Alice Green for Mayor
Press Releases
Green on Mass Transit, Parking Permits and
Towing Companies
NOW and Women Activists Endorse Alice Green for Mayor
Fannie Lou Hamer PAC Endorses Alice Green for Mayor
Alice Green Statement on Crime and Violence
Alice Green Supports Using Cable Franchise Agreement
to Promote Democracy and Community Media
Testimony on Charter Reform
Alice Green
Statement on Two Albanies - The Impact of Poverty and Racism
Alice Green's Education Reform Agenda
Reforming the Albany Police Department
Albany County Greens Urges County to Adopt Paper Ballot
Optical Scan Voting
Democratizing the City of Albany and Increasing Community
Input
Alice Green Opposes New Green Tech Charter School
Green Proposes Affordable Housing
Plan
Green Opposes a $200 million convention Center for Albany
Criminal
Justice Reform - Prevention and Re-entry in Albany
Albany Citizens' Review Board at the Crossroads
Youth, Gangs, Crime and Violence
Green Calls for School Based Violence Prevention Programs, Not
Metal Detectors
Alice Green on Employment: Residency, Diversity, and
Economic Development
Green
Launches General Election Campaign
'Alice Green Opposes Expansion of Albany Landfill in Pine Bush
Greens
Urge Albany City Council to Finally Pass Living Wage Law
Green Calls for City of Albany to Promote Reduction in the Use of Cars
Urges Increased Support for CTDA, Bicycling, Residential Parking System
Would Crack Down on Unscrupulous Tow Companies
November 4, 2005
Alice Green, the Green Party candidate for Mayor of Albany, said today that she supports
increased funding for mass transit in the City of Albany, starting with increased
incentives for city and state workers to utilize CDTA. She also supports returning to free
bus use in downtown Albany during the workday.
She said that she supported a residential parking permit system for the neighborhoods
around the State Capitol to make it easier to local residents to deal with the influx of
more than 65,000 nonresidents each workday.
Green said she would bring together CSEA, PEF and state legislative leaders to finally
hammer out an agreement on the issue of the residential parking system. "Everyone
knows it is a problem that has to be fixed; all we have lacked is the political leadership
to make it happen. It will happen under the Green administration. And the solution must
include addressing the transportation needs of the lower paid state workers; we just can't
pass on a $50 to $100 a month parking bill to them," Green noted.
Green said that one of her first steps as Mayor will be to crack down on unscrupulous tow
companies. "I have received numerous complaints about the operation of Joe's Osborne
Garage. How can we attract people to our city when they come out from shopping or an event
and find their cars towed, often when they have not done anything illegal. I will push the
State Legislature to take advantage of the new Congressional law to require that the
owners of private property be present before a car is towed. And I will enact and enforce
a strict code of conduct and consumer bill of rights for towing companies that want to do
business with the City," stated Green.
Green said that she would take also measures to make it easier for people to not use
private automobiles in the City. In addition to improve mass transit, she would take
measures to make it easier to use bicycles, including creating more bicycle lanes,
motorist education and enforcement of the rights of bicyclists. She would also establish a
free bike use program, where bikes would be distributed throughout the city for people to
hop on and use.
"The automobile industry and the oil companies conspired with politicians to kill
mass transit in this company. A Green administration is going to help reverse that trend.
As a green, I believe in making our cities pedestrian friendly." Green said she also
wanted to explore the development of light rail systems. "We need to make mass
transit something that is easy, convenient and cheap for workers, residents and shoppers
to use. I support the creation of far more bus routes and with more frequent service and
expanded hours. Certainly with the skyrocketing increase in fuel costs, it is time for a
radical change in our transportation system."
Green also advocates converting CDTA buses to nondiesel such as hybrid electric, as the
City of Seattle, as well as biodiesel
Green said that she would take all legal steps possible to force towing companies to
refund any charges incurred as a result of an improper tow, including having the City pay
for the tow if it was done under the direction of the police department. She said that she
would work with local state legislators to follow through on a provision in the recent
Congressional highway bill that allows states to require the owner of any property to be
present before a vehicle can be towed from such property. California had adopted such a
measure but it had been struck down by the court.
"For far too long, Osborne Garage has been allowed to operate like a vulture in the
City of Albany, swooping down to pick the pockets of motorists by towing their cars. That
will stop under my administration. I will not allow cars to be towed merely to raise money
for the towing companies," said Green.
"On the day that I am inaugurated," Green continued, "I will direct the
City police to arrest for theft tow truck operator that illegally tows vehicles. I will
determine if Osborne's garage license as an authorized company to tow cars for the
City of Albany should be rescinded. If warranted, I will also direct the City's
corporation counsel to take legal action both to restrict their ability to do business in
the City of Albany and to assist any motorist that has been improperly towed in taking
legal action against Osborne Garage to recover any charges and damages caused by their
actions," stated Green.
Green said that numerous residents have complained to her about the actions of Joe's
Osborne Street Garage, including three this morning alone. They also complain that
Osborne's employees and owner are rude and belligerent. They are especially frustrated
that even when they are able to get a city ticket thrown out for illegal parking, they
don't get the towing charges refunded. Many say they have been illegally towed by
Osborne's garage even though they were legally parked.
John Cutro, a resident of Madison Avenue, has a letter from the City's corporation counsel
directing Osborne Garage to refund him money from the most recent of several illegal tows
from public streets yet he has still to not receive payment from them. He feels he will
have to bring the garage to court before he sees any money. The letter from Patrick Jordan
of the Corporation Counsel office to the garage states "Per your towing contract with
the city, it is illegal for your company or any other towing company to remove vehicles
from the city of Albany streets or right-of-ways without the permission of the city
through the Albany Police Department." While the letter warns the garage that removal
of a vehicle from city property without the express permission of the city
"will place your contract with the City of Albany in jeopardy," the City has
failed to revoke the contract.
NOW and Women Activists Endorse Alice Green for Mayor
November 2, 2005
Alice Green, the Green Party candidate for Mayor in the City of Albany, was endorsed today
by the National Organization for Women (NOW) of New York State and numerous women
activists. Below are statements from a few of the individuals who spoke at the event.
Nearly 20 women participated.
"NOW New York State proudly endorses Alice Green for Mayor of Albany. Ms. Green has
championed civil rights in her community and beyond. She will be a champion for the
rights of women and minorities in Albany and represent the citizens of this great city in
a way that emanates fairness and justice for all. With Dr. Green at the helm, Albany will
thrive and become the city that it deserves to be. We ask all who care about the future of
Albany to Vote for Alice Green." Marcia A. Pappas, President, NOW NYS
"The Green Party's Alice Green for Mayor Campaign presents a pioneering approach at
tackling Albany's multi-faceted issues. Alice Green merges fresh ideas with
resourcefulness to provide common sense, practical solutions to the complex, interwoven
concerns our city must address and resolve. A convention center is not going to
address our race and class issues, violence in our schools, homes and streets, or the
declining Albany public education system. Alice offers plans for Albany's problems
by looking at root causes of these problems, not just temporary band-aid solutions.
She considers the economic, environmental, community-health and family impacts of her
ideas and plans. Alice Green's established record fighting for those too often
forgotten and left behind by Mayor Jennings proves that she is the Mayor we need in
Albany." Sally Kim, SUNY Albany student and Campus Green member
"I would like to add my name to the growing list of supporters of Alice Green's
campaign for Mayor of Albany. For many years, Alice has been a leading Spokeswoman
in our community for issues of social justice and peace. As Chair of the Battered
Mothers Custody Conference, I am well aware of the reforms that are needed in the courts
and in the criminal justice system as a whole. This emphasis has been reflected in
much of Alice Green's work with the Center for Law and Justice. Alice Green is a
candidate who has fought for this city, for minorities, and for women, not as a political
insider, but as an activist who is deeply concerned about people and about these issues. I
therefore support her candidacy for mayor of Albany." Dr. Mo Therese Hannah
"Dr. Alice Green has been a long time resident and activist in Albany. She
works the margins, so to speak. Her interests lie in seeing a city that is vibrant
with the people who have made this place there home, the people who send their children to
our schools, work here, socialize here and seek to have a safe, affordable and
economically viable future. This doesn't seem to be a far fetched. She has no need
of emperor's clothes. She has made her points clear and the people have
listened. She has inspired so many people in the past, now and she will in the
future. Get out the vote behind the first African American Woman to run for the
office of the Mayor of the Capital of the Empire State."
Margaret Rockwell
PhD Student, U. Albany - Reading
FANNIE LOU HAMER POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE ENDORSES ALICE GREEN FOR MAYOR
November 1, 2005
ALBANY, NY -- The Fannie Lou Hamer Political Action Committee (FLHPAC) held a press
conference on Tuesday November 1, 2005 on the steps of Albany City Hall to announce its
support for Alice Green, the Green Party candidate for Mayor.
"We find it appalling and insulting that Mayor Jennings, who has gotten the support
from the African American community in previous years, has not shown that he appreciates
that support," stated George Frame, co-founder and steering committee member.
"He is quick to express his admiration for Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, but his
words are not backed up by his deeds. His policies have not led to the economic and social
development in the African American community."
"Mayor Jennings talks the talk but not does walk the walk," Frame stated.
Approximately 200 people attended FLHPAC's first community meeting held in May including
elected officials and candidates for public office.
"The one thing in which there was total agreement by all in attendance is the lack
representation by minorities in top level positions in the administration," stated
Leon Van Dyke, co-founder and steering committee member.
"There is not one African American commissioner in the city of Albany," Van Dyke
stated. "Minorities are underrepresented in the Police Department. Under Mayor
Jennings, minorities have not received a fair share of city contracts. Minority
entrepreneurs are non-existent in the North Pearl St. development project and the city
zoning board has made decisions that suppressed the growth of existing minority
businesses. A case in point was the denial of a variance for the Clayton's Caribbean
Restaurant."
"On the other Alice Green has demonstrated throughout the years her commitment to
political, economic, and social justice for all the citizens of Albany."
"Like Rosa Parks, for close to forty years, Alice Green has neither backed-down nor
backed-up from fighting against racial injustice. She has demonstrated time and time again
her commitment to serving all of the people of this city. Ms. Green has the commitment,
the energy and intellect and compassion to provide the kind of leadership that will move
the city forward," Van Dyke stated.
