The following Letter to the Editor by Quincy Clowe from Corning appeared
in the Elmira Star-Gazette and the Corning Leader on Sunday, September
27, 2020. Click here for Quincy's summary of Racial
Disparities in the Steuben County Criminal Justice System with
references.
The criminal justice system in Steuben County is working as
intended and designed. Police agencies are tunneling people through
at their
discretion and control. Punishment is sought and demanded.
Communities of color are disproportionally affected, and Black people
are exceptionally
harmed.
A 2020 ACLU report found Black people in New York state were
2.6 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana than white
people. In Steuben County, Black people were 19.1 times
more likely to be arrested
for marijuana than white people. Steuben County ranked number
one in the state for the greatest racial disparity in marijuana
arrests. The New
York State Division of Criminal Justice Services reports
Black people in Steuben County account for 9% of arrests, 14% of felony
arrests, and
22% of those sentenced to prison, despite comprising 1% of
the population. There is no available data for people who
are ticketed,
detained without
arrest, or stopped and let go.
With and without intention, police agencies perpetuate repression
of Black people. Systemic racism is inextricably linked
to policing in this community. Racial profiling, police harassment
and abuse are pervasive.
The criminal justice system intrinsically functions this
way, and it is working well.
Steuben County ranked number one in NYS for the greatest racial
disparity in marijuana arrests.
From the ACLU report Marijuana
Arrests by the Numbers.
Why Vote for Howie Hawkins
Letter to the editor by Darin Robbins. "The status quo is no longer
possible. We cannot have business as usual when the country appears to
be tearing apart. It is time for
innovative ideas and policies that empower everyone, not creeping
fascism or compromise
that perpetuate our problems. Nothing that progressives want
will ever happen in a Biden administration, and nothing will
change if progressives
always automatically vote Democrat. In the name of getting rid
of a Republican incumbent, progressives are cajoled into compromising
their vote and insuring
that they will always be disappointed. Real progressive issues
and structural change can only be guaranteed with a political
party independent of corporate
money and the reproduction of the status quo. Howie Hawkins,
the Green Party, and the Green New Deal is what this nation needs
right now. Howie
Hawkins is a working class candidate with an encyclopedic knowledge
of the issues. The Green Party takes no corporate money and has
always been
consistent on issues of peace, ecology, justice, and democracy.
The Green New Deal promotes an Economic Bill of Rights and a
Just Transition to
a sustainable future. A vote for Howie is not only for a new
president, it is also a vote for the ballot status of the Green
Party in New York
to continue to be a real alternative for voters. Now is the time
to vote our hopes and not our fears, for nothing will change
if we keep choosing
the lesser evil."
Community Control of the Police
We are working to participate in the police reform process being conducted
by Steuben County and the City of Corning. See Police
Reform and Reinvention Collaborative. Our efforts build on our
long-standing support for police reform. In 2016 the Steuben
County Green Party voted to endorse the Community Control Platform
adopted by the Black
Lives Matter movement. The platform calls for direct democratic
community control of local, state, and federal law enforcement
agencies. Click
here for the SCGP resolution. Hundreds
marched for Black Lives Matter in Corning on June 6, 2020. Click
here for an essay, "Who Polices the Police," by Terry Gerych,
a Green Party member from Bath.
Promoting Participatory Budgeting
We are working to promote participatory
budgeting in the City of Corning. Click
here to download and sign a petition calling for the City to set
up a participatory budgeting process. A second, related petition,
which grows out of our work on the budgeting referendum, is
for a referendum to add a formal referendum process to the
City Charter. Click
here to download and sign the referendum process petition. The petitions
have been developed by Darin Robbins, a Green Party member
from Corning. Return completed petitions to Darin, 78 Sterling
Street, Corning, NY
14830. Click
here for more
information about participatory budgeting and how it relates to
police reform.
