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Rally in support of Iran Deal at Hanna’s Office

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A Press conference and rally will be held on Wednesday August 26 at Noon in front of Representative Richard Hanna's office at 49 Court St., Binghamton.  The purpose of this rally is to urge his support for the Iran Nuclear Deal.  Currently he is planning to vote no.
 
Last month, the United States and its P5+1 partners reached a historic agreement with Iran that aims to curb Iran's development of nuclear weapons while allowing the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. It supports a diplomatic initiative that has already begun and will curb the possibility of nuclear action.
 
We are encouraging Congress not to take any actions that could undermine this agreement. Instead, in the words of Bishop Cantú, we "urge Congress to endorse the result of these intense negotiations because the alternative leads toward armed conflict, an outcome of profound concern to the Church."

 

Photo credit by Robert C. Johnston (archival)

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NEW YORK WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE – 1917-2017

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Sponsored by the New York Cultural Heritage Tourism Network
In conjunction with its Women’s Rights & Suffrage Committee

A conference to provide awareness, stimulate interest and nurture partnerships in preparation for the
Centennial Celebration of women’s right to vote in New York State & to explore cultural heritage tourism opportunities for 2017

Holiday Inn – Waterloo/Seneca Falls
2468 NYS Route 414
Waterloo, NY 13165
Thursday, October 1, 2015 – 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

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Police Union Misinforming Residents and Rank and File Members About Police Modernization Law

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An Attempt to Scare Residents and Prevent Passage of the Bill?

Binghamton, NY — Misinformation is being spread by the Police Benevolent Association (PBA), the police union, about the content of the Police Modernization Law being considered by the Binghamton City Council.  The public, including many human services and advocacy organizations and religious leaders, has demonstrated strong support for this legislation, and it has the support of a majority of city council members.  This week, however, a memo from the PBA was circulated among the rank and file members, residents and business owners on Binghamton’s West Side stating that if the law is passed, police will no longer be able to respond to information provided by the victim of a crime and will no longer be able to present suspects to crime victims for identification.  These statements are completely false and this memo appears to be an unfortunate scare tactic intended to shift public support away from passage of the law.

In addition to the memo, it has been reported that some Binghamton police officers are telling residents that the law will require them, during minor traffic stops, to ask intrusive questions about their religion and sexual orientation. These statements are also completely untrue.  The law does not require the police to ask anyone about anything.  

What the law does say is that racial profiling and bias-based policing are wrong and illegal and that a person's race alone cannot be used to assign suspicion.  The law still allows police to use race as part of the description of a suspect as long as they have probable cause to believe that the suspect (of that particular race) is linked to specific illegal activity.  What the law does do is establish the following priorities: tracking, analysis and reporting of data collected during standard police investigations; cultural competency and anti-bias training for our officers; and development of a plan to diversify the police force.  And it allows the specific plans for implementation of these priorities to be developed over 6 months, through dialogue and cooperation among the police, city leaders, and the community.  These are all proactive and positive measures to provide our officers the resources and support they need to build trust between the police and residents of color in our community and to prevent a racially charged tragedy, like we’ve seen in the national headlines, from happening in our city.

The Police Administration has stated on multiple occasions that the Binghamton police do not racially profile.  We applaud their commitment to fairness and justice, and ask: if they do not racially profile, why are they so opposed to a law making racial profiling illegal?

The current draft of the legislation can be found here on the City of Binghamton website: http://www.binghamton-ny.gov/city-council-business-meeting-61 or at tinyurl.com/PoliceModernizationAct.

There will be a Public Hearing on the Police Modernization Law (LL15-2) on Wednesday, August 19, 2015 at 6:30pm in City Council Chambers.

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DPA: Two New Murals on Glenwood Ave

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Two murals created at Mural Fest and used here on a boarded up building as part of a blight mitigation project funded by the Chenango Co Arts Council, NYS Decentralization grant and the Hoyt Foundation. The Dept of Public Art, a group of volunteers dedicated to public art, are placing original murals on boarded up properties in Binghamton, in an attempt to bring attention to buildings that can be re-purposed and to bring art to neighborhoods with blighted properties. Three other properties have been chosen for new murals and artists may submit proposals by August 19th. Info binghamtonbridgeATgmail.com.

Photo Left mural panel  painted by Jesse Ryan, and on the right by Mural Arts Students, Bracken, Zizak and Yetsko.