The Fannie Lou Hamer Political Action Committee is made up of concerned citizens and
veterans of the civil and human rights movement. Its goal is to bring to the forefront the
lack of attention being paid to minority issues by the mayor and other elected officials.
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Alice Green Statement addressing Crime and Violence in Albany
October 31, 2005
Albany has been rocked by a series of recent criminal attacks on college students and at
least three homicides have occurred in the past few days. We offer our heartfelt
condolences to family members of those slain and traumatized by these terrible acts of
violence.
It should be our goal to make sure that all citizens of Albany feel safe in their homes,
schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods.
As Mayor, I would offer both a response to address immediate concerns and another focused
on reducing crime and violence through a sustained community effort that addresses
systemic social problems thought to be root causes of crime and violence. We need to
emphasize both prevention and treatment. Law enforcement alone cannot reduce crime and
violence. A collaborate community approach that includes all segments of the community
must be employed. And, it must be based on a strong positive relationship between
neighborhoods and police in which there exists good communications between citizens and
the police.
Understandably, these vicious acts have left many others in our community frightened,
angry, and troubled. And, the fear of crime, whether based on a realistic assessment of
risk or a media-driven over-estimation of the likelihood of becoming a victim, is
detrimental to community life. Sociologist William Spelman observes:
Crime poses substantial social costs, quite apart from the direct effects of crime itself.
Fear of crime can lead to withdrawal from the community, leading to the breakdown in
social relations and attachment . . .suppressed investment and relocation . . .and
conceivably to neighborhood deterioration and abandonment. . .At a personal level, it may
lead to a more general anxiety and depression.
The level of crime itself often reflects the basic social and economic health of a
community and is an important element in determining the quality of life in a city.
Although public safety often focuses on street crime and public perception of risk of
victimization by strangers, it is important that we not ignore other forms of violence
such as spousal and child abuse and juvenile crime that destroy the quality of life of
families. It is important that every citizen of Albany not only feel safe in public
spaces, but also in that most important private space, the home.
The City of Albany does not routinely collect reliable data on those forms of crime and
violence about which the most concern has been expressed. Although there are reports in
the media and in public discourse about serious problems of gangs, school violence,
juvenile crime, and drugs, there is little in the way of hard documentation that defines
the scope of these problems.
But, the recent violent acts that have gripped out city and the expressed fears of our
citizens demand that effective actions be taken to address both.
The public is looking for assurances of safety and protection. The Mayor should exert
leadership and address their expressed concerns. His response must be immediate and
direct.
I would like to outline what steps I would take as Mayor to address these concerns.
I. Immediate Response to Citizen Concerns:
1. In a public address to the residents of Albany, the Mayor should discuss the actions
taken by and capability of the Police Department to investigate the recent crimes and
apprehend those responsible.
2. Mayor should arrange a series of public meetings to listen to citizen concerns and seek
suggestions on crime prevention strategies. Neighborhood-based meetings would be most
useful.
3. Mayor and public safety officials should engage in a prevention education program to
help residents learn how to be safer in their homes and on the streets. They must be urged
to exercise their civic responsibility to cooperate with police in providing useful
information that could help apprehend those responsible for the recent crimes.
4. A meeting or series of meetings should be arranged between city police, university
police, and representatives of neighborhood groups, students, School of Criminal Justice,
and others to devise an approach to work on safety issues.
5. Public safety officials should explore the concept of Team Policing in which police and
community leaders work to identify problems and develop action plans to address them. This
should include working with student and campus organizations from SUNY and St. Rose in the
Pine Hills area.
6. City Hall should look to other established programs such as the University Neighborhood
Enhancement Team, a cooperative effort between the University of California Police
Department of Riverside and the Riverside Police Department. Also New Haven Connecticut's
community policing program should be examined. Such an examination could help Albany
assess its commitment to and involvement in community policing.
II. Development of a Long-Range Crime Prevention Strategy
Our approach to public safety should be one that emphasizes prevention and treatment.
Prevention requires that we effectively identify and address root causes. There are no
lasting quick fix solutions.
Mayor should take leadership in developing a neighborhood-based planning process to
address structural and systemic conditions that give rise to crime and violence.
Consider:
1. Invest in children and family programs by addressing the 6-Building Block areas that I
have proposed throughout my campaign. It calls for putting families first.
Affordable housing
Education
Healthy Environment
Embracing Diversity
Safe Communities through full employment and living wage jobs
Improved Democratic Process
2. Develop more youth after-school and school readiness programs for pre-schoolers
3. Assist parents and families in need with in-home counseling and coaching by community
experts.
4. Develop and promote an intensive community anti-violence program that rejects personal,
institutional, and systemic violence.
5. Establish, as we have proposed, a community justice center which would be a
collaborative community effort at crime prevention and re-entry. The old St. Joseph's
school on Swan Street has been proposed as a possible site.
Every citizen in the City of Albany deserves to feel and be safe. The Mayor must provide
the leadership in that effort.
October 28, 2005
Alice Green, the Green Party candidate for Mayor in Albany, said today that she supported
requiring the city's cable franchise agreement with Times Warner to support the
establishment of a community media center where local residents can produce and air their
own television shows.
Green said the franchise agreement should also do more to assist the city and schools in
developing cutting edge use of communication technology, including the establishment of
Institutional Networks (I-Nets) and dedicated cable channels for educational, government
and community use. I-Nets are high-speed networks that allow schools, libraries, and
governmental entities to communicate and share information with one another and the
public.
"The Jennings' administration notorious lack of support for democratic participation
and debate is reflected in the city's failure to take advantage of the community media
possibilities available to it through the cable franchise agreement. Schenectady for
instance has been able to establish a vibrant local media center, Channel 16, which gets
about $80,000 a year through the city's contract with Times Warner. Albany used to have a
local access studio at the public library, but that has been discontinued," noted
Green.
The cable franchise agreement establishes the type, quality, and level of service the
cable company will provide in the city. In exchange, the cable provider can use the
public's right-of-way to lay cable. The cable franchise is determined for a number of
years, sometimes as many as 15, and locks in those provisions for that length of time.
Green said that as Mayor she would work with the Common Council to empower a broad-based
citizens committee representing local nonprofits, human services, educational
institutions, art groups, media advocates and the public to take the lead in negotiating a
new cable franchise agreement with Times Warner. The present committee appointed a
committee by the Mayor over a year ago, chaired by Council Member, David Torncello,
as been described by Council members as "moving very slowly and frustratingly."
"The cable franchise agreement is worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the cable
company and is one of the most valuable agreements the city gives away. Much more must be
required of Times Warner in exchange. The committee would be empowered to conduct a
needs' assessment, inviting the community to comment on the types of services, that the
community needs," Green stated. The needs' assessment would form the basis for the
city's negotiation with Times Warner to develop an agreement.
The standard contract under federal laws allows the City to collect 5% of cable fees. This
is approximately one million dollars annually. Albany merely uses the money for the
general fund. Other funds collected from Times Warner have been diverted to fund
communication systems at private institutions such as St. Rose which community members and
nonprofits are not given access to.
Green also said that the city needed to adopt an update telecommunications ordinance to
reflect changes in the industry, especially with the pending move of Verizon into the
market.
In addition to a community media center and increased dedicated public access channels,
other options include a technology fund to support community technology programs
that provide public access to computers and the Internet, training in technology skills
for low-income communities, and production of multimedia content; and, free, reduced, or
volume-discounted rates for cable modems and monthly Internet subscriptions.
"When the cable television industry began to develop thirty years ago, we were told
that this new technology, with the possibility of unlimited tv channels, would democratize
the media, allowing community residents to easily exchange information and be their own
news producer. Unfortunately, the opposite is increasingly happening, with most local
governments at best indifferent to the fate of community media and the media giants such
as Times Warner flouting the law to aggressively suppress public access. Albany needs to
reverse this trend," added Green.
Testimony of Alice P. Green to the City of Albany Charter Revision Commission
October 26, 2005
My name is Alice Green. I am a resident of the City of Albany and the Green Party
candidate for Mayor.
I am here tonight to urge that the City Charter be amended to provide for greater checks
and balances in the operations of our city government, and to call for an increase role
for neighborhoods in setting priorities for city actions.
The City Charter establishes the framework for Albany's government and the power of
elected officials.I support the efforts of the Albany Civic Agenda and local residents to
make reforms to increase the checks and balances within our elected government, starting
with their two proposals to increase the oversight role played by the City Council over
the Mayor. Albany has been ill-served by an all-powerful Mayor that treats the City
Council merely as a rubber stamp. While there have been some slight improvements since the
decades of rule by Erastus Corning, we still have much work to do to increase
accountability and democratic oversight.
I am disappointed that the recent reform effort was thwarted by our present Mayor and the
public denied the opportunity to vote on these issues. I am deeply suspicious that the
prime purpose of this Charter Commission is to prevent real reform. I hope you will prove
me wrong on this.
While I agree with the need to increase the power of the City Council to have an increased
say over the operations of our City, we should go further and amend the City Charter to
provide for more meaningful input and oversight by individuals and by representative
neighborhood assemblies.
Albany's legislative body, the Common Council, needs to be empowered to oversee the
expenditure of all public funds through a public process. Currently, the Mayor, and two
City employees appointed by the Mayor, sit on the five person Board of Estimate and
Apportionment. The Charter allows this Mayor_controlled Board to transfer more than $5
million in budgeted funds without any Common Council authorization at all. I support the
proposal by the Civic Agenda to replace the two City employees with two members of the
Common Council who are appointed by the Common Council.
It is the role of the Mayor - the chief Executive - to propose expenditures. In virtually
all other elected governments, it is then the role of the legislative body - the City
Council - to actually authorize the expenditures. This is a critical check and balance
that needs to be strengthened.
I also support the proposal to require that the Mayor's choice for all commissioners and
office heads be confirmed or rejected by the Common Council when first appointed and at
the beginning of each mayoral term. This would affect less than 20 positions. This would
enable the Common Council to ensure that competent individuals are hired, and provide a
mechanism for the Council to impact on efforts to improve diversity in upper management,
professional and policymaking positions which are currently staffed by almost no persons
of color and few women.