Challenging New York's Restrictive Ballot Access Rules
The Green Party of New York and the Libertarian Party of New York filed
a Federal lawsuit on July 27, 2020 in the Southern District of New York
to invalidate restrictive ballot access provisions passed as a rider to
the FY2021 New York State Budget. Read
GPNY press release. "Whatever justification they may use for
it, the choice by Gov. Cuomo and the Legislature to create new and onerous
ballot-access thresholds this year is clearly designed to eliminate any
threat of competition, preserve the state's anemic and uncompetitive electoral
system, and satisfy their corporate paymasters. The Green Party stands
with all other affected political parties, as well as the voters of New
York State, who deserve a robust and expansive democracy," said Peter
LaVenia, co-chair of the GPNY.
Supporting the Hawkins/Walker Campaign
The Steuben Greens are working to support the presidential campaign of
Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker. They were nominated by the
Green Party of the United States at its
online convention on July 11, 2020. For info, visit https://howiehawkins.us/
Supporting New York Green Party Candidates in 2020
We are working to support the eleven Green
Party candidates running in New York State this year for Congress,
State Senate and
State Assembly. For more information about their campaigns, visit http://www.gpny.org/2020_candidates .
Steuben Greens Annual Picnic, Aug. 26, 2020
Annual picnic with social distancing. Meet at the west side of Depot
Park in Hammondsport for boat rides at Noon. Picnic in the pavilion at
Champlin Beach on Keuka Lake at 1:30 pm. Bring your own food and beverages. Click
here to RSVP.
Meet Corning Green Party Candidates, Oct. 29, 2019
Meet Elizabeth Whitehouse for Corning
City Mayor and Jamie Cooney for Corning Town Council. Tuesday,
October 29, 2019 at 5 PM – 7 PM, 51 Bridge St, Corning. Learn about
their campaigns and how you can help get out
the vote in
the days leading
up to Election Day, Nov. 5. Refreshments.
Click here to RSVP.
Green Party Retains Ballot Status for Four More Years
Thanks to the more than 95,000 people who voted for our gubernatorial
candidate Howie Hawkins in the 2018 general election, the Green
Party of New York has retained ballot status for the next four
years. The Green Party will be the fifth party on the ballot.
Many thanks to our statewide candidaites Howie Hawkins for Governor, Jia
Lee for Lieutenant Governor, Mark Dunlea for Comptroller and
Michael H. Sussman for Attorney General
for their excellent campaigns.
Howie Hawkins in Watkins Glen
Regional Green Party Meeting, Sat., Aug. 4, Watkins Glen
State Park
The Steuben Greens hosted a regional Green Party meeting on Saturday,
August 4, 2018 in Watkins Glen State Park. More info on
Facebook
.
Steuben County Green Party Platform
On June 18, 2018 we adopted a platform proposing ways in which we can achieve greater democracy in Steuben County . Click here to check out our platform.
Steuben Green Party 2018 Annual Meeting
The Steuben County Green Party held its 2018 annual meeting May 21, 2016
in Corning.
Steuben Greens Endorse BLM Community Control Platform
At our August 15, 2016 meeting, the Steuben County Green Party voted
to endorse the Community Control Platform adopted by the Black
Lives Matter
movement. The platform calls for direct democratic community control
of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. Click
here for
the GPSC resolution. Click
here for more information
about the Black Lives Matter Community Control Platform.
Steuben Greens Program on Cooperatives, May 25, Corning
The Steuben County Green Party presented a documentary and
workshop on cooperatives on May 25, 2016 at the Southeast Steuben
County Library in Corning. The event began with the documentary
Own
The Change, showing existing businesses that are worker owned
and democratically managed. The film was followed
by a workshop on how to develop cooperatives in our community
facilitated through Skype by Frank Cetera. Frank is the
NYS Senior Business Advisor with the Onondaga Small Business Development
Center at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse.
Steuben Green Party 2016 Annual Meeting
The Steuben County Green Party held its 2016 annual meeting
May 25, 2016 in Corning.
March against Monsanto and Rally for Local Food, May 21, Corning
The Steuben County Green Party joined other local groups in
sponsoring a March and Rally against Monsanto in Corning on May
21, 2016. We marched along Denison Parkway and rallied in Canfield
Park. The event was part of the worldwide March against Monsanto
events. Click
here for an excellent video of the Corning march and rally
by Heriberto Rodriguez.