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Brother Sun: : A Free Concert for Johnson City

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First Presbyterian Church of Johnson City would like to invite you to an extraordinary event: A Free Concert for Johnson City on Sunday, September 27th featuring Brother Sun. Fusing folk, Americana, blues, pop, jazz, rock, and a cappella singing, Brother Sun is an explosion of musical diversity and harmony, in the finest of male singing traditions.

After viewing the February 10, 2015 Press and Sun Bulletin article, Johnson City and Binghamton in Top 10 Most Dangerous Places in NY, the congregation decided to raise hope and fellowship within our community. Brother Sun compositions promote love, social justice, and faith in humanity, “where unsung heroes struggle and sometimes win the daily battles of life and love.” The event is totally free, so please invite family, co-workers, and friends.

First Presbyterian Church of Johnson City is covering the first $500 of the $2500 cost of the event. We are asking Johnson City business owners to contribute a $500 match to offset expenses in exchange for a placard demonstrating your donation in support of the Johnson City community.

If you are able to contribute to this event in any way, please contact Diane Olmstead immediately at 759-0467.

The following sponsorships are also available:

$400                Advertising in television, radio, and print media
$300                Lodging for the three musicians
$200                Printing of posters and flyers for distribution
$100                A meal for performers and workers the day of the event

 

 

We hope you will join us in spirit and in person for the this wonderful opportunity to deliver a message to those              residing and working in the Johnson City and Binghamton area that we are still a neighborhood of caring people.

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Year Round Farmer’s Market

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Photo: proposed farmer's market building, architectural drawing

County Exec Debbie Preston has declared the land behind the Cooperative Extension "the perfect place" for a year round farmer's market, but once again she is putting lipstick on a pig. The Cooperative Extension site was a late substitution when the Otsiningo Park location was held up due to finds from the archaeological dig on the site. But neither site is available by walking and the Cooperative Extension site is really only accessible by car, and there are not that many parking spaces at that. In a town that is a food desert in many places, and has many abandoned lots and underused buildings  a more sustainable location could have been available. Several alternative sites come to mind:  Binghamton Plaza, or opposite in the Colonial Plaza where the County Land Bank has taken possession. Or, the old Lumber Yard site off of Lester Ave. across from CFJ Park which has plenty of space, is in the middle of everything, on two bus lines, and with the development currently planned for Johnson City this would fit right in.  Even more promising now that the EJ Victory Building has been secured by the County Land Bank.

But, the county was in danger of losing the money due to a deadline, so they grabbed the Cooperative Extension site.

Sustainability was a buzzword for the Ryan Administration but you won't hear it in the halls of either the county or the city. Sustainability means that we don't rely on automobiles if there are alternatives, that we encourage safe walking and biking. Also, that re-claims land or buildings not being utilized. If you have traveled up Front St. lately you know that the traffic is fierce and that there are no sidewalks or bike paths. Not sustainable to say the least.

Another missed opportunity to do the right thing. And a mistake we will be living with for a long time.