I would add a third proposal to require a formal annual Report and Public Hearing by city
departments. As in the federal and state governments, the Mayor and administrative heads
of major governmental departments such as the police department, fire department, and
Department of Public Works, should be required to give an annual report to the
Common Council and conduct a public hearing that allows community residents the
opportunity to directly question and comment on actions, policies, and procedures of the
departments.
I also recommend that the City Charter be amended to provide a process for neighborhoods
to have meaningful input into what the City does, particularly as it impacts upon their
neighborhood. I have four recommendations related to neighborhood planning and input.
1. An open process for Neighborhood_Based Planning
We must engage local residents and community organizations in a regular, ongoing and open
process for neighborhood_based planning for the city of Albany. In this process,
community stakeholders will come together to assess the assets and needs of their
neighborhoods as environments in which to form and nurture strong families. The process
will create community vision statements, identify key neighborhood issues, help set
priorities, and develop action plans to realize community goals.
2. A Neighborhood Institute
The City should create a Neighborhood Institute to: help train residents and local
organizations in community planning; act as a clearing house for community solutions; and
provide necessary technology ensuring citizen access to information.
3. A Neighborhood Accountability Team
A Neighborhood Accountability Team should be established in each neighborhood planning
district to monitor and facilitate implementation of the neighborhood plans, and to ensure
timely response by the community and City to developments as they arise, preventing small
problems from growing worse. Modeled in part on "community policing" teams that
work with neighborhood watch groups, the Accountability Teams are premised on the idea
that the best way of responding to neighborhood issues is by teaming residents with City
staff to devise and implement prompt and effective solutions, supported by the full
resources of City Hall.
Along with neighborhood residents, each Team will comprise responsible City staff
dedicated from such agencies as the Police Department, Code Enforcement, Transportation,
and General Services. Each Neighborhood Accountability Team would serve several core
functions Designated staff from the City and residents would provide team leadership in
coordinating all NAT services at the neighborhood level, would be highly involved in
neighborhood activities, and collaborate on setting goals and mapping strategies The Teams
would focus on crime prevention, responding to public safety complaints and devising
proactive responses to issues contributing to crime. They will serve a conservation role,
responding to complaints and reporting code violations or hazardous conditions. And, the
Teams will serve an important "case management" function by routing problems to
appropriate City staff and following complaints through to resolution.
4. Performance Reporting
The Mayor should be required to report regularly and in an open forum back to the
community on how the items identified through the neighborhood plans are being addressed,
and how each agency of city government is working toward measurable results tied to
improving the quality of life in Albany.
Neighborhood Assemblies
I would also recommend that the charter commission consider changes that would provide for
a direct role for neighborhood representatives. The Neighborhood Assembly model
incorporates and expands on some of the reforms discussed above Assembly however would
give communities a direct vote rather than just increased participationNeighborhood
Assemblies are a system of neighborhood government where every resident has a voice and a
vote like a New England Town Meeting.
The Neighborhood Assembly would meet several times a year to make the basic policy
decisions for the neighborhood.Among the Neighborhood Assemblies' powers and features
would be:
• Planning: Neighborhood Assemblies would put the details into the city's
Comprehensive Plan, neighborhood by neighborhood. They would have the power to plan the
types of development they want and the right to veto developments they do not want, within
a citywide framework of enforcing civil rights and non_discrimination laws and
environmental regulations.
• Neighborhood Officers and Citywide Commissions and Boards to Guide the Delivery of
Services: Neighborhood Assemblies would elect neighborhood officers corresponding to each
of the city departments that deliver services to the neighborhoods. These neighborhood
officers would form citywide boards or commissions to guide the delivery of services by
each department. Some neighborhood officers would have the power to issue citations for
code and quality of life violations and compel city departments to respond accordingly.
• Participatory Budget Planning: Neighborhood Assemblies would hold hearings and
votes to prioritize their preferences for city tax rates and spending and for the projects
and programs they want for their neighborhoods, in a manner similar to the
"participatory budget" process pioneered by Porto Alegre, Brazil, birthplace of
the World Social Forum.
• District Councilors: Each Neighborhood Assembly would have the right to elect,
instruct, and recall a District Councilor to Common Council. This could replace the
existing Council; be an addition to it; or serve as an advisory body.
A Municipal Power System
I would also urge the Charter Commission to examine the possibility of creating a
municipal power system to provide electricity both to the City and it's residential and
commercial customers. More than 50 municipalities in New York, including Green Island, run
their own power system with rates significantly below that of the investor_owned
utilities. While some of the savings are due to access to cheap federal hydroelectric
power that a new municipal power system could tie into, considerable savings for both
taxpayers and consumers would still be likely due to the elimination of the profit margin
and reduced administrative costs. Last year the City of Auburn approved a referendum
establishing a municipal power system and the County of Cayuga is voting on a similar
system this November. Such a power system would also provide jobs to local residents and
cheaper power would help attract new businesses. A municipal power system would also
assist in promoting renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation, both by the
system and individual customers. A municipal system would provide increased consumer
protection under the new deregulated energy market.
Oversight of Municipal Authorities
While I do not have specific recommendations at this moment, I do think it is important
for the Charter Commission to address the issue of greater public oversight and
accountability of the various city authorities, such as water, parking and housing. The
recent scathing state comptroller audit of the finances and operations of the city water
authority highlights the need to bring these bodies back under city control and to ensure
that a system of checks and balances are instituted. According to the State Comptroller,
the Water Authority has been used to obscure the reality of the city's financial problems.
The State Comptroller, Attorney General and many nonprofit groups have outlined a series
of reforms related to reigning in the state's explosion of public authorities and the
resulting misuse. Similar actions are needed here in Albany.
Conclusion
We need to create a City government in Albany that embraces public debate and input, not
squash it. The inability of our City government to listen to its residents is a major
factor in the decline in the City's population over the last two decades even as the city
itself remains the dominant work site in the Capital district. Amending the City Charter
to provide for increased oversight of the Mayor and the Executive Branch by the Common
Council and for meaningful participation by neighborhood representatives is a critical
step in moving Albany forward into the new century.
Alice Green Statement on Two Albanies
October 22, 2005
We are doing a tour today of the South End of Albany because many people are not aware of
the reality of poverty and racism in our city. Many people were shocked by the photos of
desperate poor blacks in New Orleans trying to survive the rising floodwaters. They need
to understand that there are many communities like New Orleans. Albany is one of them.
Albany is a tale of two cities. While many of us speak about the problems of the South
End, West Hill, the North End, and Arbor Hill, it is still a shocking experience to
actually go door to door and see the huge number of abandoned homes, broken sidewalks, and
looks of hopelessness and despair in the faces of adults and children. To see
frightened long-time residents peer out behind closed shades, stuck after others have fled
because there is no market for the homes that are their life investments. To see young
children locked out of their homes shiver as they try to do their homework outside. To see
the boarded up public institutions that city has stopped funding.
There are an estimated 800 abandoned buildings in our cities. Many of them are
concentrated in poor, black neighborhoods. There are blocks where more than 50% of the
homes are vacant.
While the Jennings administration has largely abandoned community empowerment for downtown
building construction, the abandonment of low-income black neighborhoods is heartbreaking.
Where is the community center for the South End? Where are children to go after school?
Politics is a matter of choices. The Jennings administration has made a decision to
largely turn its back on the problems facing many of our inner city neigbhorhoods.
As Mayor, I want to give hope back to people in the South End. I want all residents to
know that their well-being is important to the Mayor and the City.
Rebuilding these neighborhoods must begin with that hope. People need to know that there
is someone who is listening at City Hall. We need to actively empower community residents
to make plans to redevelop and strengthen their neighborhoods. Plans that are just dropped
onto a neighborhood from city hall just flatten them. People are pushed around, whatever
community is still left is broken, and after the developers and contractors have collected
their checks and taken their tools and departed, the problems still remain. Building a
community is more than bricks and mortars and a coat of paint. That is something that
Jerry Jennings hasn't grasped yet.
We chose to begin our tour today in front of the birthplace of Dan O'Connell, the long
time head of the Albany political machine, because we know that when Dan was in power, the
South End was not neglected. It was still a working class neighborhood but there was hope
and it was a vital part of the city. That is no longer the case.
There are many other problems that plague these neighborhoods. Too many poor blacks are
locked up by our criminal justice system. Our schools are not doing enough to educate all
of our children. And there is a lack of living wage jobs in these communities.
My campaign is about families, all families, not just those in the South End but
throughout the city. The South End suffers greatly from neglect by the City of
Albany, but all of our neighborhoods would benefit from an increased focus on providing
community services. These problems can we be solved if we are willing to work together as
a community to solve them.
see housing statement
Alice Green Says as Mayor She Will Respect Independence of Schools
Supports Increased State Funding, Reduction in Class Sizes
Promotes School and Community-Based Violence Prevention Programs
October 18, 2005
Alice Green, the Green Party candidate for Mayor, said today that is was important for the
Albany School system to remain independent of the Mayor and partisan politics.
Green joined with folk musician Peter Yarrow to promote school and community-based
violence prevention programs. She repeated her opposition to a law enforcement approach to
this issue, such as the recent enactment of metal detectors in the schools.
Green released a statement outlining her educational values, including opposition to
charter schools and militarization of the school system. Green recently called upon the
state to reject the application for a Green Tech charter high school in Albany.
"The administration of our public schools and the provision of high quality education
for our children must be independent of partisan politics and free from interference by
other elected officials," Dr. Green stated. "As Mayor, I pledge not to treat the
School District as a source of patronage positions for my political supporters, as
historically has been done by the Albany democratic machine. While I will offer input and
assistance to the school district, I will not try to control or micro-manage the School
District. I will oppose any legislation to provide Mayors with oversight, control or
appointment authority for school districts or Boards of Education."
Green said she would work with the School Board to seek increase funding for city and
rural schools systems from the State Legislature. She supports the efforts of the Campaign
for Fiscal Equity.
Green was joined at the conference by Peter Yarrow, a member of the legendary folk
trio "Peter, Paul and Mary," who was in town to help with a benefit fundraiser
for Green. Mr. Yarrow is the founder of Operation Respect (http://www.dontlaugh.org/) a
non-profit organization to transform schools, camps and organizations into more
compassionate, safe and respectful environments. Yarrow spoke later at the day on
violence prevention at Albany High.
