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Q&A
Commissioners discuss election reform as crucial for better governance and housing outcomes
0:54:39
·
3 min
Commissioner Diane Savino then pivots to election reform, arguing it's fundamental to addressing issues like housing because current low and polarized voter turnout makes elected officials risk-averse.
She advocates for open, nonpartisan primaries to increase participation, a sentiment echoed by Commissioner Lisette Nieves who focuses on engaging younger, unaffiliated voters.
Commissioner Shams DaBaron highlights the significant public demand for election reform and urges boldness in all reform areas based on the testimony received.
- Savino asserts that fear of a small, highly active electorate deters officials from backing complex but necessary projects.
- She believes open primaries are the "single best thing" to improve city governance by broadening the electorate.
- Nieves emphasizes that open primaries can bring in under-40s, a demographic that is less party-affiliated and has a major stake in the city's future.
- DaBaron underscores that the volume of public testimony on election reform signals its importance and supports a bold approach to all proposed changes, including land use.
Diane Savino
0:54:39
Right.
0:54:40
And I I I don't think we can leap here without discussing one of the other major issues that has been presented to us.
0:54:46
Actually, the issue that we've heard the most about, which is election reform.
0:54:50
There is no doubt that members are afraid to make decisions about complex projects in their district because they are afraid of going before the voters every two years or every four years, depending on where they are.
0:55:01
And the reason they're afraid to go before the voters in their own districts is because less and less people are voting in this city, and the ones who do turn out are increasingly more radicalized on both sides of the aisle, whether we want to admit that or not.
0:55:14
We're a blue city, but we are driven by a by a very small fraction of the Democratic Party electorate.
0:55:22
And the single best thing we can do to improve conditions in this city, in my opinion, is to change the voting process so that we have open nonpartisan primaries, so more voters are able to participate.
0:55:32
It is an embarrassment that we have over 5,000,000 registered voters in the city of New York, and we are at the lowest level of turnout since the 1950s.
0:55:41
But that little narrow band of people are driving these decisions, because no matter what people think, when you're an elected official, you care about one opinion, and that's the people who are turning out to vote for you.
0:55:51
And if they all show up in front of your office or on election day screaming at you because you voted for this, you are never gonna consider another project again.
0:56:01
Right.
0:56:01
Absolutely.
0:56:03
I see it.
0:56:04
I've had a million conversations with other elected officials over the years who say, I agree.
0:56:08
I wanna do this, but I can't.
0:56:10
Mhmm.
0:56:10
Yeah.
0:56:10
The only way we change that is bring more voices into that conversation, voters who are engaged, informed, and have already made a decision that they don't wanna be part of the circus.
0:56:20
Yes.
0:56:20
So for deliberately cutting them out.
0:56:54
And they have the most stake in the future of the city because, you know, some of us are not gonna be in thirty years.
0:57:01
Hopefully, who knows?
0:57:02
Maybe they'll come up with the fountain of youth, and we'll be around forever.
0:57:05
But it's this is really about the future development for the city of New York.
0:57:10
Yeah.
0:57:10
And who's gonna live here.
Kathryn Wylde
0:55:59
That's what Marjorie What happened to her?
0:56:01
Yes.
0:56:02
That's exactly right.
Lisette Nieves
0:56:22
Yeah.
0:56:22
I I would say, Diane, the piece that I would be supporting on open primaries is not so much about which are the voices, but the the voices that I'm particularly focused on, which are the under forties, which are people who were seeing not as civically engaged.
0:56:35
Right?
0:56:36
Because it does break down by generation.
0:56:38
It does.
0:56:38
Mhmm.
0:56:39
And I wanna see more of those under forties voting and actively engaged and seeing that they see themselves as not party affiliated.
0:56:47
I think that's I think how could we miss out on that?
0:56:49
So I I just wanna make that point that I really appreciated was pointed out in the document as well.
Shams DaBaron
0:57:11
I I think that the fact that and which was surprising because I didn't know the number, but I I think that the fact that we've gotten the most testimony in regards to that is very telling.
0:57:23
And I also wanted to say and thank you, Layla, for speaking on being bold in in what we do.
0:57:31
It's not really what we do.
0:57:33
I think we have listened to a lot of testimony to kinda support the positioning and what's in the report.
0:57:41
And I think that we have to keep following through on that, even in the area of, not of of dealing with the EULIP process in a in a bold way.
0:57:52
And if we're going to develop more housing throughout this city, we are dealing with things like fair share.
0:58:01
We are dealing with things like, for lack of another word, member deference and the ability to, bring more housing about.
0:58:12
And and I I don't think that's driven by what our personal thoughts are, in and of itself as much as it is by what we're seeing and hearing from across the city and what people presented in their in their testimony.