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DON’T LET IT HAPPEN HERE

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We are here in Binghamton near the hub of the extensive rail network that slices through our communities, near our homes and schools to condemn the rundown of the rail system and its use to transport dangerous materials so close to our homes and schools, endangering the lives of our children, the public and rail workers. We are demanding better safety for all. Rail fatalities are escalating out of control, said the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) back in 2008. There were 19 rail deaths that year. The accidents, deaths, and injuries have been increasing ever since. Since 2010, there were 87 reported rail accidents, such as derailments and collisions; then last week the derailment and fire in Tennessee forced the evacuation of over 5,000 and exposed many to the flammable liquid chemical Acrylonitrile. Here in Broome County, where more than 60% of the population lives within two miles of track, mandatory evacuation, chemical exposures and deaths could be much higher in the event of such an accident in this area. • Causes – collisions, derailments, broken rails, braking failures, bridge collapses, inadequate maintenance, ‘jumped the tracks’, and engineer fatigue are among the causes cited by government agencies, such as the National Transportation and Safety Board. Railroad workers have long been fighting against the rail industry's push for: reduction in crew size, general cut-backs in staffing, reduced inspections of track and equipment, operation of excessively long and heavy trains, draconian attendance policies that limit time off work, reduced time off between work shifts, and other unsafe practices. • Impacts – deaths, injuries, massive fires, mass evacuations, highway closures, transportation disruption. • Threats to health and the environment. Many of these trains are carrying hazardous materials. We in the community are not informed of what is passing our homes and schools. In the period since 2000, the following materials have escaped from trains involved in accidents: liquid fertilizer, municipal waste, coal, ore, asphalt, chlorine, ammonia, crude oil, diesel fuel, argon gas, magnetite, vinyl chloride, crude oil from Bakken shale (STOP THE OIL TRAINS!), napthalene, and other unspecified hazardous materials. We need the following: • The full disclosure of the Broome County Health Dept. and Broome County Emergency Services evacuation and treatment plans in case of a rail emergency. • The full disclosure by all railroads passing through Broome County of their insurance coverage in the case of such accidents. • The immediate infrastructure repair of railroad structures that are controlled by the Industrial Development Authority, especially but not limited to walkways and underpasses. • We have a right to know what materials, such as dangerous and hazardous waste, pass through our community. Such information should be regularly announced in local media. • The public should be consulted on the use of this area for transporting dangerous materials. • Rail companies should recognize the Railroad Workers themselves as leaders in the implementation of health and safety standards to be paid by the companies • The enforcement and appropriate fines from OSHA, Dept. of Labor & the EPA when RR companies are found in violation of regulations. • We call on public re-investment in rail systems to provide a safe, reliable system of transportation for the public. Whatever happened to the Bullet train?? Citizens for Train Safety Contact Information: Richard Sprout, Sproutr@upstate.edu, 607-238-6892

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Redlining to Riots

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This is a great article from the Washington Spectator, a news and analysis newsletter. Read and subscribe!

A pattern has emerged—in Oakland, New York, Cleveland, Baltimore, the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, and beyond. Police claiming to feel threatened kill unarmed black men. Protests follow, sometimes including violence. The Department of Justice finds a pattern and practice of racially-biased policing. The city agrees to train officers not to use excessive force, encourage sensitivity, prohibit racial profiling. These reforms are all necessary and important, but ignore an obvious reality that the protests are not really (or primarily) about policing.

In racially isolated neighborhoods where jobs are few and transportation to job-rich areas is absent, where poverty rates are high and educational levels are low, where petty misbehavior and more serious crime abound, young men and cops develop the worst expectations of each other, leading to predictable confrontations.

In 1968, following more than 100 urban riots nationwide, almost all in response to police brutality or killing by police, a presidential commission concluded that “[o]ur nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal” and that “[s]egregation and poverty have created in the racial ghetto a destructive environment totally unknown to most white Americans.” The Kerner Commission added that “[w]hat white Americans have never fully understood—but what the Negro can never forget—is that white society is deeply implicated in the ghetto. White institutions created it, white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it.”

Read more: http://washingtonspectator.org/how-redlining-led-to-rioting/

Photo by Robert C. Johnston

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CIVIL RIGHTS AND HUMAN SERVICES ORGANIZATIONS ENDORSE POLICE MODERNIZATION LAW

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Broome-Tioga NAACP, Urban League of Broome County, and Broome County YWCA call for passage of the Police Modernization law

June 17, 2015 – Binghamton, NY – Tonight at the Binghamton City Council Business meeting representatives from the Broome Tioga NAACP, the Urban League of Broome County and the Broome County YWCA will read statements during the public comment session endorsing the Police Modernization Law currently being discussed in the Municipal and Public Affairs Committee.

The legislation, drafted by the Binghamton Human Rights Commission, which has been in committee since February, has four objectives: (1) to affirm that racial profiling by law enforcement is illegal in the City of Binghamton; (2) mandate the tracking, analysis and reporting of all traffic and pedestrian stops by the police; (3) mandate comprehensive annual in-service cultural competency, implicit bias, and procedural justice training of local law enforcement; and (4) require the police administration to develop and present a plan to diversify the department.  Once moved to the floor, a series of public hearings will be scheduled.

The right of the Binghamton City Council to pass legislation related to police conduct, such as the Police Modernization Law, is supported by New York State law.  This was confirmed by the New York Civil Liberties Union in a conversation with the Binghamton Human Rights Commission.  They stated “the home rule provision of the New York State Constitution confers broad police power on local governments to legislate to address local affairs and government issues as long as it does not conflict with the Constitution or a state law” and pointed to New York City’s Community Safety Act (a law banning racial profiling by the NYPD) as a precedent.  The Community Safety Act, which was signed into law in January 2014, goes beyond the reforms being proposed by the Police Modernization Law and was endorsed by over 100 human services and civil rights organizations (many of them state-wide and national).

