Unlike NY\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 23rd District, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have any marquee (perhaps \u00e2\u20ac\u0153marquis\u00e2\u20ac\u009d would be more apt, given who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stuck their noses \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and money \u00e2\u20ac\u201c into that one) races in my town on Election Day, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still stuff to vote on, and I feel obligated to go and be a good little citizen taxpayer. Plus it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the last time I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get to use the lever voting machines that have served me well for the past 30 or so elections (and served my parents and grandparents before me). I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like any surprises when I pull that curtain closed, so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be spending this weekend trying to decide how to vote.<\/p>\n
First up are two NY State ballot proposals to amend the State Constitution (so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be definitely be interested in knowing what other NY\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c like Sue \u00e2\u20ac\u201c think about them). First up is (not surprisingly) Proposal Number One.<\/p>\n
We have a clause in our Constitution called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Forever Wild,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which prohibits any development in the Adirondack Forest Preserve unless the State Constitution is specifically amended to allow it (instead, our old growth forest is being steadily killed by acid rain from the smokestacks of the Midwest). A constitutional amendment requires passage by two separately elected state Legislatures, and then must be approved by voters. <\/p>\n
The following amendment was passed unanimously by the Legislatures that took office in 2007 and 2009, and is now being presented to the voters on Tuesday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ballot as Proposal #1:<\/p>\n
\nPROPOSAL NUMBER ONE, AN AMENDMENT
\nAmendment to section 1 of article 14 of the Constitution, in relation to the use of certain forest preserve lands by National Grid to construct a 46 kV power line along State Route 56 in St. Lawrence County.<\/strong><\/p>\nThe proposed amendment would authorize the Legislature to convey up to six acres of forest preserve land along State Route 56 in St. Lawrence County to National Grid for construction of a power line. In exchange, National Grid would convey to the State at least 10 acres of forest land in St. Lawrence County, to be incorporated into the forest preserve. The land to be conveyed by National Grid to the State must be at least equal in value to the land conveyed to National Grid by the State. Shall the proposed amendment be approved?\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So, at first blush, it seems like, well, they get 6 and give us 10. Sounds good, right? Well, the problem is this: it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s already happened.<\/p>\n
That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right, as per the League of Women voters:<\/p>\n
\nThis amendment will make constitutional an action that has, in fact, already taken place<\/strong>. The NYS Power Authority, with the involvement and agreement of the interested environmental and municipal groups, approved the building of a back-up power line through forest preserve land to protect the health and safety of the residents of the village of Tupper Lake. The line was built and activated in May of 2009.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
WTF? Sounds like a scam to me. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve already done it, why should I retroactively make your illegal actions constitutional? Sounds like bullshit to me, but, then, (again, according to the LWV), <\/p>\n
\nBefore this new power line was built, the village of Tupper Lake had frequent power outages caused by damage to its single electrical supply line, principally from falling tree limbs in forested land along its route. There was no back-up line in the event of power failure, and during the winter alternative shelter had to be provided to village residents. This was considered an urgent situation that could not wait for the completion of the constitutional amendment process for relief, since it affected the health and safety of the villagers. The most environmentally friendly route for the new line traverses about two miles of Adirondack Forest Preserve land, affecting a small number of physical acres. While the new line could have been detoured to avoid forest preserve land, the detour would have involved a six mile cut through old-growth undeveloped forest and wetlands, endangering the habitat of wildlife. The chosen route along an existing road through previously cleared preserve land was judged to be more ecologically friendly. National Grid, the builder of the line, will compensate for the loss of existing preserve land by conveying new forest preserve land to the State. This new land must be of equal or greater value than the land that was lost. Environmental and civic organizations are supportive of this remedy to what was a serious and persistent public health and safety issue.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Hmm. So, it sounds like a good thing that I would have agreed with, and, while I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m somewhat inclined to vote against it (just \u00e2\u20ac\u02dccuz they didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ask first), I suppose I’ll have to grudgingly vote for this one.<\/p>\n
Next up, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s (you guessed it), Proposal Number Two, which is yet another amendment, this time to article 3 of the NY State Constitution. This one \u00e2\u20ac\u0153would authorize the Legislature to pass legislation to permit inmates in state and local correctional facilities to perform work for nonprofit organizations.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Supporters of this amendment say that
slave<\/strike> prison labor would provide under-funded non-profits with access to a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153willing\u00e2\u20ac\u009d labor force, and gives the prisoners a way to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153give back\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to the community.<\/p>\nThat sounds all well and good, but it seems like this would be an incentive to under fund non-profits even more than they are already. It also seems like a slippery slope leading to judges imposing longer sentences to non-violent offenders in order to keep the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153willing labor force\u00e2\u20ac\u009d well-stocked, and Attica inmates stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart for kickbacks to the State. <\/p>\n
Then again, some guy doing six months for DWI would probably greatly prefer (and benefit from) the ability to cut the grass at Catholic Charities or something, rather than rot in a cell 23 hours a day. <\/p>\n
What with the state of the State budget these days, I think non-profits are gonna need all the help they can get, so, what the hell, put those prisoners to work. I hope somebody\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s planning on keeping an eye on \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcem, though.<\/p>\n
Now on to my important local races. First, the election for State Supreme Court Justice. This is one of those \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chinese Menu\u00e2\u20ac\u009d elections, where you vote for any two people, even in the same column. Column 1 has a guy running on the Democratic, Republican, Independence, and Conservative lines. Well, f*ck him. Pick a team, pal. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t vote for people who are running unopposed, and I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t vote for somebody that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on every line. Just doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAmerican\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to me. That leaves a guy running as a Democrat\/Conservative Party candidate, and another guy on the Republican\/Independence Party lines. Hmm. Tough call there. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like Conservatives too much, and neither do I care for Republicans, just on general principles. I might have to write a couple of people in, here. Remind me to bring a pencil with me on Election Day.<\/p>\n
Next up, County Court Judge. Easy one here, with a Democrat running against a Republican\/Conservative, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an incumbent that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been in office forever. When in doubt, I vote against the incumbent.<\/p>\n
Moving along, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s four more unopposed candidates. Two are on the Working Families Party line, so I may just break my rule and vote for them (I usually just vote the whole WFP row). The other two are SOL, though (makes me think I should have run for something). <\/p>\n
Town Justice is an easy one: a happy looking-fat guy with a happy-looking fat wife and happy-looking fat kids who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on the WFP line. Plus his opponent\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s name is \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcJokyl,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 which I have to assume is pronounced \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yokel,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and we have enough yokels around here as it is.<\/p>\n
Finally, another Chinese menu list for three Town Councilors. Easy call there, with two WFP and one Dem, and my work is done for yet another year.<\/p>\n
Now, off to don my biblical garb and head out to Trick-or-Treat, or maybe do some bobbing for beer bottles. Happy Halloween, y’all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Unlike NY\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 23rd District, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have any marquee (perhaps \u00e2\u20ac\u0153marquis\u00e2\u20ac\u009d would be more apt, given who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stuck their noses \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and money \u00e2\u20ac\u201c into that one) races in my town on Election Day, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still stuff to vote on, and I feel obligated to go and be a good little citizen taxpayer. Plus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.morningseditionists.com\/msblog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.morningseditionists.com\/msblog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.morningseditionists.com\/msblog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.morningseditionists.com\/msblog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.morningseditionists.com\/msblog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1852"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.morningseditionists.com\/msblog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1854,"href":"https:\/\/www.morningseditionists.com\/msblog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1852\/revisions\/1854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.morningseditionists.com\/msblog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.morningseditionists.com\/msblog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.morningseditionists.com\/msblog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}