November 12, 2008
ChangeNYC.Org, a new Democratic grassroots political action committee focused on New York City government and neighborhood organizing, launched its website www.changenyc.org this morning.
The website prominently features ChangeNYC.Org's plan to improve New York City government and the first in its series of web commercials called "Morning in New York", aimed at calling attention to the new organization and its objectives.
At the heart of ChangeNYC.Org's extensive plan are initiatives designed to capture the tremendous enthusiasm for politics generated by President-Elect Obama's campaign and to translate that energy into local involvement. To inspire New Yorkers to take the same interest in their own neighborhoods that they showed for the nation, ChangeNYC.Org is spearheading a movement toward online voting in local elections. Online voting would begin with electing offices solely within the political parties, like County Committee Members, District Leaders, and County Leaders, but, once proven effective, would expand to the General Election for City and State offices.
In addition to increasing participation, online elections will give voters instant access to information about the candidates and their records from blogs and websites. This will enable voters to make more informed decisions as they cast their ballots, rather than a last-minute choice based on campaign spin. Americans living abroad can already vote for President online in both the Democratic Primary and General Elections. ChangeNYC.Org believes that expanding interest in local elections will encourage new leaders to run for office and the City's current leaders to do better. "The election of Barack Obama convinced New Yorkers that we could finally dare to expect more from our elected officials," said Evan Burr, speaking on behalf of ChangeNYC.Org and the coalition of neighborhood activists and everyday New Yorkers of which the organization consists. "With both our State and City facing cutbacks, now is not the time for politics as usual. If we are going to accomplish the change we so desperately need, every single New Yorker is going to have to get involved and make a difference in their borough, in their neighborhood, and, most of all, on their block. ChangeNYC.Org was created to help New Yorkers do just that."
Originally slated to debut after the Presidential election, ChangeNYC.Org made its first foray into City politics last month opposing the New York City Council's legislative change to the City's term limits law.