"School and community-based violence prevention programs are more effective than
punitive disciplinary measures or the implementation of a heavy-handed law enforcement
presence in the schools," stated Green in opposing the use of metal detectors.
"Violence must be addressed with a multi-faceted approach involving the coordination
of school-based and community-based efforts and programs, not by measures resulting in
increased alienation or hostility among young people. As Mayor, I will seek to implement
and expand a broad range of anti-violence programs for young people including arts
programs, after-school activities, restorative justice programs, and job opportunities.
I also support increased training for adults who work with youth, including in our
schools, in regard to violence reduction and early detection of substance abuse and
emotional or mental health issues with the goal of providing appropriate early
intervention," she added.
Green said she supported efforts to increase achievement for all students and to close the
"achievement gap" between students from more affluent backgrounds as compared
with those from poorer families and between white students and students of color.
"I support efforts to expand and improve in-service training for teachers and staff,
increased diversity in hiring by the School District, and increased efforts to
integrate the schools both in regard to race and family income. More should also be done
to strengthen and expand the existing pre-K programs and after-school programs, reduce
class size and school size, and increase community-based initiatives to provide support
for the education of our children, such as tutoring programs and other after-school
programs," Green stated. She also said that the re-building program of the Albany
School District must be completed.
Green said as Mayor, she would work to enact protections for students and families from
heavy-handed, misleading and discriminatory military recruiting efforts. "Other
employers who openly discriminate against gays and lesbians would not be tolerated in our
schools and the military should not either," she noted.
Green said that in addition to supporting a ban on military recruiters from public
schools, she would work to change District policy so that parents who wish their
child's name to be forwarded to the military will have to "opt-in" rather than
requiring parents to "opt-out". Until such a policy change is implemented, she
encourages families to "opt-out" of disclosing personal information about High
School students to the military.
Green said as a parent and grandparent, she hoped that all schools would embrace efforts
to improve nutrition, including restricting access to junk food, and purchasing more
locally grown food, including fruits and vegetables.
see education.
Reforming the Albany Police Department, Civilian Police Review Board
October 12, 2005
For years I have closely monitored our local criminal justice system and worked with the
Albany Police Department to promote public safety and social justice. While the
Department has made great strides in these areas by becoming more professional and
cooperative with community leaders, it remains a closed and reactive body that relies too
heavily upon racial and ethnic stereotyping in its work. As a result, poor
communities and those of color continue to complain about differential treatment and
abuse. The resulting community mistrust operates to render the Department less
effective in addressing crime and community fears.
Far too many Albanians are victimized by crime and violence and even more live in fear of
crime. Albany suffers from a crime rate higher than surrounding towns and cities.
Data from the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services indicate that in 2004,
the index crime rate per 100,000 people in the city of Albany was 7,138 compared to 4,136
in Albany County and 2,577 for the state as a whole. "Street" crime and
victimization are realities that cannot be denied or ignored, but should be understood.
Unfortunately, mainstream media, elected officials, and others, by elevating a few
sensational stories of crime and victimization, have promoted the impression that street
crime is rampant and violent which feeds into the fears of our citizens and makes
understanding difficult.
To become a state of the art 21st century police department equipped to effectively
provide public safety and improve community relationships, several changes should be made
in the Department regarding management and hiring, institutional racism and public
accountability. As Mayor, I would immediately address these three issues.
Management and Staffing
1. Micromanagement by Mayor
The current Mayor is micromanaging the police department; the practice should be
discontinued. Unlike myself, Mr. Jennings has no professional criminal justice experience.
Yet he constantly injects himself into the day to day operations of the police department,
which is the role of the police chief not the Mayor. The Mayor's actions suggest that he
lacks confidence in the leadership in the Department. We have seen a rapid turnover
of police chiefs during the Jennings' administration, with five different chiefs during
his twelve years as mayor.
Albany should follow the lead of the state and a growing number of municipalities by
requiring applicants to have some level of college education. I would also reverse
the action by Mayor Jennings that did away with captain positions that were civil service
driven and replaced with commanders who are appointed by him. Such patronage retards
the growth and development of the Department.
2. Diversity
I would continue to professionalize and diversify hiring within the police department,
starting with the police chief. When a police chief vacancy occurs again, the Mayor
and City should conduct a national search for the most qualified, creative, and competent
person he or she can find. After years of promoting from within or appointing
"loyal" friends, someone from outside the department would bring a breath of
fresh air and be more independent to make needed changes.
We need to take effective action to immediately increase the number of minority members on
the force. While the Albany Police Department has made some strides over the past 15 years
in diversifying its officers along racial and ethnic lines, it still has a way to go to
create a force that truly represents the makeup of the community where close to 38 percent
of the population is minority. There appears to be a limited understanding of and
appreciation for diversity. The Chief and the Mayor have failed to make a strong public
statement of commitment to achieving a diverse force.
While I would require newly hired police officers to live in the city that they are
serving, one way to attract more minority candidates would be to expand the current
geographical boundaries to include people from across the country. Incentives, such as
housing assistance, could be offered to help them live in the city.
A review of the current civil service exam process should also be reviewed. The
establishment of an apprenticeship-type program might be used to attract more minority
candidates and prepare them for the tasks and skills needed to successfully perform as a
police officer. Civil service exams could then be used to screen the most qualified
candidates.
Institutional and Systemic Racism
Institutional racism and the differential treatment of minorities, especially African
American males, is still pervasive in American culture and the Albany Police Department is
no exception. Most African American males in the city have or will experience a negative
encounter with police in his life time. Much too often they are stopped, insulted,
abused, and/or arrested unnecessarily. Once this happens, their lives are often
deeply affected - schooling can be interrupted, jobs and income lost, and permanent
stigmas attached that make managing one's life difficult. It is imperative that this
situation be recognized and serious efforts be made to address and correct the problem; it
is extremely destructive to African American families and their neighborhoods. The
Department can start the process by the improved hiring, training and educating of
candidates and officers. It can immediately start sharing information that is
currently gathered about police stops and the ethnicity of those stopped by police. While
the Department has reportedly gathered data for several years, it has yet to share the
information with the public for analysis, comment, and policy change. Also, the Department
has not publicly declared its policy against racial profiling.
Public Accountability and the Citizens Police Review Board
The current Citizen Police Review Board has not yet become the effective and credible body
that so many hoped it would. It is struggling and needs to be overhauled.
Since the 1984 police shooting death of Jesse Davis, Albany has struggled to establish a
strong review board that could hold police officers publicly accountable for their
actions. In 2001, an Albany Citizens Police Review Board with very limited authority
and power was established. Unfortunately, the proposal developed by the community was
shelved and replaced by one drafted by Mayor Jennings. The Mayor's approach has not
worked. Changes, including the following, must be made:
- The Board needs subpoena powers and the ability to conduct its own investigations when
it is desired. A legislative change is required.
-One of the tools given to the Board is the authority to recommend and provide for the
mediation of a dispute between a complainant and the accused police officer. To date that
tool has yet to be used primarily due to police union opposition. The City needs to assess
the Review Board regarding this matter and work to arrange a compromise.
-To become more independent, the Board should have and control its own budget.
-The Board must define its role in cases involving police use of deadly force. Its
failure to do so damaged its credibility when residents pressed a confused Board to
provide information and leadership following several disturbing police-related deaths from
firearms.
- The Board spends almost all of its time examining individual cases. It needs to
seriously carry out its other function which is to examine and make policy recommendations
to the police department.
- The Board needs to effectively reach out to the community for education, feedback, and
involvement in its committees. Rarely do members of the community and complainants
attend Board meetings. For that matter neither do elected officials including the
Mayor. It is particularly important that the Mayor attend some of the Board's
meetings to observe how it is functioning and how the Mayor's office can assist in
strengthening the Board's operation.
Albany County Greens Urges County to Adopt Paper Ballot Optical Scan Voting
October 11, 2005
The Albany County Green Party, and their local candidates - Alice Green and David Lussier
- today called upon Albany County to choose Paper Ballot / Optical Scan (PB/OS) voting
machines rather than the controversial touch screen computer voting. The Greens will also
present their remarks to the monthly meeting of the Albany County Legislature on Tuesday
night.
The State Legislature earlier this year left it to each county to decide which of the two
voting systems to choose between. New voting machines are being required under the federal
Help America Vote Act (HAVA).
"Optical scan paper ballots will save tax dollars while making it easy to ensure that
the votes have been counted correctly," stated Dr. Green, the Green Party candidate
for Mayor in Albany. "It is also easier for voters to use."
The Green Party criticized Democrats and Republicans in the State Legislature for failing
to agree on a standard statewide voting system. "Having the same voting machines in
each community would have lowered purchase costs while make it easier to educate both poll
workers and voters as to how the new systems work. The paper ballot system fortunately is
easy for voters to use while creating a permanent voting record that can be recounted in
case of a disputed vote count," stated David Lussier, who is running for Albany
Common Council in the 11th District.
Problems with Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) touch screen voting machines appeared
throughout the country in 2004, most notably in Ohio, where the vote results differed
dramatically from exit polling in the Presidential race. The Green Party led a fight to
force a recount, which was recently forced back into court. However, without a verifiable
paper trail, there was no way to determine whether the vote count in Ohio accurately
reflected the choices made by the voters.
PBOS machines costs half that of DRE's; last significantly longer; are easier to maintain
(don't require vendor technicians); are precinct based, requiring less machines per
polling site thus reducing costs further; and produce a verifiable paper trail. A study
this April by New Yorkers for Verified Voting, "Acquisitions Cost Analysis,"
found a $116 million savings if New York statewide purchased scanners rather than direct
recording electronic machines. While the latter replace lever machines one for one, a
single scanner can replace at least four lever machines at one polling place, according to
the report.
With the scanner system, local officials have paper ballots printed, as they now do for
absentee voting. Voters mark their ballot and bring it to a scanner that checks for errors
and gives the voter a chance to make changes if there are too many or too few votes
marked. The ballots are tallied by the scanner and dropped into a locked box.
With scanners, election outcomes can be confirmed by recounting actual ballots. The paper
ballots are our official ballots. Local officials and citizens are still in charge. In
case of scanner failures on Election Day, marked ballots can be kept securely for later
scanning and voting continues uninterrupted.