Developing Community Solar in Steuben County
The Steuben Greens sponsored a presentation and discussion
of what is involved in developing community solar programs
in Steuben
County
by Michael Straight from NYSERDA in Corning on July 28, 2015, at
Susan Donderewicz's farm in Savona, New York. Before the presentation
Susan gave a tour of her apple, asparagus, garlic and hops
plantings.
Steuben Green Party 2015 Annual Meeting
The Steuben County Green Party
held its 2015 annual meeting July 28, 2015 in Savona.
National Green Party 2015 Annual Meeting, July 23-26, St. Louis
The Annual Meeting of the national Green Party in St. Louis
July 23-26 is an opportunity to meet Greens from all over the
country who are working to build the independent political movement
to create a world that works for all of us!
There will be workshops on producing videos, running for office,
using online tools, student organizing, framing issues, promoting
the Green New Deal and more. There will be a field
trip to Ferguson Missouri to build solidarity with the
founders of the Black Lives Movement. Programs will run from Thursday
afternoon through
Sunday morning (July 23-26), with most events scheduled for Friday
and Saturday. For schedule and registration information,
go to http://2015greenpartyconvention.org/
Darin Robbins Announces Candidacy for Mayor of Corning in 2015
Darin Robbins has announced he will challenge Corning Mayor Frank
Negri again and seek the Green Party nomination. Darin is quoted
in an article in the Corning Leader announcing his campaign, "The
primary theme of my campaign is that the residents of Corning are
the co-owners of the city, and we should have policies that reflect
that. 'My platform is focused on promoting direct democracy and
resiliency to external economic and environmental change. This
includes development and support of worker owned cooperative businesses,
local energy production through renewable solar and wind power,
and giving residents the chance to have a direct say in how some
of their taxes are allocated in the city budget." Corning
Leader, March 4, 2015. For more information about Darin's campaign, click
here.
Participatory Democracy Petitions for the City of Corning
Darin Robbins has developed two petitions for referenda for amendments
to the Corning City Charter. The first petition is for a referendum
to set up a participatory budgeting process. The second petition,
which grows out of the work on the budgeting referendum, is for
a referendum to add a formal referendum process to the City Charter.
To sign the referendum process petition online, click
here. To sign the participatory budgeting petition online, click
here. Click here to download
a PDF of the participatory budgeting petition. Click
here to download a PDF of the referendum process petition.
Return completed petitions to Darin Robbins, 78 Sterling Street,
Corning, NY 14830.
Howie Hawkins 2014 Gubernatorial Campaign
Howie Hawkins ran for governor for a second time on the Green
Party ticket.“The historic role of third parties is to bring
issue to the floor and because they start to get votes, the major
parties pick them up,” Hawkins said a press conference. “Our
goal is really, not to influence the major parties, but to replace
them. Our political system is so bought and paid for by the one
percent that we really need to start electing our own people.” See Hawkins
to run again on Green Party line, Ithaca Journal,
April 9, 2014.
Joe Duffy for Mayor of Hornell in 2013
Joe Duffy was the Green Party candidate for mayor of the City
of Hornell in 2013. Joe received 440 votes in a two way race against
Democrat Shawn Hogan, who received 818 votes, according to the Steuben
County 2013 official election results.
Darin Robbins for Mayor of Corning in 2013
Darin Robbins was the Green Party candidate for mayor of the City
of Corning in 2013. Darin received 357 votes in a two way race
against Frank Negri who received 1296 votes on the Republican,
Conservative and Independence lines, according to the Steuben
County 2013 official election results.
March Against Monsanto, May 2013, Corning
Elmira-Corning March Against Monsanto
In solidarity with the national action against Monsanto,
the Steuben Greens participated in the March Against Monsanto
in Corning on May 25. We marched and had a community supper
to share information about the dangers of GMOs and the patenting
of seeds.
