Ramblin' with Roger

2021 Ballot Proposals: statewide, local

I looked on the ballot from both sides, now.

Before I could vote on November 2, 2021, or earlier, I needed to get up to speed on the 2021 Ballot Proposals. There are five statewide items in New York State, and two in the city of Albany.

There may be other local propositions where you live. They will likely be on the REVERSE side of the ballot from the candidates’ listings, so check out both sides!

The five state proposals are found here.

Ballot Proposal 1

Amending the Apportionment and Redistricting Process
This proposed constitutional amendment would freeze the number of state senators at 63, amend the process for the counting of the state’s population, delete certain provisions that violate the United States Constitution, repeal and amend certain requirements for the appointment of the co-executive directors of the redistricting commission and amend the manner of drawing district lines for congressional and state legislative offices. Shall the proposed amendment be approved?

The Census guy in me supports:
Requiring that state assembly and senate district lines be based on the total population of the state, and require the state to count all residents, including non-citizens and Native Americans if the federal census fails to include them.
Provide for incarcerated people to be counted at their place of the last residence, instead of at their place of incarceration, for the purpose of redistricting. This practice is already established by state statute for Senate and Assembly districts.

I’m ambivalent about this:
Freeze the number of state senators at the current number of 63. Currently, under the state constitution, the number of senators was originally set at 50 and thereafter increased over time to 63.
On one hand, I would support Congress getting larger to counteract the unfairness the current system is applied to larger states. On the other hand, we’re talking about the historically dysfunctional state legislature.

All in all, I’m still thinking about this. Notably, the League of Women Voters of the City of New York recommends a NO vote. This is due, in part, because, “The proposed amendment would unfairly empower the majority party by preventing the minority party from having input into the final proposed maps.” Help me with this one, people.

Ballot Proposal 2

Right to Clean Air, Clean Water, and a Healthful Environment
The proposed amendment to Article I of the New York Constitution would establish the right of each person to clean air and water and a healthful environment.

Of course YES. But how would this work, exactly?

Ballot Proposal 3

Eliminating Ten-Day-Advance Voter Registration Requirement
The proposed amendment would delete the current requirement… that a citizen be registered to vote at least ten days before an election and would allow the Legislature to enact laws permitting a citizen to register to vote less than ten days before the election.

YES.

Ballot Proposal 4

Authorizing No-Excuse Absentee Ballot Voting
The proposed amendment would delete from the current provision on absentee ballots the requirement that an absentee voter must be unable to appear at the polls by reason of absence from the county or illness or physical disability.

YES. People oughtn’t have to lie about how sick/infirm they are.

Ballot Proposal 5

Increasing the Jurisdiction of the New York City Civil Court
The proposed amendment would increase the New York City Civil Court’s jurisdiction by allowing it to hear and decide claims for up to $50,000 instead of the current jurisdictional limit of $25,000.

Sure. It seems to be a response to inflationary pressures. The NYC LWV is YES on Props 2-4, and takes no position on 5.

The local items

Proposition: Council residency requirement
Shall the Charter of the City of Albany be amended to require any person seeking election as a member of the Common Council to be an elector and resident of the ward for which the person is seeking election for a continuous period of at least three hundred sixty-five (365) days prior to taking office and during the entire term of office, except in limited circumstances following reapportionment of Common Council wards?

What? That’s NOT the law already? YES.

Proposition: Increase Community Police Review Board Authority

Shall Article XLIV of Chapter 42 of the Code of the City of Albany be amended to increase the Community Police Review Board’s authority and ability to conduct investigations and to exercise oversight, review, and resolution of community complaints alleging abuse of police authority?

The IDEA of the CPRB was grand. But it has been a paper tiger. “The law was already affirmed by the Albany Common Council, in a unanimous 14-0 vote, in March but requires a citywide referendum from the public to go into effect. That would be a YES.

Lydster: not her parents’ college search

the college tour

As I’ve noted, my daughter has been on the college search. My, but has this process changed in the past few decades. For one thing, they send a TON of emails, multiple messages per school.

Some of them extoll their particular schools and why my daughter would obviously fit in, hinting at financial incentives. But some involve how to engage in the process of applying for college generally. Most schools accept the Common Application, and some even prefer it.