With direct electronic voting machines, questionable election outcomes mean that vendor
technicians must solve any technical problems. They have proprietary program code, which
only they may see and work with, effectively putting the voting process into the hands of
corporations, instead of local officials and citizens.
PBOS have been in use for more than 20 years and are proven to be reliable in practice.
They have an estimated lifespan of 10 to 20 years. Direct Recording Electronic (DRE)
machines with the ability to provide a Voter Verified Paper Trail (VVPT) and handicapped
accessibility do not have a track record, but are warranted for only 5 to 8 years.
If a PBOS fails on election day, voting is not interrupted since the ballot marking
(voting) can continue till repairs are made or a spare machine is provided. (Procedures
for holding and then scanning the held ballots would be established). PBOS notify voters
of an under or overvote, and provide an opportunity for the voter to make corrections. It
has the lowest percentage of invalid ballots.
In the event of the recount, the Green Party urged the county to require a 100% audit of
the paper ballots rather than the 3% audit in the state legislation. The Greens also wants
the County to make the PBOS precinct based to ensure that election results are not
electronically transmitted, which would make them subject to interception and
manipulation.
Green and Lussier also called for the PBOS machines to be purchased with software that
accommodates all voting systems being used throughout the country, include Instant Run-off
Voting (IRV), Proportional Representation (PR) and mail-in voting options. Lussier helped
campaign for the successful IRV referendum in San Francisco several years ago. PBOS
machines are easily capable of handling these systems but would require expensive
retro-fitting if not purchased as IRV ready. Neglecting to address this now would result
in reluctance to institute these democratic reforms later, continuing the
"winner-take-all / lesser of two evils" system that the Green Party sees as the
major stumbling block to true democracy.
October 10, 2005
The tragedy
of the Jenning's administration has been his unwillingness to accept input from residents.
It is the Mayor's way or the highway. He not only squashes dissent, he doesn't even
tolerate any debate of the issues. We are seeing this aversion for civic participation and
democracy in his present election campaign. The voters of Albany deserve to hear the
Mayoral candidates debate the issues. And the voters should have the right to have
their opinions and ideas heard. Instead Mayor Jennings limits himself to marching in
parades and welcoming people to city events.
An important part of the democracy is the empowerment of the broad mass of people.
It should give people an opportunity to be heard and some influence over government and
allow them to limit the power of elected officials. Our democratic system of
government is designed so that the three branches of government will naturally check and
limit the power of the other branches.
In Albany people complain that their voices are not heard, that the general public is not
knowledgeable enough about issues that affect the community, and that community power is
usurped by City Hall, and too often governmental bodies are not held accountable for their
actions.
Mr. Jennings' aversion to civic discussion and input was reflected in his opposition to
the Civic Agenda It appears that he influenced several council members
to switch their vote at the last minute on allowing the public to vote on the minor
changes to the City charter that the voters had petitioned for. It seems that he just
could not tolerate the idea that the public would get the opportunity to vote on something
that he had not initiated and rubber stamped.
Jerry Jennings has become the Boris Yeltsin of Albany. People forget that for most of his
tenure on the City Council that Jerry was a maverick. He ran as a populist candidate
supporting reform of the machine politics of the Corning-O'Connell era. But like Yeltsin,
once he won power he decided instead to become the new political boss rather than open the
city up to public input as he had promised.
As Major, Mr. Jennings has curtailed the overt corruption that dominated the
O'Connell-Corning machine. But he has not been willing to share power with community
residents or even the City Council. Instead, we still witness iron-fisted decisions by one
individual where special interests and campaign contributors are able to wheel and deal
behind the scenes. While I believe that Jerry Jennings is sincerely committed to trying to
helping rebuild Albany, his approach is doomed to failure. Albany can only reverse its
trend of fleeing citizens and devastated inner city neighborhoods if the entire community
is invited to participate in and shape that rebuilding process.
Mr. Jennings and I have a different vision of how Albany should be rebuilt. I believe
strongly in focusing more on building neighborhoods and families. Rather than building
more office space in an already glutted downtown market, I would look more to creating
housing and mixed uses in our downtown area. This is the model that places like Saratoga
Springs have followed in their successful renaissance.
But I am here today to talk about the need to democratize the City of Albany. The
proposals put forth by the Civic Agenda was an important first step in that
transformation, because it sought to slightly increase the power of the City Council to
provide checks and balances to the Mayor. But I think we must go much further in providing
a real mechanism for citizen and neighborhood input into city government.
I am releasing today and posting on my website (http://nys.greens.org/alicegreen) several
background papers that outline various models that the City could follow in allowing for
greater public oversight and input of our city government. The actual models that we adopt
should be determined through a broad-based civic participation process where the voices of
all our city residents are welcomed and listened to. I want to briefly mention some
options that I think the city should consider and that my administration would support.
Democratizing
the City of Albany and Increasing Community Input
1. Annual Report and Public Hearing by City Departments
As in the federal and state governments, the Mayor and administrative heads of major
governmental departments such as the police department, fire department, and Department of
Public Works, should be required to give an annual report to the Common Council and
conduct a public hearing that allows community residents the opportunity to directly
question and comment on actions, policies, and procedures of the departments.
2. An open process for Neighborhood-Based Planning
We must engage local residents and community organizations in a regular, ongoing and open
process for neighborhood-based planning for the city of Albany. In this process,
community stakeholders will come together to assess the assets and needs of their
neighborhoods as environments in which to form and nurture strong families.
The process will create community vision statements, identify key neighborhood issues,
help set priorities, and develop action plans to realize community goals.
3. A Neighborhood Institute
We should create a Neighborhood Institute to: help train residents and local organizations
in community planning; act as a clearing house for community solutions; and provide
necessary technology ensuring citizen access to information.
4. A Neighborhood Accountability Team
A Neighborhood Accountability Team would be established in each neighborhood planning
district to monitor and facilitate implementation of the neighborhood plans, and to ensure
timely response by the community and City to developments as they arise, preventing small
problems from growing worse.
Modeled in part on "community policing" teams that work with neighborhood watch
groups, the Accountability Teams are premised on the idea that the best way of responding
to neighborhood issues is by teaming residents with City staff to devise and implement
prompt and effective solutions, supported by the full resources of City Hall. Along with
neighborhood residents, each Team will comprise responsible City staff dedicated from such
agencies as the Police Department, Code Enforcement, Transportation, and General Services.
Each Neighborhood Accountability Team would serve several core functions. Designated
staff from the City and residents would provide team leadership in coordinating all NAT
services at the neighborhood level, would be highly involved in neighborhood activities,
and collaborate on setting goals and mapping strategies. The Teams would focus on
crime prevention, responding to public safety complaints and devising proactive responses
to issues contributing to crime. They will serve a conservation role, responding to
complaints and reporting code violations or hazardous conditions. And, the Teams will
serve an important "case management" function by routing problems to appropriate
City staff and following complaints through to resolution.
5. Performance Reporting
In a Green Administration, we will make it the prime business of Albany City government to
report regularly and in an open forum back to the community on how the items identified
through the neighborhood plans are being addressed, and how each agency of city government
is working toward measurable results tied to improving the quality of life in Albany.
We will also launch a model effort to create and use neighborhood indicators, putting City
government's shoulder behind an initiative to democratize the availability of information
on societal trends and impacts of government services at the neighborhood level.
This effort will draw from pioneering efforts in Providence, Denver, and Cleveland in
combining key data from the U.S.Census covering social and economic characteristics of
households and physical and economic characteristics of the housing stock; from
administrative records regularly maintained and updated by local public agencies measuring
health, property values and conditions, crime, business activity; and special
surveys and inventories.
6. Facilitating the Right to Vote
The Green Administration will make it the business of government to encourage voters'
participation. We will examine and remove unnecessary barriers to voters'
registration, and ensure eligible voters are well informed about their rights under the
law.
We believe all the residents of our city should have the right to vote in local elections.
This is the model followed in most of the world's democracies, where even residents of
other countries are allowed to vote for the government of the community they live in
(though not for federal government positions).
In particular, we need to steps to correct the disenfranchisement of those who have been
convicted of crimes. Many African-American males are presently excluded from participating
in our democracy. Voting is an important step in helping to reintegrate these
individuals back into the community. At a minimum, more needs to be done to educate local
officials and the general public about the fact the voting rights of felons are
automatically restored upon the completion of their sentence or if they are on probation.
This right should at least be extended to those on parole.
7. Neighborhood Assemblies
For more information, see Syracuse Greens
The Neighborhood Assembly model incorporates and expands on some of the reforms discussed
above Assembly however would give communities a direct vote rather than just increased
participation. This is something that should be considered as part of a
comprehensive process to obtain citizen input into how our city should be structured.
Neighborhood Assemblies are a system of neighborhood government where every resident has a
voice and a vote like a New England Town Meeting. The Neighborhood Assembly would meet
several times a year to make the basic policy decisions for the neighborhood.
Among the Neighborhood Assemblies' powers and features would be:
• Planning: Neighborhood Assemblies would put the details into the city's
Comprehensive Plan, neighborhood by neighborhood. They would have the power to plan the
types of development they want and the right to veto developments they do not want, within
a citywide framework of enforcing civil rights and non-discrimination laws and
environmental regulations.
• Neighborhood Officers and Citywide Commissions and Boards to Guide the Delivery of
Services: Neighborhood Assemblies would elect neighborhood officers corresponding to each
of the city departments that deliver services to the neighborhoods. These neighborhood
officers would form citywide boards or commissions to guide the delivery of services by
each department. Some neighborhood officers would have the power to issue citations for
code and quality of life violations and compel city departments to respond accordingly.
• Participatory Budget Planning: Neighborhood Assemblies would hold hearings and
votes to prioritize their preferences for city tax rates and spending and for the projects
and programs they want for their neighborhoods, in a manner similar to the
"participatory budget" process pioneered by Porto Alegre, Brazil, birthplace of
the World Social Forum.
• District Councilors: Each Neighborhood Assembly would have the right to elect,
instruct, and recall a District Councilor to Common Council.