The Steuben Greens support the Occupy movement. Click
here to read our statement in support. A number of our members
in the Corning area are participating in the Occupy Corning/Elmira
general assemblies. Get updates about Occupy Corning/Elmira activities
on the group's Facebook
page. Click
here for a video of Darin Robbins, a Green in Corning, speaking
about the Occupy movement.
State and National Green Party Candidates
Members of the Steuben County Green Party worked in 2012 for Jill
Stein's campaign for President of the United State and Colia Clark's
campaign for US Senate from New York.
Colia Clark for US Senate from New York in Corning 2012
Colia Clark, the Green Party candidate for US Senate from New
York came to Corning on May 1, 2012 and spoke at three Occupy events.
The events received widespread press coverage, including: WENY (ABC
affiliate), WETM (NBC
affiliate), the Corning
Leader, the Elmira Star-Gazette and YNN,
most of which featured Colia's participation.
A long time civil rights, peace and women's rights activist,
Colia received GPNYS's nomination as the party's 2012 US Senate
candidate in March. Colia was the Green Party nominee for U.S.
Senate in 2010 for the seat presently held by Chuck Schumer. She
is a chair of Grandmothers for the Release of Mumia Abu Jamal.
During the Civil Rights era, Colia was a Special Assistant to Medgar
W. Evers, field Secretary for the NAACP. She later joined the Mississippi
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) doing voter registration
work. Now a resident of Manhattan, Colia was the founder and Coordinator
for Poor Women Against Vietnam War, and the former coordinator
of the Social Justice Center in Albany.
Preparing a Steuben County Green Party Platform
We are working to prepare a Green Party platform for Steuben County.
Please email info@steubengreens.org if you would like to contribute
your ideas.
2011 Election Results
The Steuben Greens endorsed Joe Duffy's campaign for 10 Ward Alderman
in the City of Hornell. Joe received 36% of the vote in a two way
race. Good coverage of the race in the Hornell Tribune, Carbone,
Duffy running for 10th ward alderman position.
Area Greens Host GP-US Annual Meeting at NY Green Fest 2011
NY Green Fest 2011 was held in conjunction with the annual national
meeting of the Green Party of the United States. Both events were
held Aug. 5-7, 2011, at Alfred University in Alfred, NY. NY Green
Fest was organized by the Allegany and Steuben County Green parties.
Steuben Greens Darin Robbins and Joe Duffy spoke at the event.
Darin spoke on Courting
the Anarchist Vote: Finding the Common Denominator of Autonomy,
and Joe spoke at the press conference of Green candidates.
The Green Fest program included more than 30 workshops on politics,
energy, media and ecology, four forums and great music on our solar
stage. Many of these programs are available on videos posted
on the Green Fest website. Presenters included Elizabeth May,
Canada's first elected Green Party member of Parliament, David
Korten, author of Corporations will Rule the World and co-founder
of YES! Magazine, Tina Clarke from the Transition Towns Movement,
David Cobb, 2004 Green nominee for President, Virginia Rasmussen
from the Program for Corporations Law and Democracy (POCLAD), Gay
Nicholson from Sustainable Tompkins, and Richard Grossman from
Frack Free Catskills.
NY State Green Party Wins 2010 Victory, Reclaims Ballot Line
The more than 58,000 votes cast for Howie Hawkins and Gloria Mattera
have secured the Green Party a ballot line for the next four years.
Support for all the Green candidates was strong. Unofficial figures
show Comptroller candidate Julia Willebrand receiving almost 98,000
votes, and US Senate candidates Colia Clarke and Cecile Lawrence
receiving about 40,000 and 34,000 votes respectively. Each of our
candidates came in third in their races..
"This is the best showing ever for statewide Green Party
candidates. It is the culmination of months of hard work on the
part of many party members, and the candidates themselves. Voters
are fed up with Democrats and Republicans taking their votes for
granted, and are open to hearing ideas from a party not beholden
to Wall St. and special interests. Howie Hawkins campaigned tirelessly
to promote the idea of a Green New Deal, funded by progressive
taxation on the wealthy, and using the stock transfer tax we already
collect to fill the budget gap. Voters who heard the message understood
that Howie's platform made sense, and that it's the austerity plans
of Cuomo and Paladino that are nonsense," said Peter LaVenia,
co-chair of the NY State Green Party.
