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Here's website w/NY Times article on the 2 NY State Ballot initiatives:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/nyregion/02ballot.html

Hope you all voted "YES"! :) yK

If Christie has won then .....super unfortunate considering he brought a neo-confederate in to support his campaign. One can only assume he agrees with Joe Wilsons' views....which ...God help us...

http://elections.nytimes.com/2009/results/index.html

if you watch this map of voting polls by districts, it seems that the projects elected thompson. red hook, east new york, bronx are blue, while manhattan and the more rich part of brooklyn is red. what can you make of it?

Agree w/commentor #54 (Marcia, Wh.Plns)Almost NO discussion re: 20009 NYS Ballot Initiatives:
Vote YES on both ballot initiatives, per environmental advocates & prison-reform advocates.

Amendment to Section 1 of Article 14 of the State Constitution (summary: trade 6-acres of non-prime forest preserve parkland for 43-acres of much better, "large, unspoiled swath of wilderness" in Adirondack Park. This specific initiative is broadly applauded by many environmental advocates.)... If you voted "YES", you supported further preservation of a larger piece of Adirondack Park.

Amendment to Section 24 of Article 3 of the State Constitution (summary: "...allow the (NY) State Legislature to draw up a law permitting prisoners to VOLUNTEER at churches, social service groups and other nonprofit organizations"... passage of this amendment "... is supported by many prisoner advocates, who believe such work — as long as it is not compulsory — can be useful.") ... If you voted "YES", you supported "prisoner reform"-minded advocates "(to help) in repaying society, rehabilitating them and re-acclimating them to people in the world." per Assemblyman Jeffrion L. Aubry, a Democrat from Queens and chairman of the Assembly’s Correction Committee

These are quotes from a very useful summary article found in NY Times newspaper, Nov. 1, 2009 by Nicholas Confessore.

Vote YES on both ballot initiatives, per environmental advocates & prison-reform advocates.

Agree, almost NO discussion re: 20009 NYS Ballot Initiatives:
Amendment to Section 1 of Article 14 of the State Constitution (summary: trade 6-acres of non-prime forest preserve parkland for 43-acres of much better, "large, unspoiled swath of wilderness" in Adirondack Park. This specific initiative is broadly applauded by many environmental advocates.)... If you voted "YES", you supported further preservation of a larger piece of Adirondack Park.

Amendment to Section 24 of Article 3 of the State Constitution (summary: "...allow the (NY) State Legislature to draw up a law permitting prisoners to VOLUNTEER at churches, social service groups and other nonprofit organizations"... passage of this amendment "... is supported by many prisoner advocates, who believe such work — as long as it is not compulsory — can be useful.") ... If you voted "YES", you supported "prisoner reform"-minded advocates "(to help) in repaying society, rehabilitating them and re-acclimating them to people in the world." per Assemblyman Jeffrion L. Aubry, a Democrat from Queens and chairman of the Assembly’s Correction Committee

These are quotes from a very useful summary article found in NY Times newspaper, Nov. 1, 2009 by Nicholas Confessore.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/nyregion/18wood.html?pagewanted=2

this polluter is running as a Democrat for town supervisor in the town of stony point in Rockland county, ny

a democrat what??? are u kidding me...

this is an New York Times article on him ... named Peter Muller

So I get into the voting booth and prepare to write in Glen Hockley for Mayor of White Plains out of sheer orneryness, because his opponent is running unopposed. And there, right under the little write-in doors, are TWO state ballot initiatives about which I have heard NOT ONE WORD. One was about ceding public land in the St. Lawrence area to improve the electrical grid, and the other was allowing prisoners to volunteer for non-profit organizations. I don't remember seeing this in either the Times or the Westchester paper, and would have much appreciated having a little background before making up my mind.

#43, Maybe I misread the ballot initiative, but I think Ballot Question #2 was about allowing prisoners to volunteer for not-for-profits and not about creating labor camps. I think this will be good for prisoners and good for the not-for-profits.

And for the Thompson supporters… I posted this in another stream. “Those who stand for nothing will fall for anything” – Alexander Hamilton. You’re voting for Thompson, but what does he stand; do you have any idea what you are falling for?