Alice Green Opposes New Green Tech Charter School
October 6, 2005
Alice Green, the Green Party candidate for Mayor of the City of Albany, announced today
that she would urge the SUNY Board of Trustees to reject the application for a new charter
school in the City of Albany.
"Charter schools in New York State are inherently undemocratic. Local residents are
deprived of any direct say in whether or not they want to spend their tax dollars in this
manner. In addition, charter schools in New York have not proven to be effective in
improving our children's education," stated Green. “The Albany schools need more
resources, not less. As Mayor, I would fight hard to obtain proper funding for our
schools from our state and federal governments. More money is not the complete
solution to problems with our schools, but it is a necessary part of the solution."
The City School District of Albany is required to pay charter schools $9,000 per student,
which drains money from the public school system. Brighter Choice is proposing an all boy
high Green Tech high school that would run from 7:30 A.M. to 5 P.M.
"The proposed high school closely resembles existing prison camps for Black
boys," Green noted.
Green added however that "there needs to be more innovation in Albany's public school
system. We need to do more to promote smaller schools and class sizes, improve teacher
training for urban schools, and develop strong curricula. We need to do more to address
the drop out rates in our high schools, especially for students of color. And there needs
to be more income integration within our schools." Green pointed to the recent
success in Raleigh, North Carolina with income integration in its school system.
Green plans to release a more detailed position on school reform in the next few weeks.
Green also raised concerns about the organization proposing the new Green Tech charter
school, as well as the proposed 9-hour length of the school day. "The conservative
political forces that were behind Change New York and the election of George Pataki are
the ones putting this school proposal together. Given the track record of Tom Carroll and
his team in opposing effective environmental controls and reducing corporate
accountability at the state level, I doubt that they are the ones we want in charge in
teaching environmentalism to our students. Do they believe that global warming is
real or that garbage incineration is bad for the environment? Do they support making
corporate polluters pay to clean up their mess or do they want consumers and taxpayers to
foot the bill?"
Alice
Green calls for City Housing Trust Fund
Supports Anti-Speculation Initiative, Stricter Code Enforcement
October 5, 2005
Providing affordable housing for low, moderate and middle income homeowners is an
important cornerstone of my campaign for mayor. We need to build new homes,
rehabilitate others, and provide affordable good-quality rental units while encouraging
and promoting owner-occupied homes which build good neighborhoods. Adequate housing
is essential to family strength and development. Of special concern, is preserving
and stabilizing our older neighborhoods throughout Albany. Here is why. In the
words of Tom McPheeters, in "Capital Neighbors:"
"The Boom in the real estate market that has finally reached Albany's downtown
neighborhood is a mixed blessing. One of the unintended consequences of higher
prices is a tightening market in affordable housing, both rental and owner-occupied."
An example of such negative pressure is here at 12 Barclay Street. In 2004, this
two-family home was sold by a long-term local woman for $53,000 to a limited liability
corporation with only a post office box address. A year later, it was listed again
for $150,000 without any real improvements having been made. It is being marketed to
out-of-town investors and presented as one of "25 investment properties," often
bought sight unseen.
The result is that our neighborhoods are increasingly being owned by absentee landlords
who often neglect repairs and increase blight. Their neighbors cannot complain to a
post office box address. Overpriced houses lead to unaffordable rents. This
situation keeps neighborhood renters from having homeownership opportunities.
Tenants used to pay 30% of their income for housing. Now they pay more than 50%,
which strains their budgets and crushes their dream of homeownership.
Council member, Dominick Calsolaro has made a fine proposal to stop this speculation by
encouraging more owner-occupied opportunities. Under his proposal, owners would get
a property tax break to restore illegal and chopped-up apartments back to owner-occupied
one and two-family homes.
As houses are rehabilitated and modified, attention must also be given to making them more
energy efficient. Better use could be made of solar energy, insulation, etc.
Later, we will release more on this issue in a separate proposal on how to
"green" the city.
We must also do more to combat the epidemic of vacant housing in neighborhoods such as
Arbor Hill, South End and West Hill, which has vacancy rates 10 times higher than
surrounding communities.. The City has more than 800 vacant homes according to a 2003
survey by the Historic Albany Foundation. In addition to being eyesores that scare away
potential renters or buyers, depressing prices for other homeowners in the area,
vacant structures also poses public safety risks because they are targets for arson, drug
dealing and vandalism.
As Mayor of Albany, I will:
1. Establish an Anti-Speculation Ordinance which targets absentee landlords who buy and
then quickly resell small rental and family owner-occupied houses to reap exorbitant
(speculative or unreasonable) profits and drive rents up.
2. Establish a Housing Trust Fund for the City and County of Albany as has been done in a
number of our major cities across the country: Philadelphia, Washington, New York City,
etc. Funds would be generated from several possible sources including mortgage transfer
taxes and development fees. In the latter, any new developments such as Nanotech or
housing projects would be required to contribute a set percentage of their project's cost
to the established housing trust fund. The percentage could be negotiated
between the city and county. The County should be involved, because affordable
housing is a regional problem. Many of our towns are experiencing high housing
costs. Workforce housing could provide affordable homes for middle-income workers.
A joint committee would need to be formed to include the Mayor, Common Council, County
Executive, County Legislature and other interested parties (such as non-profit housing
groups) to research and establish my proposed Affordable Housing Trust Fund to finance the
construction and rehabilitation of affordable owner-occupied homes and rental units
throughout Albany and its suburbs.
3. Strengthen Code Enforcement over absentee-owned residential properties, making sure
they adhere to health and habitability standards of their neighbors - owner-occupants
and/or responsible landlords.
4. Work more closely with non-profit housing corporations with a proven track record like
the Albany Community Land Trust, The Affordable Housing Partnership and United Tenants of
Albany and collaborate on activities that could include grant applications; include these
organizations on city-controlled committees; develop joint redevelopment projects and work
more cooperatively on a wide range of programs.
5. Develop more mixed-income housing initiatives where existing home developers would be
encouraged to look at Albany for mixed-income housing. Sometimes called work-force
or inclusionary housing, its aim is to encourage city workers and others to live in the
City where they work, rather than commuting and causing more parking problems in our
neighborhoods.
6. Better integrate economic development, housing and service programs to support a
locally-based comprehensive strategy for neighborhood development.
7. Initiate an Urban Homesteading Program. Too many houses stand vacant in our city,
especially in lower income neighborhoods, contributing to the deterioration of these
communities. In some blocks as many as half of the homes may be vacant. The city
should work with the County to aggressively foreclose on these properties (e.g., for back
taxes; also VA and FHA properties). The homes should be given to city residents who will
commit to live in and improve them, with subsided loans through the Housing Trust Fund to
repair them. If the family lives in and maintains the homes for at least a year, they
would be given title.
The Mayor's office needs to pay more attention to what is happening to housing conditions
and costs in our neighborhoods. As Mayor, I will do just that.
A copy of the Historic Albany
Vacancy Survey
Green Opposes a $200 million convention Center for Albany
Would Require Hiring Agreements for Project and Affordable Housing if Project
Proceeds
October 2, 2005
background paper on convention center
Alice Green, the Green Party candidate for Mayor in Albany, announced today that she
opposed Jerry Jennings proposal for a $200 million convention center "as a misguided
quick-fix attempt that will just lose a lot of tax dollars for a city that can ill afford
it. We need to invest in strengthening our neighborhoods and community services, not
wasting money tax dollars on desperate ‘hail mary' plays to stimulate an already
overdeveloped downtown."
Green released a study showing that almost every convention center in the country operates
at a loss, not even counting construction costs or debt. In 2001 only two or three
convention centers in major markets consistently generate enough operating income to even
pay operating expenses, let alone debt services.
Green noted the city is presently balancing its budget by raising $14 million a year by
selling space in its landfill even though it is under a DEC consent order to close. A
recent scathing audit by the State Comptroller found widespread financial mismanagement of
the city's water system, generating a deficit of $11 million in just five years despite an
annual operating budget of only $16.7 million.
"The City's finances has become a stack of cards under the Jennings administration.
The convention center has the potential to bring the whole thing tumbling down,"
Green added.
Green said that Albany voters should be given the opportunity to decide whether or not to
fund a convention center. Green faulted Jennings for stacking the City's Task Force on the
convention center with members of local development groups, law firms, and the
entertainment industry that stand to financially benefit from any such expenditure of city
funds, regardless of the success of the project, while failing to adequately include
community members or labor unions. "Once again the Mayor has given us government by
the elite and special interests rather than of the people," Green noted.
"If the city does move ahead on a convention center, we need to negotiate a community
benefit agreement to ensure that local residents, including a representative percentage of
minorities and women, are hired by the developers. In addition, the developers should be
required to construct a number of affordable housing units in exchange for receiving the
convention construction contract," added Green. "We need to make sure that
average Albanians get some benefit from the enormous investment of public funds."
Over the last decade 50 cities across America have engaged in the expansion or
construction of new convention centers, and at least 42 are planning on doing the same
thing over the coming decade. The national market for convention centers has been in
decline for over a decade. Industry consolidation in prime convention areas – tools,
hardware, technology – and better communication technologies has decreased the need
for large expositions in various sectors. As fewer industries need large
conventions, cities have added an additional 20.8 million square feet of space from
1990-2005.
Criminal Justice Reform
- Prevention and Re-entry in Albany
Create a Community Justice Center - Youth Violence Prevention Programs
September 28, 2005
Alice Green, the Green Party candidate for Mayor in the City of Albany, called today for
the city to overhaul its approach to criminal justice. She was joined by representatives
of local criminal justice reform groups in calling for the establishment of a Community
Justice Center to ease the transition of hundreds of individuals released annually by the
prison system back into Albany.
Green also called for increased efforts to target issues related to youth, violence and
gangs, and to strengthen community control of the police department, starting with reforms
to the civilian police review board.
The Community Justice Center would coordinate the delivery of existing community services;
identify gaps in service; advocate for the development of needed services; educate and
train residents about legal rights and civic responsibilities; and empower former
prisoners through their involvement in prevention of youth and street crime and community
development.
"Safe communities require the willingness to involve citizens in finding solutions to
the problems that affect their lives," stated Green. "Our approach to public
safety should be one that emphasizes prevention, treatment, and reintegration. Every
citizen in the City of Albany deserves to feel and be safe, both from crime and from the
police. We all suffer when way too many are arrested because they are people of color and
poor. The black community can not prosper when so many of its young males are in
jail."
