Planning perspectives
Voting, and what democracy means
COURIER LIFE, F 26 EBRUARY 19-25, 2021
OPINION
We are inclined to
think that the times
we live in are the best
of times or worst of times,
but the takeaway is that
we don’t write as well as
Charles Dickens.
What most distinguishes
humans from other species
is our ability to contemplate,
and imagine the future.
Rust Cohle would call
this an evolutionary misstep,
but it is a step we have
taken nonetheless. Part of
what distinguishes New
York and like cities from the
vast expanse of our planet
is our perceived need and
inclination to contemplate
and plan our built environment
through zoning text,
the Uniform Land Use Review
Process (ULURP), the
Landmarks Preservation
Commission (LPC), the Department
of Design and Construction
(DDC) and District
Needs Assessments. I
could get into a whole host
of perspectives on these
processes, but for the sake
of space and time, I’ll say
it boils down to being inadequate
but better than nothing.
However, New York City
shouldn’t accept a “better
than nothing” planning
process and, post-pandemic,
it can’t afford one. As I’ve
said before, the 2021 elections
are incredibly important
to our city’s future, but
how we revise the structure
in which the winners of the
2021 elections will operate
is incredibly important.
Fortunately I’m not the
only person who thinks this
as next week, on Feb. 23, the
City Council will be holding
a hearing on this exact
matter. The hearing will revolve
around the council’s
“Planning Together” report
which looks to update the
planning process with the
intention of helping correct
neighborhood disparities
and moving toward a more
equitable city.
The plan remains vague
and I firmly believe it needs
to give more leverage to citywide
needs through tangible
mechanisms as opposed
to assuming, or hoping, that
the council doesn’t, as it
does now through unwritten
rule, just defer to the
local member in issues impacting
all five boroughs.
But to be clear, at this
point, that vagueness isn’t a
bug — it’s a feature that allows
people to chime in and
contribute to the discussion.
So, if you’re interested,
and have time to: read the
plan, watch the hearing,
and ask your representative
about it.
Mike Racioppo is the District
Manager of Community
Board 6. Follow him on
Twitter @RacioppoMike.
MIKE DROP
Mike Racioppo
ROBERT A. SCOTT
Many people seem to confuse
democracy and capitalism.
Some seem to think
that capitalism defines our
system of government. However,
our governance is
based on democratic principles,
including the importance
of voting. Capitalism
is about economics, not governing.
Two central characteristics
of capitalism are competition
in the marketplace
and the availability of information.
Competition supports
“choice” and freely
available information supports
informed choice. Wander
supermarkets aisles and
look upon the shelves. In
each rack there are abundant
choices of toothpaste,
laundry soaps, and paper
products with descriptions
of ingredients and safety
labels. Nevertheless, we as
consumers must be aware;
we must determine the truth
in advertising.
Democracy as a governing
system also has informed
choice as a foundational
characteristic. We
can choose which political
party to prefer, which candidate
to support, and which
policy proposals meet our
criteria. However, we must
seek the truth and become
informed with facts. Given
such choices, why do so
many fail to vote?
The 2020 Presidential
election campaigns spent
almost $14 billion dollars
and turnout was higher
than any other in 120 years
– yet one-third of eligible
voters stayed away. Some
were deemed ineligible, others
had a lack of access or
were afraid of the unofficial
“marshals” monitoring
voting sites, and still others
were dissuaded from voting
by disinformation spread
through social media.
We need to do more to
control efforts at disinformation,
reduce limitations
to voting, help voters learn
the truth, and ensure the integrity
of elections. We can
choose to do more to ensure
informed choices at the ballot
box. But not choosing
to do so is itself a choice, a
choice that can lead to the
demise of democracy.
The historian, Robert
Artigiani, wrote that we
should “choose to act so the
act of choosing remains possible.”
By failing to exercise
our right to vote and failing
to ensure the integrity
of information promoted by
campaigns, we have lost our
chance to choose; we have
chosen to act in a way that
can lead to losing our right
to choose.
That is what happens in
authoritarian regimes, even
though they may not start
that way. Hitler was chosen
democratically in 1932
before consolidating power.
Putin was elected by popular
vote first in 2000 and
proceeded to institute constitutional
changes in 2018
in order to allow him to remain
in power. In both cases,
the people made choices
that resulted in the loss of
future choices because they
did not stay informed or act
on their concerns in time to
avoid the consequences.
The insurrection at the
U.S. Capitol on January 6
resulted from a disinformation
campaign of falsehoods
that persists to this
day. For democracy to survive,
for there to be “a more
perfect union,” we need an
informed citizenry that understands
and appreciates
critical thinking, information
literacy, and the instruments
of democracy. We
need objective journalism
as the source of news.
We also need more flexibility
in voting to meet the
needs of our modern world.
Voting by mail and early voting
are steps forward but not
the only steps we could take.
Why is general election voting
limited to the first Tuesday
in November? Wouldn’t
it make sense to allow voting
over several days, as in
some other countries? What
about holding elections on a
weekend, when fewer people
would have to take time off
from work in order to vote?
In some countries, voting
is mandatory, and fines can
be imposed on those who do
not vote.
Our vote is our voice. Voting
is an act of choice and
the exercise of our voice in
expressing our values and
priorities. We should make
it easier to learn about candidates
and issues, and
vote.
After all, our choice of
leaders and policies is even
more important than our
brand of toothpaste.
Robert A. Scott of Seniors
Take Action is the President
Emeritus at Adelphi University
and author of “How University
Boards Work,” Johns Hopkins
University Press, 2018.
OP-ED