FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 21, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 31
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Make it easier to vote
BY ALAN SELTZER
News reports next week will mention
what will be a light turnout for the
Special Election to replace Leticia James
as Public Advocate following her election
as Attorney General. Th e good
news is the technical glitches voters
faced last November due to the twopage
ballot won’t happen this time, since
there will be only 17 candidates all running
for one position.
Th e bad news is there also probably
won’t be a lot of voters at the polls, which
is typical for special elections. Even
worse, success by six of the 17 candidates
will require a second special election
somewhere in New York City within a
few months to replace them in the State
Assembly or City Council. Both are a
waste of taxpayer money, which could be
saved by extending the election reforms
recently passed in New York State.
Our state legislators made major progress
by combining some primary elections
and instituting early voting procedures.
Th is is necessary since workforce
is diff erent today from the days when
my mother was home to make dinner
and they took us to the local poll site at
my elementary school aft erwards. Th e
new regulation provides extra fl exibility
to allow working families to participate
in elections while reducing the number
of times it’s needed.
However, the reforms didn’t go far
enough. Special elections like the one
on Feb. 26 can be abolished completely
by allowing appropriate elected offi -
cials to vote on interim offi ceholders
in these cases. In the case of the Public
Advocate, the City Council—elected
by the same people who would vote
in the special election--could choose
someone to hold the offi ce until the
regularly-scheduled general election in
November.
New York would also benefi t from
increased participation by community
groups. At a recent election, I had
a lengthy conversation with a national
consultant on voter issues. She shared
how many places around the country
treat elections as community events,
holding pot luck dinners or other activities
at or near the polling place. People
participate in their event, then go to vote
while they’re out for the evening.
Th is could be a win-win situation for
voters and the organizations holding
the events. A PTA could raise funds to
help the school by having a bake sale or
book sale. Places of worship or community
centers would increase awareness
of their activities—and probably membership—
by having dinners or other
events with transportation to the polls
aft erwards.
Th e easier we make it for voters to
come to the polls, the more people will
show up.
Like many election workers, Alan
Seltzer will spend 17 hours as coordinator
at a poll site in Queens next
Tuesday.
LIES KILLED THE
AMAZON DEAL
We just recently witnessed a carefully
orchestrated mob attack on the
American fabric and value system by a
bunch of elected offi cials and planted
radical activists, who for the most part
don’t live in, work in or care about our
community.
Worse is that these people planned
a propaganda campaign and uttered
incendiary hyperbolic hate speech and
tactics to kill anywhere from 25,000 to
40,000 jobs, which would have had a tremendous
jolt to our local economy, to
make a political point and push their
socialist agenda.
Th ey lied at every point in the dialogue
by saying the community was
against it, while never engaging the community,
when in reality about 70% of
the community supported the arrival
of Amazon. Th e main rabble rouser
refused to meet with Amazon, outrightly
rejected the company and tweeted
“ScAmazon.” Th ese people lied that
it would cost us $3 billion to bring
Amazon when the costs would be paid
Amazon by reducing some of its taxes
and spurring a $27 billion net benefi t to
the city and state.
Th ey lied about the infrastructure of
schools and transit not being able to
cope with the infl ux of new people when
the $27 billion made from Amazon
would be reinvested into our roads, subways,
schools and mechanical systems.
Th ey lied that unions were against it
when most organized labor supported
it. Th ey lied that Amazon supported
ICE to scare immigrants. Th ey lied to the
NYCHA residents in Queensbridge, the
largest public development in the United
States that they would lose their housing.
Th is rose to a level of fraud, con-artistry
and public theft not seen before as
politicians who went against the will of
the majority of the community, violated
the public trust. Th ey sold out the public
for personal gain, notoriety and a desire
to extort and shake down Amazon.
Th e elected offi cials who killed this
deal, or supported its death or did nothing
should be ashamed of themselves.
Th eir conduct amounts to public theft
and they are unfi t for public offi ce and
have violated the will and trust of the
people for your own selfi sh political
needs.
John Ciafone, Astoria
RIPPING GIANARIS
FOR AMAZON DEAL
Editor’s note: Th e following is an open
letter by the author to state Senator
Michael Gianaris.
As a lifelong liberal Democrat and resident
of western Queens, I am thoroughly
heartbroken that Amazon will not be
coming to LIC. I am sad to the degree I
was when Kavanaugh was confi rmed. I
am angry to the level I am at the Wall.
It is like the Grinch took my Christmas
gift s away or I lost my best friend.
You, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,
and Jimmy Van Bramer catered to the
minority and destroyed the best thing
that could have ever happened to our
home — western Queens.
I understand the concern the renters
had about being priced out. We had
to up and leave Astoria/LIC a year and
half ago for this reason. We were priced
out. And we are Greeks who were the
backbone of the cultural community
there for decades. Today we live in East
Elmhurst/Jackson Heights.
Yet, instead of making a plan to help
renters, rather than using Amazon as the
catalyst for fi nally creating truly aff ordable
housing, you threw out the baby
with the bathwater.
And according to QNS, you did not
have the decency to communicate with
Th e NYCHA tenants associations. Th ey
were the ones out to benefi t the most.
Yes I know that Cuomo and de Blasio
made a back door deal. Who cares?
Every city made a back door deal. It was
what it was. If we want to change how
deals are made or subsidies off ered to
large corporations, fi ne. But this was the
wrong time to do that. We needed to
close the deal and then work on changing
methods later.
Moreover, the argument that Van
Bramer used about NY being a union
town is nonsense. I agree we are a
union town and they serve a purpose.
But we were talking about six-fi gure
tech jobs that are never union jobs.
Th ere is a great deal to contemplate
here about unions chasing good jobs
away. What is the next step? Do we
throw every company out of NY that is
not union?
Exactly how do you plan to make up
for our loss? How do you now fi nd the
money to fi x NYCHA, Northern Blvd.,
overcrowded schools, or build the BQX?
How will you fi nd another 25,000 high
paying jobs to elevate Queens?
Th is Amazon pull out was loss for
everyone. Most importantly, it was a
loss for my children and all our beautiful
youth.
Penelope Katsaras, Astoria
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