Having gone on a few college tours this summer, it’s difficult not to judge the schools based on this important aspect. Some of them have way too many people in the group. It’s very difficult to hear what’s being said upfront when you’re in the back. That, unfortunately, was just one of the failings of my undergraduate alma mater’s tour.

Some of the tour guides have these portable mics and speakers that they were wearing. That was MUCH better except in one case, where there were actually too MANY guides in a relatively small space and the sound of one group bled into another cluster.

Some of the walks were mostly flat, although a few seemed to go up and downstairs a lot. My left knee became particularly sore on those treks. Generally speaking, travel is exhausting mentally and physically. I’m SO glad we went to NYC BEFORE the subways were flooded by the former hurricane, Ida!

The issues

Most of the colleges are SAT/ACT-optional. While some of these places initiated the policy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, others were proudly ahead of the curve.

Other than academics and social life, one of the most common questions by potential students were safety and security, especially getting from the nearby towns back to campus. One school, in particular, sounded quite impressive, even at 2 a.m.

I was truly surprised that one of the topics that came up often was laundry! At least three of the school folks mentioned the fact that the college offered free washing machines and dryers, though one has to provide detergent. Another complained that the students there had to cough up $1.50 per load.

It’s possible, I suppose, that my daughter will go to a college she has not visited in person, only virtually. But I’d be very surprised. As she noted, some schools were enhanced in her mind by seeing the physical location, while others suffered IRL.

Bright College Days – Tom Lehrer

Getting to 5 Gaines Street, Binghamton

spray-painted

Les.Roger.backporch — Les and Roger Green, back porch of 5 Gaines St, 2nd floor, 1953

One of the facts I’d previously established is that Agatha Walker married McKinley Green in April 1931. But by 1936, they were living apart in Binghamton.

In the 1940 Census, they were still separated, with Mac at 98 Lewis and Agatha and her son Les at her parents’ house at 339 Court Street. My father’s last name had changed from Walker to Green, misspelled Greene in the Census.

By the 1941 City Directory, though, the three of them were all together at 10 Tudor. Not incidentally, that address doesn’t exist anymore, demolished to facilitate a bypass off of Riverside Drive.

The single useful thing found from a visit to the Broome County Clerk’s office was a record of the Order of Adoption of Leslie H. Walker, inf, [presumably infant, though he was 13 days shy of his 18th birthday] by Mr. McKinley Green. I knew this had happened, but seeing it in Book 22 of Civil Actions and Special Proceedings, page 572, was kind of cool.

Les was in the military in 1945 and 1946. I know from anecdotal information that he had a variety of jobs, including delivering flowers, before and after his service.

McKinley was a porter at Wehle Electric, but usually, he was a laborer. In 1947, he started at WNBF radio and Tv, as a laborer, and by 1956, as a janitor. He stayed there until he died in 1980.

No perceived miscegenation

My parents were married on March 12, 1950. They looked for a place to live in town but were thwarted. Potential landlords thought my mother, who is very fair, was white and that they were an interracial couple.

They subsequently moved to 5 Gaines Street, on the top floor of the two-family dwelling. It was owned by my maternal grandmother, Gertrude Williams, and presumably, her siblings, though she outlived them all. She and her sister Deanna (d. 1966) lived about six short blocks away.

Back in the 1890s, the resident was someone whose last name was Archie, which was a variant of the family name Archer, so it had been in the family for a long time.

Gaines Street is a single short block, notable growing up because the Canny’s trucks would go from Spring Forest Avenue, take a right down Oak Street, a left across Gaines, and another left onto Front Street and head out of town to NYC, Syracuse, Albany, Scranton, or wherever.

The directory says Les worked as a chauffeur at Niagara Motor Express, or elsewhere through 1957.

Meanwhile, by 1954, Mac and Agatha had moved upstairs at 5 Gaines, with my parents moving downstairs. This was likely predicated by the fact that my mother had her second child, Leslie that year.

New job

In the 1958 volume, Dad is an employee of the Interracial Association at 45 Carroll, not all that far from where he grew up. He’s listed as the assistant director the following year. The organization morphed into the Broome County Urban League in 1968.