That guy from Gannet was no more a jouanrlist than I am. He was an obvious Christie supporter, and tried to obviously undermine Dagget, although Brian caught him From Gannet I would expect no more, however.

Me, i'm holding my nose and voting for Corzine. Although he is reprehensive, he is marginally less so than Christie.

Just came from my polling place on west 18th St. There aren't Obama lines but the turnout is not light. Steady is what I'd call it.

What about the Race for Mayor of Hoboken...the third one this year! I don't think I have heard anyone mention it this morning on the show. It seems that the race has some interesting undercurrents dealing with class and ethnic issues and Born & Raised Hobokenites vs. those that have chosen Hoboken as a home more recently.

I voted this morning and there was actually a bit of a wait which is unusual.

Voted against Christie because I just can't bear the idea of voting for a Republican--the party just disgusts me these days!

I decided yesterday to write in a protest vote against Bloomberg, for Charles Montgomery Burns. The people working at my district's booth hadn't dealt with a write-in vote in 18 years of working elections, so we had to consult the election manual. It was an interesting experience, and well worth supporting an excellent satire campaign (burnsformayor.com).

Don't forget Nassau County! I voted for Tom Suozzi, Kathleen Rice and Howard Weitzman ...Republicans had no campaign countywide, anyway and it's important to have Democrats in charge now.

I decided on Sat. to vote for Bloomberg even though I'm still angry at him for bringing the Republican convention to NYC. But after talking with a principal in NYC middle school she convinced me that he's good on education.

40] em from nj
what percent of a factor do you think is local what percent is state?

i have my research where's yours

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2009/10/27/segments/143215

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbott_District

Anon, I was basing my estimate on looking at MLS listings in Essex County. Try it: http://new.gsmls.com/publicsite/

Since I live in a 3 bedroom 1.5 bath house in Essex County and pay about 7,200 in taxes, I'd say you're really getting screwed. Maybe you should ask for a reassessment. Perhaps you're leaving out some important information -- lot size, prime location, overall square footage.

In general I agree with you that taxes in Essex County, and in NJ in general, are ridiculous. They should be much lower. If you lived anywhere else you would be paying a lot less, but pealing paint aside, I'm sure your house is very nice by most people's standards.

Voted fro Bloomberg, only real candidate

To Anon #31
I agree- skills training and developing a sense of purpose is important. I don't think those skills should be sold for revenue. My reasons are based in civil liberty, but from the perspective of marketplace competition- the prisoners have no competitive advantage other than their willingness to work for less than anyone else. This exploits them as well as potentially affects the greater job market.

I'm a Democrat who voted for Bloomberg twice. I also voted for term limits. I will vote for Thompson today as a result of Bloomberg's heavy-handed treatment of the voters. The fact that Mr Speyer (Of Tishman-Speyer) is one of his best friends and his wishy-washy remarks about the recent J51 ruling indicates to me that he is no friend to the middle and lower class renters in this city.

City Charter: Just remembered Bloomberg will revise the City Charter. He'll put Ron Lauder in charge. This is very worrisome with permanent important repercussions. For that reason I will vote for Thompson.

hjs: while the ridiculous number of municipalities/school districts in nj are certainly a factor in the high taxes here, the abbott ruling/school funding formula plays a huge role. do some your research before commenting with such certainty.

p.s. a comparable home in Connecticut would have real estate taxes nearly HALF mine...NJ taxpayers cannot sustain this trend

Edward: 4 bedrooms with 2.5 baths with peeling paint, oil heat, single car driveway and unfinished basement...have you looked at Essex County taxes lately? (perhaps you may not have noticed but Newark, Oranges, etc., require a lot of support because they have almost NO tax base)

Brian,

As far as I'm concerned, in the race for mayor of NYC, there is only one issue; the name Micheal Bloomberg is NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ON THE BALLOT!!! Nevermind what he has or hasn't done for the city. It has been said time and time again, and it is true, that the citizens of this city voted for a mayoral two term limit, to apply to EVERY SINGLE individual elected to that office, WITHOUT EXCEPTION. This immensely powerful, wealthy, and influential man has muscled his way onto the ballot, obviously and completely disregarding the will of the people. Don't fall for his phony humility. We are not supposed to be considering Mr. Bloomberg for mayor today, therefore I argue that we should not. It is time for us, and him, to move on. He is not our saviour.

