The big news in the 1999 New York City elections, was of course, Giuliani's Charter Amendment, which was defeated by (at last count) a stunning 74% to 26% margin. ADA strongly opposed the amendment, which was not only undemocratic in process, but in its actual effect. Aside from telling our members about the amendment, we submitted a statement to the 1999 Voter Guide, sent out to millions of voters. They used a small portion of our submission in the "CON" section of the booklet.
The charter amendment was thinly disguised behind a few proposals calculated to entice the progressive voter to vote for it, such as requiring trigger locks on guns and making the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs and Language Services a charter agency.
The amendment also included some potentially disastrous proposals for less wealthy New Yorkers, including the proposal to have a non-partisan special election in case of Mayoral vacancy, restricting the ability of the City Council to raise or create taxes, and restricting the ability of the City government to expand its departments.
ADA also helped elect Eva Moskowitz, our newest City Councilmember. Although she was outspent dramatically by her opponent, Reba White Williams (who refused to opt into the public campaign finance system in place in NYC), she managed to defeat her 69% to 31%. The district was previously represented by Republican Andrew Eristoff, who resigned in order to accept a position as NYC Finance Director.
We have high hopes for Councilmember Moskowitz, who will be one of the most senior members of the Council when the NYC term limit laws become active in 2001.
Other races in the city were not considered to be closely contested, and as such we made no endorsement.