Binghamton City Council’s business meeting starts at 6:30pm in City Council Chambers at Binghamton City Hall.  

* * *

Other Resources

Several organizations have issued statements or guidelines for drafting and passage of laws related to bias-based policing and racial profiling.  For example:

The NAACP and Amnesty International have suggested that such a law should include:

1.    A comprehensive effective ban on racial profiling.
2.    Bans on pre-textual stops (those instances in which police use minor/common traffic violations to inquire about drugs, guns, or other breaches of the law) of pedestrians and motorists.
3.    Criminalizes violations of the racial profiling ban and specify penalties for officers who repeatedly engage in racial profiling.
4.    Mandatory data collection for all stops and all searches (traffic and pedestrian)
5.    Data analysis and publication of the data collected to complaints of racial profiling and regularly publish results of racial profiling investigations.
6.    An independent commission to review and respond to complaints of racial profiling and regularly publish results of racial profiling investigations.
7.    Allows for individuals to seek court orders to stop individual departments from continuing to engage in racial profiling.
8.    Provide funds for periodically retraining officers and installing in-car video cameras for monitoring traffic stops.

The National Urban League has called for:

1.    Widespread use of body cameras and dashboard cameras
2.    Broken windows reform and implementation of 21st century community policing model
3.     Review and revision of police use of deadly force policies
4.     Comprehensive retraining of all police officers
5.    Comprehensive review and strengthening of police hiring standards
6.    Appointment of special prosecutors to investigate police misconduct
7.    Mandatory, uniform FBI reporting and audit of lethal force incidents involving all law enforcement
8.    Creation and audit of national citizen database of complaints against police
9.    Adoption of national police accreditation system for mandatory use by law enforcement to be eligible for federal funds
10.    National comprehensive anti-racial profiling law
 
Quotes

 “A diverse law enforcement agency can better develop relationships with the community it serves, promote trust in the fairness of law enforcement, and facilitate effective policing by encouraging citizen support and cooperation. Law enforcement agencies should seek to hire a diverse workforce.”
 
-U.S. Department of Justice
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/taskforce/Diversity_in_Law_Enforcement_Literature_Review.pdf

“Ban racial profiling by the police… [and] mandate that all police departments collect and report data on a quarterly basis on police shootings, and other deaths in custody, as well as stops, frisks, searches, citations, arrests, and uses of force.”

– American Civil Liberties Union
https://action.aclu.org/secure/DOJ-racial-profiling

 “The NBPA also support legislation that holds the governmental entity, its police department and offending officers liable for violating the civil rights of our citizenry. The NBPA also supports mandated and uniform data collection and analysis to research and abate adverse impact; educate the police and the public and to develop policy and procedures designed to correct and discipline deviance.”

-National Black Police Association
http://www.blackpolice.org/positions.html

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Metro Center Event Yields Lots of Ideas

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Over 100 people stopped by Metro Center Plaza on First Friday to offer their support for a people- centered development in the space. Buskers abounded in the space–musicians, dancers and spontaneous music making. Chalk artists, young and old had a great time decorating the space. Postcards with ideas for the space were filled out and petitions were signed. An excellent video by Markeee can be seen at https://vimeo.com/129963856

IF you want to sign a petition about the Metro Center Plaza go here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/17L1IyG9xD8iUe4F5NwvCh7woCwuPv8AwDWIx5YRypOw/viewform

The top ideas people offered were for a location for music events, a Farmer's Market or crafts fairs, trees, outdoor movies, art and sculpture in the space.

Also popular were  fountains, benches, outdoor performance spaces for music, dance and theatre, outdoor seating for restaurants or coffee shops, gardens or green space. Food trucks and kids' activities were also mentioned. Some unusual suggestions were Astroturfing the space, a chalk maze, a space for meditation, a plexiglass cover for winter events, indoor public space in the MetroCenter Mall, and an underground tunnel for winter use.

The postcards and the petitions will be forwarded to the City and organizers of this planning event will research more proposals for the space.

More photos of the events are on the Dept of Public Art facebook page and this site under image gallery.

 

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