"This is a building block for the future. We are going to
use this victory to elect Greens statewide, starting at the local
level and moving on up to the state," stated Eric Jones, co-chair
of the NYS Green Party.
Howie Hawkins on the Economics of Hydrofracking
Howie Hawkins, the 2010 Green Party candidate for governor of
New York spoke at Pollywogg Holler in Allegany County on August.
8, 2010, about hydrofracking and his campaign.
Greens at the 2010 EPA Hearing in Binghamton
Susan Donderewicz from the Steuben Greens at the anti-drilling
rally outside the EPA hearings in Binghamton on Sept. 15, 2010,
with Green gubernatorial candidate Howie Hawkins and hydrofracking
activists from across the state. Photos by Joe Armstrong.
Green Party Candidates Call for Ban on Hydrofracking
"We're for a ban on hydrofracking because there are better
options for energy. What this really does is privatize the cost
and socialize the risk," said Howie Hawkins, Green Party Candidate
for Governor said in Vestal on June 30. Cecile Lawrence, Green
Party candidate for US Senate, said organizing for a ban on hydrofracking
is a key issue for her campaign. Click
for link to WICZ Video.
Greens Nominate Hawkins, Mattera, Clark, Lawrence and Willebrand
Syracuse labor activist Howie
Hawkins was nominated for Governor and Gloria Mattera, a
long time peace activist from Brooklyn, was nominated for Lt.
Governor at the Green Party state convention in Albany May 15,
2010. Colia Clark was nominated for the US Senate seat presently
held by Chuck Schumer. Cecile Lawrence was picked to fill out
the Senate seat previously held by Hillary Clinton. Julia Willebrand
from Manhattan, who received amost 118,000 votes for Comptroller
four years ago, was chosen to run for comptroller again. Videos
of the nominating speeches of the candidates are at www.gpnys.org.
Steuben Greens support Gas Drilling Moratorium Legislation
The Steuben County Green Party has issued a memorandum in support
of the Englebright (A10490)/Addabbo (S7592) bill that would establish
a moratorium on conducting hydraulic fracturing for the extraction
of natural gas or oil in New York State until 120 days after the
EPA finalizes a report on the effects of hydraulic fracturing on
groundwater and freshwater supplies. Click
here to read our memorandum.
Steuben Greens on YouTube
Meet members of the Steuben Greens on YouTube talking about politics
and the Green Party. Recorded at our April 28, 2010 meeting in
Bath.
Acting on our concerns about the extensive environmental and health
damages that are likely to be caused by drilling gas wells in the
Marcellus Shale if horizontal drilling and high pressure hydrofracturing
are allowed in New York State, the Steuben County Green Party adopted
a resolution November 16, 2009, calling on the state legislature
to adopt a ban on permitting gas wells that use these techniques.
In so doing, the party joins the Green Party of New York and 70
other groups across New York State calling for such a ban.
The resolution lists the reasons why the party is calling for a
ban:
Because of our concerns that environmental and health damages
lasting long beyond our lifetimes will extend across New York
State if gas drilling is permitted using horizontal drilling
and high pressure hydrofracturing,
Because damaging economic consequences to residential and
commercial property values, tourism, agriculture, forestry, wineries,
colleges and universities will result from damaging health effects,
Because the infrastructure costs of building and repairing
roads, water treatment facilities, and other public services
needed by the gas drilling industry will exceed the economic
benefit to local communities,
Because New York State has no laws restricting industrial
scale water withdrawals from our rivers, lakes and aquifers,
Because the citizens of New York are not protected from the
toxic effects of oil and gas drilling by Federal and New York
State environmental laws that apply to other industries,
Because the subsidies granted to oil and gas drilling promote
the use of fossil fuels and undermine the development of conservation,
efficiency, and renewable energy sources, and
Because the global warming effects of the methane in natural
gas are many times greater than the global warming effects of
carbon dioxide,
Be it resolved that the Steuben County Green Party calls on
the New York State legislature to adopt a ban on permitting gas
wells that use horizontal drilling and hydro-fracturing to release
gas from tight sand and shale formations.