"We need to increase investment in crime prevention while doing a lot more to help
the transition of the hundreds of individuals who are annually released back into Albany
by the criminal justice system," added Green, who holds a doctorate in criminal
justice from the University at Albany. Green served as Deputy Commission of the Department
of Probation and Correctional Alternatives during the Cuomo administration. "Every
convicted citizen who has gone through the criminal justice system and returned to this
city should have resources available that will allow him or her to become a productive
part of the community."
Green also noted that "the level of crime often reflects the basic social and
economic health of a community and is an important element in determining the quality of
life in a city. The reality is that the criminal justice system overwhelmingly targets
Black males. Compared to so-called ‘‘street crime", white collar crime
kills far more people and steals far more money but yet is generally ignored by the
criminal justice system. And while the war on drugs has overwhelmingly imprisoned people
of color, the vast majority of both drug sellers and users are white.."
Green also added that " it is important that we not ignore forms of violence as
spousal and child abuse and juvenile crime that destroy the quality of life of
families.".
According to the Transitional Services Office of the New York State Department of
Corrections, in the year 2004 the number of state prisoners convicted on non-violent
crimes released to the Albany parole office was 663. Data from the Albany County Jail
indicate that in 2004, there were 739 offenders returned to the city of Albany from the
jail (though figures specific to non-violent offenders were not available, the majority of
sentences to the jail are for non-violent crimes).
One important aspect of creating safe communities is to create and support it with
adequately funded programs that prevent kids from becoming involved in crime. One of the
goals of the Green administration will be to work collaboratively with parents, educators,
and others to make Albany one of the model cities in the country in the use of the arts in
youth crime prevention. "There's a direct relationship between young people being in
prison and not having a diploma or a job," noted Green. .
Across the country researchers are reporting great success with programs that use the arts
to reduce youth truancy, delinquent behavior, violence, and involvement in gangs. Youth
are drawn to and retained in these programs by the opportunity for creative and artistic
expression and the community recognition of their work. They learn new skills, including
how to use the arts to communicate difficult thoughts and emotions. The most innovative
programs also provide an opportunity for the youth involved to become entrepreneurs who
have the experience of earning money through creative endeavors. These programs
demonstrate clearly what can be accomplished in terms of keeping kids out of trouble by
providing them with opportunities to express their feeling and concerns in positive ways.
A community justice center could become a place for innovation in prevention and
transitional services while strengthening families and ensuring public safety.
Albany Citizens' Review Board at the Crossroads
September 28, 2005
In late 1984, following the police shooting death of Jesse Davis, then Mayor Thomas
Whalen created the Albany Community Police Relations Board which was dissolved more than
ten years later. Community interest in establishing an independent Police Review Board
with power to investigate citizen complaints resulted in a proposal to establish such a
body in early 2000. A group of citizens drafted a proposal that was replaced by one
submitted by Mayor Jennings. The Mayor's proposal, which was eventually adopted by the
Common Council did not provide the Board with subpoena power.
In July 2000, legislation was signed creating the City of Albany Citizens' Police Review
Board. The Board was created to be an independent review body that would review and
comment on Police Department investigations of citizen complaints made against officers of
the Department for alleged misconduct. The Board was also given the authority to comment
on police policy and work to improve community/police relations and increase police
accountability to the community.
In May 2001, the Review Board, consisting of nine members, began receiving complaints of
police misconduct. In the majority of the cases it has received, individual Board members
reviewed Police Department records of the investigation of the Police Department's Office
of Professional Standards.
After four and a half years of operating, the Board appears to be a fledgling body. In
Albany, racial profiling and differential treatment of people of color, immigrants and
other citizens continue. Rarely does a resident attend the Board's public meetings. Few
people file complaints with the Board, which continues to simply review information from
the police department's investigations. The most useful tool it has, mediation, has not
been used because of police union opposition. Recently, the Board hired a consultant to
assist it with the current stalemate between it and the police union.
The Review Board has failed to effectively use its authority to review and make police
policy recommendations. After prompting from a community organization, the Board created a
policy committee, but appears to simply meet with representatives of the Department for
education on policy issues.
The Board also remains uncertain regarding the role it should play in reviewing police use
of deadly force, which is of extreme importance to the community. As a result, it failed
to provide leadership after two residents; Jason Mayo and David were shot and killed by
police in separate incidents. As well, the Board remained quiet following the police
shooting that resulted in the death of police Lieutenant John Finn.
While 9 dedicated and committed citizens serve it, the Albany Citizens' Police Review
Board suffers from a lack of vision, purpose, and power. It is a weak body designed by the
Mayor.
Youth, Gangs, Crime and Violence
September 28, 2005
The rise in violent juvenile crime that started in 1973 was thought to be fueled by
demographics, the crack cocaine epidemic, high unemployment, and decline in low-skilled
work, particularly among minorities. Rates of serious violent juvenile crime as measured
by the National Crime Survey peaked in 1983 and is still declining. According to a report
from the Justice Policy Institute, despite a rash of "sensationalized" cases
surrounding gang violence, the phenomenon actually decreased over 70 percent from
1994-2003. Yet the fear of violent gangs and juvenile crime remains due in large part to
the exploitation by elected officials of several of the high-profiled incidents of school
and gang violence.
In response to the fear, "More than 40 states made it easier to transfer
children to adult criminal courts. Educators enacted ‘zero-tolerance' policies
to make it easier to expel youngsters from school, and numerous communities adapted
curfews. Many jurisdictions turned to metal detectors in public school, random
locker searches, drug tests for athletes and mandatory school uniforms."
The movement of youth is so controlled and penalized that advocates claim that there
exists a "war against youth" in our communities.
Albany, with a school population that is 66 percent Black and few teachers of color, has
supported zero-tolerance policies and suspends large numbers of students, most of whom are
Black. More than 350 of its high school students are arrested each year and most of them
are Black. Now following several reported incidents of violence in its high school and
middle schools, the Board seems willing to implement random student searches using
hand-held metal detectors. This knee-jerk reaction is the wrong response to the problem of
school violence.
Again, it will be primarily Black children who will be searched, suspended, and/or
arrested which will lead to increased criminalization of these children. Those juveniles
who are arrested for the first time are more likely to return again and eventually be
incarcerated. Once incarcerated, their chances of becoming involved as adults in the
criminal justice system increases dramatically.
Random searches in school and other settings will invariably raise concerns about racial
profiling and discrimination. Students of color will ultimately perceive that they are
being treated unfairly which will increase their disrespect for authority and promote
anger. A study in Chicago found increased hostility with the introduction of police in
school settings. Perceptions of injustice were found to generate different kinds of
behavior (including delinquent and criminal) adaptations ore responses. (Race, Ethnicity,
and Youth Perceptions of Criminal Justice, by John Hagan).
Metal detectors create an atmosphere of mistrust, tension, and fear. Their use suggests
that the school is a war-zone where youth are continuously in jeopardy of falling victim
to violence.
No evidence suggests that metal detectors make schools safer. But, their use along with
suspensions, zero-tolerance, and other punitive disciplines and racism lead to what has
become known as "the school to prison pipeline." Students themselves, point out
how metal detectors make them feel like prisoners and they correctly perceive them as
another form of social control.
School violence must be addressed through a coordination of school and community-based
violence prevention programs. Student violence often reflect attitudes that exist in their
community and families. Other alternatives such as increased staff training that prepares
school staff to recognize problems such as substance abuse and emotional difficulties
early are deemed more effective..
Across the country researchers are reporting great success with programs that use the arts
to reduce youth truancy, delinquent behavior, violence, and involvement in gangs. Youth
are drawn to and retained in these programs by the opportunity for creative and artistic
expression and the community recognition of their work. They learn new skills, including
how to use the arts to communicate difficult thoughts and emotions. The most innovative
programs also provide an opportunity for the youth involved to become entrepreneurs who
have the experience of earning money through creative endeavors. These programs
demonstrate clearly what can be accomplished in terms of keeping kids out of trouble by
providing them with opportunities to express their feelings and concerns in positive ways.
One important aspect of creating safe communities is to create and support with adequate funding programs that prevent kids from becoming involved in crime and violent behavior. One of the goals of our administration will be to work collaboratively with parents, educators, and others to made Albany one of the model cities in the country in the use of the arts in youth crime prevention. The Mayor working in a collaborative environment can do much to ensure that every child has access to equitable and quality education that allows them to become healthy critical thinkers.
Green Calls for School Based Violence Prevention
Programs,
Not Metal Detectors
September 22, 2005
Statement of Alice Green, Green Party candidate in Mayor, in Response
to Albany School Board’s Consideration of Metal Detectors in Schools
Albany city school officials’ decision to implement random student searches using
hand-held metal detectors is the wrong response to the problem of school safety. We must
stop blaming kids for the problems of urban schools and start addressing the problems of
limited resources, poor teacher training, and ineffective curriculum. Students themselves
bemoan the fact that schools are paying for metal detectors instead at the expense of
academics.
Administrators and public officials often respond with such knee - jerk reactions to high
profiled acts that don’t necessarily reflect the true dimensions or character of the
problem. Strictly law enforcement responses do not address real problems of violence.
Officials and parents may often feel better, but they are left with a false sense of
security.
If school violence is a problem it must be met with coordination of school-based violence
prevention programs, community-based organizational programs, parents, teachers, and
students. Student violence often reflect attitudes that exist in their community and
families. Therefore, any student focused program must be coupled with violence prevention
programs for adults, parents, and community leaders. Families, especially, need support
and education on issues of violence.
Other schools across the country are using alternative methods to deter violence and make
schools safer such as training school staff to recognize problems such as substance abuse
and emotional difficulties early.
Research in NYC suggests that metal detectors can’t effectively address youth
violence. Their use did not reduce nonschool-related weapon-carrying or threats and
physical fights in any location
Random searches will always raise concerns about profiling and discrimination. Who will be
searched and why? Students of color will ultimately perceive that they are being treated
differently which will increase their disrespect for authority and promote angry behavior.
