Rally for Redistricting Reform - Senate District 40 - Senator Greg Ball Edition

New Roosevelt's Bill Samuels and a Dozen Local and Statewide Activist Groups Rally to Demand Putnam State Senator Greg Ball Pass Independent Redistricting

A coalition of local and statewide reform activists protest Putnam Republican State Senator Greg Ball in Peekskill to pressure the newly elected Senator to live up to signing Ed Koch's NY Uprising pledge; Koch says important to remind voters Ball is breaking his promise

New York, NY -- New Roosevelt founder Bill Samuels with a coalition of progressive groups and young activists rallied Saturday afternoon at Riverfront Green Park Pavilion in the City of Peekskill in Putnam Republican State Senator Greg Ball's district demanding that he keep his word to pass Independent Redistricting in the state legislature.

Last summer, Senator Ball signed Mayor Ed Koch's NY Uprising pledge promising to pass Independent Redistricting if elected in 2010, as a part of his campaign platform to be an independent-minded Republican in Albany. Ball previously made headlines in 2006, as a freshman Assemblyman, by publicly condemning the entire the legislature as the most dysfunctional in the nation and in need of fundamental change.

Yet when he was given his first substantive opportunity to fulfill that promise and show his true independence by passing an Independent Redistricting bill put forth by Governor Cuomo this Spring, Senator Ball decided to side with the Republican Senate majority, who are currently unwilling to permit a hearing, let alone a vote on the bill, thereby stalling an opportunity for change in time for the decennial redistricting in 2012. This move is more disappointing than the failure by Democrats, who last year held a majority in both the Assembly and Senate, to take up the redistricting issue since he has promised to pass such legislation and they had not.

More than a dozen local Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess and statewide progressive and young activists groups joined the protest including-- Westchester For Change, Westchester Young Democrats, Dutchess Young Democrats, Peekskill Democratic City Committee, Citizen Action of New York, New York Democratic Lawyers Council, New York State Young Democrats, New York Democratic Law Students Council, College Democrats of New York, New York Civic, Act Now, New York State Young Democrats Caucus of Color, Tribeca for Change, Manhattan Young Democrats, Queens County Young Democrats and Brooklyn Young Democrats.

Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch, founder of New York Uprising, said: "I say to New Roosevelt, and all the groups rallying against Greg Ball for his dishonorable conduct in failing to keep his pledge to support an independent commission to redraw the lines -- Go get him! Make sure his voters know their Senator is breaking his promise."
Lynne Eckhardt, Putnam County Democratic Committee Chair, said, "Since Greg Ball's election to the Assembly five years ago he has lied to his constituents time, after time, after time. We've had enough. Senator Ball's signed pledge on redistricting helped get him elected. He must honor this pledge now."

Samuels, founder of the New Roosevelt, an organization dedicated to reforming Albany and creating the country's best state legislature, said he was upset that Ball, who promised to speak and act independently from his party, was siding with the status quo on such a critical issue to both the voters of New York and to the future governance of the state.

"In many ways, Greg Ball's betrayal on this issue is the most egregious of anyone who signed the Koch pledge. He praised Ball for his early demonstrations of independence on issues such as ethics and reform. But now, his double talk on the Koch pledge and being in favor of a flawed constitutional convention proves that he would rather be just another status quo Albany politician. Independent Redistricting reform must be passed this session in order to have an impact in 2012," Samuels said.

"While I initially advocated for a Constitutional Amendment last session, passing one in this session means no meaningful impact until 2022," continued Samuels.

"Until a couple of Republicans stand up for what is right and vote for the Independent Districting bill put forth by Governor Cuomo, they are only interested in preserving for another decade their badly gerrymandered advantage. I would like to see Senator Ball prove everyone wrong and reassert the independence he promised to the voters in the 2010," concluded Samuels.

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