I know Les was doing lots of other things in this period: arranging flowers at Costas, painting, and singing. By 1964, he was at IBM, a job he hated. So when my homeroom teacher, Mr. Joseph, told me my father was crazy for leaving IBM in 1967 for an OEO program called Opportunities for Broome, I shrugged.

When I’ve visited 5 Gaines Street in the past, I’d noticed that the hunter-green asbestos siding was now brown. What I didn’t notice is that the brown was sprayed on. And not particularly well on the side of the house, because the green is still partially showing on the side.

This was one of the first stops on the Roger Green magical history tour that I went on recently.

Workplace abuse abounds

show appreciation

Workplace Violence Prevention Our family veterinarian sent their customer base an email letter this month. It indicated that several of their customers, many of whom had adopted animals during the COVID pandemic, had made appointments for their pets, but failed to keep them, and in large numbers. This meant that the vets had to institute a policy of requiring a downpayment for their services.

Also, the letter indicated that some of their staff had experienced workplace abuse, not from the animals but from their human companions. Unacceptable, the vet office proclaimed.

On CBS Mornings, some doctors in Idaho were uncomfortable wearing their scrubs in public, lest they rile up someone. One technician quit and took a job as a Walmart clerk. These were the groups of people who were HEROES in America not that long ago.

Recently, I was in an urgent care facility in my area that has been hammered by the number of people needing COVID tests. We were told at 4 pm that it would take about an hour to be seen, and that was about right. About 5:30, a woman came in with her son, who was maybe 8 years old. She was told that it may take as much as two hours. She started SCREAMING at the intake person. “What if my son were in need of immediate care?” She carried her son out – though he had walked in; maybe she went to an actual emergency room.

Violence against Healthcare Workers is A Worldwide Phenomenon With Serious Consequences.

Education

From an email I received:

In Indiana, school board members were forced to flee and escape to their vehicles to escape individuals who tried to intimidate them by force.

In Idaho, school board meetings have been canceled because the school couldn’t ensure that the scheduled event would be secure and free of violence.

In Maryland, school board officials began receiving violent and personal threats from individuals in retaliation for supporting the wearing of masks.

Also, Justice Department and FBI investigating a “disturbing” uptick in violence against school employees.

Did it happen?

The Scale of Under-Reporting is Widely Acknowledged. This predates COVID, and health care providers were the most regular targets. And I don’t know what to do, baring getting physically involved if it comes to that.

BTW, it is not just an American issue, as this UK article can attest.

The phenomenon has redoubled my effort to try to show appreciation to what they call the front-facing workers. They are the grocery store clerks, bus drivers, retail clerks, bank tellers, the people who you meet each day.

Synthetic title songs #7: Mo-Po

Morissette, Morrison, more

These are more synthetic title songs. The album name appears as a lyric, but it’s not the title song. There is no actual title song, but these can be synthetic title songs.

So Pure – Alanis Morissette. Album: Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. Lyrics: “Supposed former infatuation junkie. I sink three-pointers and you wax poetically.” Of course, I have this album.
Hands Clean -Alanis Morissette. Album: Under Rug Swept. Lyrics: “What part of our history’s reinvented and under rug swept.” (I could only find a live version.)
Moratorium -Alanis Morissette. Album: Flavors of Entanglement. Lyrics: “I declare a moratorium on things relationship” (Didn’t find a video.)

In The Garden – Van Morrison. Album: No Guru, No Method, No Teacher. Lyrics: And I turned to you and I said, No Guru, no method, no teacher.
Cypress Avenue (live) – Van Morrison. Album: It’s Too Late to Stop Now.
Queen of the Slipstream – Van Morrison. Album: Poetic Champions Compose : Lyric: “There’s a dream where the contents are visible Where the poetic champions compose” I have this on vinyl.

It Can’t Happen Here – The Mothers of Invention. Album: Freak Out! Lyrics: “Who could imagine that they could freak out somewhere in Kansas” or “in Minnesota” or “in Washington D.C.” or “in the suburbs”

Sweetheart – Maria Muldaur. Album: Waitress in a Donut Shop. Lyrics: “I’m a waitress in the donut shop.” I love this song.

