public Advocate.