Green Party candidates in New York had some of their best results
ever this year. Mary Jo Long who won re-election to a seat on the
Town Board of Afton in Chenango County. Lynne Serpe, Howie Hawkins
and Joe Duffy had excellent showings in their races for NYC Council,
Syracuse City Council and Mayor of the City of Hornell. They won
44%, 41% and 34% of the vote in their respective races. Click
here for non-offical returns for all NYS Green Party Candidates.
Reconsidering the Property Tax, Thurs., June 18, Bath
A public forum considering whether taxes based on property are
the best way to raise public money was held Thursday, June 18.
The forum is one of a series of public programs on the local economy
sponsored by the Steuben County Green Party. This year’s
program, entitled “How Property Tax Has Shaped Our Economy
(and look at the shape we’re in)," was introduced by
Susan Donderewicz, a Green Party member from Savona. We discussed
problems inherent in the property tax and alternatives to it. Click
here to read the text of Susan's remarks.
Presentation on Living Green
Suzanne Miller from Hornell spoke about simple green lifestyle
changes you can make at the May 2009 meeting of the Steuben County
Green Party. in Hornell. She described simple lifestyle changes
you can make to reduce your carbon foot print.
Presentation on Humanitarian Mission to Gaza by Local Doctor
On March 16, 2009, the Steuben Greens and the Hornell Alfred Unitarian
Universalist Society sponsored a presentation in Hornell by Dr.
Ismail Mehr about his recent humanitarian mission to Gaza. Dr.
Mehr led a team of 9 physicians and 2 non-medical personnel on
a ten day medical mission to Gaza in February 2009. Dr. Mehr is
an anesthesiologist at St. James Mercy Hospital in Hornell. The
trip was sponsored by the Islamic Medical Association of North
America. It was the first US medical mission to Gaza this year.
Photo from the Buffalo
News. For more information about Dr. Mehr's trip, visit www.ammgaza.com
Showing of Rural Impact
On Nov. 5, 2008, the Steuben Greens joined with the Bath Peace
and Justice Group to sponsor a showing of a documentary film on
the impacts of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in
Colorado by Two Cent Films and Crestone Media. The documentary
features Dr. Theo Colborn, an environmental health analyst who
has studied the chemicals used by drilling companies in their drilling
and hydraulic fracturing fluids. Dr. Colborn's website, http://www.endocrinedisruption.com/,
gives the results of her studies of the health effects of the products
and chemicals used in drilling, fracturing (frac'ing, or stimulation),
recovery and delivery of natural gas. She has analyzed chemicals
used by gas drilling companies in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico,
Washington and Wyoming. Her research provides a glimpse at the
patterns of possible health hazards for those living in proximity
to gas development.
Building Bath’s Local Economy
On Thursday, May 29, 2008, the Steuben Greens sponsored a panel
discussion on grassroots strategies for building Bath’s local
economy. Three Green Party members from the Bath-Corning area,
Susan Donderewicz, Darin Robbins and Rachel Treichler, discussed
how developing a more community-based, decentralized local economy
could change Bath. The speakers looked at Bath’s economy
today and showed how a micro-lending program, a local currency,
local food production, promotion of local businesses, removing
regulatory barriers and alternative healthcare, schooling and transportation
systems could create more sustainable ways to live in Bath as the
world economy changes.
Citizen Power Alliance
The Steuben Greens have joined the Citizen
Power Alliance. The Citizen Power Alliance is a coalition
of independent groups organized to promote sound energy and environmental
policy. The mission of CPA is to hold public officials and regulators
accountable, while seeking the protection of the public interest.
The group belives that ecological preservation requires fiscal
responsibility and viable technological solutions.