Starlight – Muse. Album: Black Holes and Revelations. Lyrics: “Our hopes and expectations Black holes and revelations.”

Merry Go ‘Round – Kacey Musgraves. Album: Same Trailer, Different Park. Lyrics: “Same hurt in every heart Same trailer, different park.” A country song I actually know.

N

Fine Time – New Order. Album: Technique. Lyrics: “You’ve got lurve technique.”

Sadie – Joanna Newsom. Album: The Milk-Eyed Mender. Lyric: “And down where I darn with the milk-eyed mender”

Gave Up – Nine Inch Nails. EP: Broken. Lyric: “Covered in hope and vaseline, still cannot fix this broken machine.”

Reader’s Digest – Larry Norman. Album: Only Visiting This Planet. Lyrics: “Don’t ask me, I’m only visiting this planet.”
Nightmare #71 – Larry Norman. So Long Ago the Garden. Lyrics: “But we left it so long ago, the garden.”
The Rock That Doesn’t Roll – Larry Norman. Album: In Another Land. Lyrics: “Then he lead me to his kingdom, that was in another land.”
The Sun Began To Rain – Larry Norman. Album: In Another Land. “Now we’ll live forever in another land.”
Hymn To The Last Generation – Larry Norman. Album: In Another Land. Lyrics: “He will guide us in another land.”

Fair Weather – Julia Nunes. Album: Settle Down. Lyrics: “And they say, Julia just settle down.”

O

Morning Glory – Oasis. Album: (What’s the story), Morning Glory. My only Oasis album.
To Be Where There’s Life – Oasis. Album: Dig Out Your Soul. Lyrics: “Dig out your soul, cos here we go.”

The Charm Offensive – Oceansize. Album: Everyone Into Position. Lyrics: “And it burns, it burns us all out As it blows Everyone into position.”

Irish whiskey pretty girls – Old 97s. Album: Graveyard whistling. Lyrics: “I never was good at talking. Graveyard whistling’s more my thing

She’s A Mystery To Me – Roy Orbison. Album: Mystery Girl. Lyrics: “She’s a mystery to me. She’s a mystery girl.” I have this album.

P

Best Of Both Worlds – Robert Palmer. Album: Double Fun. Lyrics: “The best of both worlds. Double fun”

You Can’t Be Too Strong – Graham Parker. Album: Squeezing Out Sparks. Lyrics: “But everybody else is squeezing out a spark That happened in the heat.” I have this on vinyl.
Empty Lives – Graham Parker and The Rumour. Album: The Up Escalator. Lyrics: “On the up escalator going down all the cracks” I’m pretty sure I have this on vinyl as well.

I Can Tell – Michael Penn. Compilation: Palms and Runes, Tarot and Tea. Lyrics: “Psychic on the corner. ‘Palms and Runes, Tarot and Tea'”

Train Song – Pentangle. Album: Basket of Light. Lyrics: “Caught in the basket of light.”

Insider – Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, featuring Stevie Nicks. Album: Hard Promises. Lyrics: “And I had to live with some hard promises.”

One Slip – Pink Floyd. Album: A Momentary Lapse of Reason. Lyrics: “A momentary lapse of reason That binds a life for life.”
High Hopes – Pink Floyd. Album – The Division Bell. Lyrics: “The ringing of the division bell had begun”

Great Spirit – Robert Plant. Album: Fate of Nations. Lyrics: “The fate of nations and of all their needs Lies trapped inside these hearts of greed.” I own this CD.

Lovin’ Arms– Poco. Album: Head Over Heels. Lyrics: “Now you got me stumblin’ Head over heels”

Roofer’s Union Fight Song – Robert Pollard. Album: Not In My Airforce. Lyrics: “Only ‘No Ones’ get through the gate …not in my airforce.”

Solar Sister – The Posies. Album: Frosting on the Beater. Lyrics: “Frosting on the beater The flag trips down the meter.”
Chainsmoking in the U.S.A. -The Posies. EP: Nice Cheekbones and a Ph.D. Lyrics: “There’s two faces on the tv screen Nice cheekbones and a ph.d.” (Can’t find a video.)