Vaughan Toney, chief executive offi cer (CEO) of The Friends of Crown
Heights Educational Centers, Inc. Vaughan Toney
Caribbean Life, December 10-16, 2021 3
By Nelson A. King
Caribbean American Congresswoman,
Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) and
US Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.)
on Dec. 1 introduced new bicameral
legislation to protect consumers from
online free trial scams and deceptive
marketing tactics.
The lawmakers’ new bill – the Consumer
Online Payment Transparency
and Integrity Act, or Consumer OPTIN
Act – puts the onus on companies,
instead of consumers, in renewing or
extending contracts.
Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican
immigrants, said that “too often,
companies use free trial offers and
unclear terms and conditions to trap
consumers into subscriptions.”
She said that, from 2017-2019,
the Better Business Bureau received
58,400 complaints related to free trials
scams.
Additionally, the Brooklyn congresswoman
said companies often
use software and interfaces, called
dark patterns that subtly trick users
and make it harder for consumers
to end these subscriptions and stop
unwanted charges.
To help prevent these practices,
Clarke said the Consumer OPT-IN Act
would require companies to make a
number of changes to better protect
and inform consumers.
“I am proud to introduce this
important legislation with Senator
Van Hollen that will protect consumers
and create greater levels of transparency
and accountability when it
comes to subscription-based services,”
said Congresswoman Clarke. “All
too frequently, subscription services
are taking advantage of people, particularly
our most vulnerable populations,
and trapping them into paying
for goods and services they never
intended to sign up for. Enough is
enough.
By Associated Press
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A
Turks and Caicos police boat collided
with a vessel carrying migrants
believed to be from Haiti, spilling scores
of people into the sea and leaving at
least seven dead, police said.
The Turks and Caicos police said they
had recovered seven bodies and were
searching Wednesday for others.
At least 64 migrants were rescued
in the area off Providenciales island,
according to a statement issued Tuesday
. Authorities said they don’t know how
many migrants were aboard the vessel
that collided with one of their own
when officers tried to intercept it late
Monday. Police said they detained 16
migrants who fled on foot after the collision.
“We were hoping for the best,” said
acting Police Commissioner Kendall
Grant. “Unfortunately, we are now dealing
with a tragedy.”
The Turks and Caicos Islands are
located between Haiti and the Bahamas
and long have been a destination and
smuggling route for Haitian migrants.
Haiti has been struggling with deepening
political insecurity, a spike in
gang-related violence and severe fuel
shortages that have driven up prices in
a country where 60 percent of the population
earns less than $2 a day.
By Nelson A. King
Vaughan Toney, the Vincentian-born
president and chief executive officer
(CEO) of The Friends of Crown Heights
Educational Centers, Inc., (FOCH), has
been appointed a member of the Mayoral
Transition Team that will advise
Mayor-elect Eric Adams on education
issues when he takes office on Jan. 1.
As mayor, Adams will lead the nation’s
largest school system, and members of
the education panel will be expected to
work well beyond his inauguration to
delineate a comprehensive policy covering
all aspects of education in the city.
Other team members include an
impressive array of career educators and
advocates, current and former elected
officials, and notable innovators from
the business and non-profit sectors.
“This unprecedented collection of
great minds and hard-working New
Yorkers will prepare my administration
for success, because they represent
the many backgrounds and views of
our great city, and they are committed
to working together toward its bright
future,” said Adams, the incumbent
Brooklyn Borough President, in a statement.
“If we are going to tackle the many
challenges in front of us as a city, the
advocacy, nonprofit and business worlds
must all be at the same table, working
in collaboration,” he added. “And that is
exactly what this transition is doing.”
Toney has described his appointment
to the Mayor’s Education Committee
as “a once-in-a-lifetime privilege and
opportunity to help shape the destiny
of our city.”
“I look forward to working collaboratively
with this distinguished panel of
experts in equipping all of our children
with the tools they will need to successfully
navigate a future of lifelong
learning and accomplishment,” he told
Caribbean Life on Wednesday.
Toney’s contribution to the work of
the mayoral committee will be informed
by more than three-and-a-half decades
of related experience in public service,
together with a lifelong commitment to
child-care advocacy and high-quality,
universal early childhood education.
After several years on the staff of the
New York State Education Committee,
under former Senator Leonard Stavisky,
Toney traded Albany for City Hall, where
he served as chief-of-staff to the trailblazing
former New York City Council
Member Dr. Una Clarke, the Jamaicanborn,
first ever Caribbean-born woman
to be elected to the City Council.
Toney subsequently served in the
same capacity to Belizean-born, former
New York City Councilman the Rev. Dr.
Lloyd Henry.
Under Toney’s leadership, as FOCH’s
president and CEO, the organization
has grown to become the premier notfor
profit provider of subsidized child
care and Early Childhood Education
in the City of New York, with over 23
daycare centers, primarily in Brooklyn,
throughout the city.
Toney also currently serves as a
member of the Board of Directors of
the Day Care Council of New York, a
membership organization of 93 sponsoring
boards that operate more than
200 publicly-funded childcare centers
and family child care programs in New
York City.
Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke
addresses town hall meeting. Photo
by Nelson A. King
Friends of Crown Heights chief
on Mayoral Transition Team
Turks and Caicos sea collision kills at least 7
Protecting
consumers
from online
free trial scams