A study in Chicago found increased hostility with the introduction of police in school
settings. Perceptions of injustice generates different kinds of behavior (including
delinquent and criminal) adaptations or responses. (see Race, Ethnicity, and Youth
Perceptions of Criminal Justice, by John Hagan)
Metal detectors along with heavy use of arrest, suspensions, zero-tolerance, and other
punitive disciplines, along with racism lead to what has become known as "the school
to prison pipeline." Metal detectors help to create an atmosphere of tension and
fear. Students, themselves, point out how metal detectors make them feel like prisoners.
Students will be challenged to figure out how to sneak contraband into the school. They,
correctly, perceive their use as a form of social control.
Alice Green on Employment: Residency, Diversity,
and Economic Development
September 21, 2005
Alice Green, the Green Party candidate for Mayor of Albany, said today that she is running
on a platform to build strong families and good employment opportunities for residents is
key.
Green said that at least 1 out of every 2 jobs created through city contracts and tax
subsidies should be filled by city residents, including at least 20% by minorities. Green
pointed to the City of Hartford Connecticut as a model on how to increase jobs for city
residents overall and for minorities in particular.
Green pledged to double the number of minority City employees when she takes office and
work to build a city work force at all employment levels that will reflect the ethnic
make-up of the city=s population. She will also enact programs both to increase residency
requirements for city workers and provide incentives such as subsidies for city workers to
buy homes in Albany. Even though 30% of city residents are African-Americans, they hold
only about 11% of the 1,400 city jobs in the current administration B primarily in the
lower paying positions. While Albany's general unemployment rate is 4.3% African Americans
are experiencing an unemployment rate twice that.
"There is evidence that new employees hired for new jobs in the area are choosing to
live in places other than the city. Soon we could become a city where people work but
don=t live. Many city employees live outside the city even though their residence in the
city could be extremely beneficial to the city. For instance, studies suggests that public
safety is advanced when police officers live in the city they are charged to
protect," noted Green. "As Mayor, I would propose that all new employees of the
city be required to live in the city. Current employees would be given incentives to
purchase homes in the city. Other professionals such as our good public school teachers
would also be encouraged to live in the city."
Green noted that the City=s present residency requirements for employees benefit the
larger Capital District rather than the City itself. Positions such as the fire and police
department merely require applicants to live in Albany, Columbia, Green, Rensselaer,
Saratoga, Schoharie, or Schenectady County for thirty days immediately prior to the
written examination.
"We need to be more forthright in acknowledging the value of diversity and the
importance of different life experiences in our fire and police departments. The Mayor
must also make a strong public commitment to increasing diversity in all levels of those
departments. Promoting diversity will require new creative approaches that could include
developing a strong apprentice program to introduce youths and adults to careers as
firefighters and police officers early. While recognizing that current civil service exams
can=t always predict performance, an apprentice program can help applicants demonstrate
their ability to perform successfully in these important public safety jobs. We must also
consider broadening the geographical pool of applicants for all professional employee
levels including chiefs of the departments when a vacancy occurs. National searches should
be made to insure that the departments are directed by the most qualified, capable, and
creative people the City can find," Green added.
Green said she would advocate for local hiring strategies that require developers who
benefit from public money to reserve a percentage of jobs for local residents. In recent
decades, economic development in the US has led to the movement of jobs, resources, and
opportunities out of urban centers and into the suburbs. Urban neighborhoods such as Arbor
Hill and the South End have been left with high levels of unemployment. Even those urban
residents who do find work are often employed on a part-time basis with insufficient
benefits to support their families.
"We see local government throwing more and more money away to attract new jobs and
businesses, but all too often those jobs elude those who most need them. Low-income
communities, particularly communities of color, face both direct discrimination, in the
form of prejudiced hiring practices and indirect discrimination, in the form of restricted
access to jobs,@ said Green. AAnd when people are not making money, they are not spending
money. When redevelopment money, through local hiring initiatives, flows to local
residents, those residents will spend much of it in the neighborhood, revitalizing the
retail sector and preserving or creating further jobs for their neighbors," she
added.
Green said that as Mayor she will also meet with private businesses to help negotiate
voluntary local hiring agreements. "We want businesses in Albany to make it a
priority to make sure they hire a certain percentage of Albany residents," she said.
Green said she would redirect the city=s economic development program to better support
neighborhood businesses and local jobs.
"Albany may be the economic engine of the Capital District but too few jobs located
in the City of Albany go to City residents. It was startling during petitioning to realize
how few downtown city workers actually live in Albany. The current administration has
focused too much on making Albany a good place to have a few beers after work. I want to
reorient our economic development program to create neighborhood-based jobs and improve
the quality of life for all city residents.. Albany is too divided between the haves and
the have notes," stated Dr. Green.
Green said she opposed current administrative efforts to waste public funds on a
convention center. "City after city is throwing tax dollars into building new
conventions centers that too often end up sitting empty most of the time," Green
noted. "Building more convention centers doesn't result in more conventions being
held. My administration will spend more time in building affordable housing, neighborhood
business and community programs."
Green noted that most new jobs are created by small businesses. She would increase
economic development support for microbusinesses to help Albany residents start their own
businesses.
Green said as Mayor she would seek to expand the recently passed city living wage law.
"The City needs to provide leadership in providing living wage jobs to its
residents." Albany's Living Wage law is most notable for the number of workers that
it excludes.
While most cities have passed living wage laws that cover companies that receive city
contracts and tax subsidies, communities such as Santa Fe New Mexico have recently
expanded it to cover all workers. While a 1961 Court of Appeals case struck down a
citywide minimum wage law in NYC, Green said that as Mayor she would be willing to seek to
overturn the 40-year old decision.
Alice Green Launches General Election Campaign - Build Strong Families
September 15, 2005
Now that primary races have been decided, I can begin in earnest my active public campaign.
First of all, I congratulate Gerald Gennings and welcome he and Mr. Sullivan in what I
hope will be a civil campaign that focuses totally on the important issues facing our
city. To do otherwise would fail to serve the best interests of Albanians and would
operate to discourage some from seeking public office or even exercise their right to
vote.
I do not take my candidacy lightly. My 40 years of service to our city have provided me
with great experience, sharp insights, and a broad understanding of the city and its
needs. Throughout, I have maintained my deep feelings of compassion for all people.
While we live in a city with an extremely rich history, natural beauty, and wonderful
people, at this moment in time we are faced with deep social, economic, and political
problems that threaten the development of our city in this the 21st century.
The major issues that need to be addressed revolve around the fact that our families are
hurting and many of them are fleeing from the city for relief. I place the major source of
their discontent into 6 building blocks that must be effectively addressed if we are to
serve the needs of our families and keep them in our city. Those 6 areas of concern are:
schools, employment, housing, public safety, environment, diversity and bigotry.
Because we have not paid adequate attention to thise forces, individuals and families are
frightened and leaving. Recently, two school board members and several other leading
citizens left the city reportedly because of housing, schools, and the fear of crime.
Since 2000, the population of the City of Albany has dropped from 101,000 to 96,000. At
that rate, by the year 2010, we will have lost 10% of our population. A loss we can ill
afford. We must do something other than shore up our infrastructure to support families.
As we listen to people around the city, we learn that many of them are dissatisfied
because they believe that their concerns are not heard and that are unable to meaningfully
partticipate in the democratic process in our city.
I believe we need strong collaborative-style leadership in the city. I will offer for
public discussion a "Families First Accountability Agenda" modeled after one in
Rochester, New York.
Under that model we would develop a neighborhood-based participatory planning process
including neighborhood empowerment teams composed of residents and city staff who would be
charged with devising and achieving effective solutions to problems.
During the coming weeks, I will go around the city continuing to talk to city residents
and engage in a series of "kitchen table conversations." We are already using
the internet to solicit information and comment about their issues of concern.
This is the first of a series of weekly press conferences I will hold. Some of them will
be held in the homes of city residents as we hold our kitchen table conversations.
I invite and encourage my fellow candidates to join with me in public discussions about
issues affecting our city, its families, and neighborhoods.
In this campaign I offer a bold new vision of what I believe Albany can become. It is my
vision that Albany will become a city that puts families first. When families are strong,
communities are strong and safe.
Alice Green Opposes Expansion of Albany Landfill
in Pine Bush
Supports Volume Based Garbage System, Expanded Recycling and Composting
Alice Green, the Green Party candidate for Mayor in the City of Albany, stated that she opposed a proposal by the Jennings administration to use land dedicated to the Pine Bush Preserve to expand the Rapp Road landfill for another 20 years.
The Zero Waste commitment looks beyond recycling to preventing garbage at the source. Many communities worldwide have begun to join the Zero Waste campaign. It is particularly strong in New Zealand, where a third of all local government councils have now passed resolutions to work for 'Zero Waste to landfills by 2015.
In a Zero Waste Community, local businesses practices are charged to prevent waste. For instance, copy machines are set to default to double-sided copies on recycled paper; more use is made of electronic documents. The city would adopt a "green purchasing" program -- buying non-toxic cleaning products, janitorial supplies and "environmentally preferable" electronics. For instance, the City policy should be to use recycled antifreeze; recycled latex plant; and paper with at least 50% recycled-content paper.
Governor Pataki recently signed
legislation requiring non-toxic cleaning products for the state. The City could buy
products off the state purchasing list.
Manufacturers would be required to
take more environmental responsibility for their products and to create materials that
cause fewer disposal problems. The effort includes "take-back" programs for
computer monitors and furniture.
Another Zero Waste initiative
would include Use-It-Again Albany, featuring community "garage sales" throughout
the city, allows residents to drop off and pick up items free (no electronics, appliances,
couches or mattresses). This could also help create entry-level jobs.
In Seattle, the Take-It-Back
Network returned 600 tons of computers monitors and other components in 2004 to
participating retail stores. Groups such as the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Coalition
intercept items that shouldn't go in landfills. A city "green building" program,
aimed at recycling, water and energy conservation and waste prevention, has also produced
results. Eleven city projects last year kept nearly 57,000 tons -- or $560,000 worth -- of
salvaged or reused materials out of landfills.
September 2, 2005
in the last 35 years, and if minimum wage growth had kept pace it would be worth $14.65.
Most statistics show a real living wage would only take 2% of the operating costs a
business pays, meaning it would not be a hardship for businesses and would be a real boon
for employees.”
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