Anon, if it's not a mcmansion, what is it?

A lovely 6 bedroom 3 bath Victorian with a current market value of $1,100,000?

25] em from nj

what?! doesn't the state pay for Abbott?
high property taxes result from 500 towns each having their own mayor, superintendent, a guy running each police dept another running each fire dept, everyone with a secretary & other admin staff etc.
i see why the property taxes is so high you don't even know where your money is going

I voted for Gov Corzine and yes on the open space question. I am an advocate for marriage equality, a woman's choice, public school education, expanding open space and accepting stimulus funds for NJ so Corzine was the obvious choice for me.

Does anyone know that Christie worked for John Ashcroft?
Why would you want a person like this in office?
I'm so glad for the Bush administration to be over and I know I am not alone. I do not want to support a person who is to be elected into office that supported anyone in that administration.

I voted for Corzine.

I'm half hoping to see Christie win because he won't be able to do any better than Corzine. If he wins, Christie will not reduce your property taxes. The only thing that would reduce property taxes is regionalizing schools and public services. Most of the high-property-tax-small-population towns have excellent schools, and as much as they complain about their taxes, they don't want to mess with their schools. I don't see Christie having any more luck with that than Corzine.

John from Williamsburg,
I attended a state university in Virginia and all dorm room furniture was built by inmates in the state prison system. It was pretty high quality furniture.
I’m solidly a prisons as punishment kind of guy, but for people who will eventually be released, having a skill is paramount.
As for the others (lifers), there are some otherwise good people who have done some very bad things. I think we should at least allow them an attempt at atonement.

anon
really so every town in NJ has the same property tax bill?

Bill Talon.

I think Bloomberg is a competent & effective mayor, in many ways (411, health initiatives etc...), but he's on the wrong side of the issues that are most important to me.

I Bloomberg sincerely believes that the development that he pushes through is the best thing for the city & its denizens, but he is wrong.

If Thompson had made a point of drawing a distinction between himself and Bloomberg on these issues, he would have had my vote.

Also, if the race were tighter, I might have second thoughts about voting for a third party candidate.

As it is, Rev. Billy best embodies the issues that are most important to me & my family.

voting for Bill Thompson for mayor. I hate the money being spent by Bloomberg to try to buy his office that he shouldn't even be able to run for. Only heard about the ballot issues this morning. Did I sleep through the BL show that covered these? You've done fantastic coverage otherwise.

hjs: not correct, it's a combo of state/county/municipal finances/decision making

Okay, that's it. I'm voting for Daggett. Thank you BL commenters and callers for convincing me.

The high property taxes in NJ are the result of the Supreme Court Abbott District ruling.

I and my wife are voting for Corzine/Weinberg. John Corzine has done as well as anyone would, given the current economic conditions. He's been able to cut the state budget, keep costs down, increased education funding, etc. Property taxes are a result of having some many small municipalities and school districts (over 600!). I don't think Mr. Christie offers any real, new solutions, and I see only problems with how he would address our state's issues.

No on prison labor initiative. Monetizing prison labor is exploitative, no matter who the client. I'm all for prison reform which promotes educational, vocational, professional development, but effort for should be directed elsewhere, not to marketing cheap labor.

Voted at about 6:40 am. No problems.
I voted for Bill Thompson, de Blasio for PubAd, Llu for Cmpt, Luisi for B.P., and Rose for City Council, etc.

more reasons to NOT vote for thompson:
http://www.streetsblog.org/2009/11/02/brooklyn-bus-stop-draws-bigger-crowd-than-thompson-anti-brt-rally/

Just got back from voting at my local fire house, "fired" in a vote for Chris Daggett the independent. He will hopefully send a message
to the main line parties, that NJ voters will not take any more abuse in Taxes, The Economy, better schools, etc...

There was one other person voting at the time.

~John

I just returned from voting in New Jersey and I've never been so torn. I finally made my decision on my drive to the polling location. I'm a registered Democrat but have been swayed to the other side on occasion (definitely not last year)! What I feel most strongly about is that it continues to be a privilege to vote and no matter what side of the fence you're on, it's still important to get out today and exercise your hard won fight to do . And vote I did....I wanted to vote for Corizine because he has made inroads in improving the education system, but there's a fear factor of nothing changing in the next four years relative to NJ's suffocating property taxes. Christie might clear up some aspects of the corrupt state NJ is infamous for, but he has no plan. So who did I vote for, the man with a plan....Daggett!

As a practicing Pagan, I was insulted by your commentator's chuckle over a candidate (who really is a Pagan) being outed as such. I did not expect such bigotry on your show,

I didn't know there were ballot questions, hjs, until I got in the booth...

I live and vote in Washington Heights. We need better voting machines. Lots of delays / problems this morning.

GO BLOOMBERG!

i voted for rev billy. i want bloomberg to win, but could not bring myself to support him after giuliani started campaigning for him. as a far left-y i could not get behind thompson as much as i wanted to, he is socially backward, and a bit of an idiot, he was horrible in the debates, embarrassingly bad. i love bloomberg's bike lanes and environmental efforts. i stared at the levers in the booth and went green. i hope this doesn't turn out to be a nader-esque election and i end up regretting my vote...i'm in brooklyn, clinton hill.

And to agree with #6 (please don’t “SHOUT” next time)
My neighborhood is literally littered with Thompson posters stapled to light post and street signs trumpeting an Obama endorsement—I thought such posters were illegal and considered littering. President Obama endorsed the Democrat for mayor, not Thompson for mayor.

Voting against Bloomberg today, mainly as a referendum on the term limit issue, but also because despite some of the green city stuff he's done which I do like, I didn't vote for him in 01 or 05 so why start now? I can't support his steroidal commercialism and development policies. I don't care for Thompson either though, so here's my question:

What poll margin qualifies an alternate candidate vote as a legitimate protest vote, and not a de facto vote for the favorite?

waiting for the results of the Brian Lehrer unofficial, thoroughly unscientific exit poll to determine if I can afford to vote for Daggett without risking a win for the opportunistic Christie.

NY ballot issues are never talked about

http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/New_York_2009_ballot_measures

Dems down the ticket- If the republicans weren't so obsessed w/ pandering to the religious right, i'd be more prone to do more research and determine the best candidate who understands that higher education is a high priority.

Bloomberg for Mayor
De Blasio for Public Advocate
(and with nose tightly held)
Liu for Comptroller
Markowitz for Borough President
Gonzales for City Council

No on Ballot Question #1 (which was a mistake after learning more on the issue)
Yes on Ballot Question #2

Always voted Democrat, but briefly flirted with the idea of voting for Daggett. However, Obama stumping for Corzine made me re-assess. My vote for Corzine is a direct endorsement of OBAMA. I would like nothing more than a blow out for ALL Democratic candidates nationwide...as a show of support for our President.

anon
FYI your local governments (not the governor)are responsible for your high property taxes

I WILL NOT VOTE FOR BLOOMBERG BECAUSE OF TERMS LIMITS...AND I DO NOT LIKE THE FACT THAT THOMPSON IS FEATURING PRES.OBAMA ON HIS MAILINGS/HANDOUT...BECAUSE HE DID NOT ENDORSE HIM...MAYBE I WILL STAY HOME.

As a primary-race supporter of Mark Winston Griffith for the city council race, I was pleased to see that he's still on the ballot, on the Working Families party line.

I hope people who supported him in the past, and those who oppose incumbent Al Vann will find Mark's check box over to the right on line E.

Voted this morning for Mike Bloomberg. He has done a great job and regardless of how I feel about term limits, Bill Thompson has not done a good job in his 2 city posts, nor does he have any detailed plans for what he going to do better:

'The state has one of the most progressive income tax structures, so that residents earning more than $250,000 in 2007 (the last year data are available) constituted just 3.9% of all households but paid 59% of state income taxes. And these folks will pay an even bigger share of the burden this year because Corzine raised their tax rates and cut some of their deductions.'

We also have the highest property taxes in the nation.

Life long Dem, but going out today to protest vote for Daggett. It has nothing to do with Obama, everything to do with sending a mesage.

I am going to vote for William Thompson for mayor, because for me Bloomberg's subversion of the democratic proccess trumps all other issues.

Have you covered any of the local county races? Nassau County executive Tom Suozzi is running for another term, for example.