Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
Chair Buery, L. Joy Williams, and Commissioner Wylde extensively discuss the process and urgency of open primary reform
1:44:02
·
6 min
Chair Richard R. Buery Jr. explores the tension between waiting for more education on open primaries and the risk that a future commission might not put the issue to voters. He questions if an election itself is a form of community engagement on a proposal.
L. Joy Williams responds that many reforms are needed for civic engagement, and urgency doesn't negate the need to consider unintended consequences, especially for New York's unique population. She stresses that true engagement involves bringing the conversation to communities.
She also raises concerns about how a specific open primary proposal would be formulated and presented to voters for an informed choice.
- Commissioner Kathryn Wylde notes that while other voting access issues are important, many are state-level matters, whereas the commission can act on primary structures.
- Chair Buery agrees on the importance of clear ballot questions.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
1:44:02
I I think just one thing I wanna maybe clarify and explore.
1:44:07
I I think the question of not wanting to wait, it's not a question of whether there'll be another Charter Revision Commission.
1:44:13
I think the question is, of course, we I know this has been a wonderful experience truly.
1:44:19
I'm not sure I'm doing another Charter Revision Commission.
1:44:22
Think that
L. Joy Williams
1:44:23
You're not addicted?
Richard R. Buery Jr.
1:44:27
I love it.
1:44:29
It's been great.
1:44:31
Truly been great.
1:44:32
But what I don't know is whether another commission will put this to the voters again.
1:44:38
So I will say to you, I feel a great deal of responsibility of the person sitting here now to advance the thing that makes sense to me now.
1:44:46
And we're in this within this is under the structure that we have.
1:44:49
So I definitely appreciate the challenge of education, but I do want to balance it against the need and the opportunity to put things that seem important and that matter to voters when we can.
1:45:01
And I guess part of my concern I'm not sure there's a real answer to this question, but I guess my concern is that these questions, the nature of life in New York City, that these questions are never urgent until they're urgent.
1:45:15
So I guess my what I continue to struggle with is similar to the question I asked Ms.
1:45:21
Lerner is I'm still struggling to think about if we say, okay, let's hold, let's pause, let's wait to have education.
1:45:31
We risk that the one that the future commission will never put the question to the voters again.
1:45:35
But then again, I still worry that what is the motivation to build a kind of grassroots conversation until it's actually right?
1:45:44
Yeah.
1:45:46
I asked that question honestly because I'm still struggling with how to manage the I think the reasonable push.
1:45:51
Yeah.
L. Joy Williams
1:45:52
So I started my career doing voting rights, you know, '22 or what have you, positioning towards legislators at the time about same day voter registration,
Celia Iervasi
1:46:05
right?
L. Joy Williams
1:46:06
And I remember folks' eyes glazing over in the room saying, yeah, we like knowing where our voters come from.
1:46:13
You know, we don't wanna proceed down this path.
1:46:17
And it was halted.
1:46:19
So there are a number of different reforms, not just in how you bring independent voters or I would say unaffiliated voters into a primary process.
1:46:29
There are many reforms from a civic engagement and increasing participation overall that we need to engage in that are on the table waiting, like in the wings.
1:46:41
So in terms of the urgency, similar, like us having a Voting Rights Act, all right?
1:46:47
Being able to strike down the law, it took me as president of Brooklyn NAACP to strike down the law to be able to provide something as simple as water to voters who will be waiting in line tomorrow in order to vote when the temperatures are a 102 degrees.
1:47:03
So that doesn't mean, however, that we can't stop and see how something will impact and will there be unintended consequences based upon our actions?
1:47:16
And New York is unique.
1:47:17
We have a new a unique pop voting population.
1:47:21
As you say, we have growing young people.
1:47:24
And the trend is not just here in New York City, but across the nation of people being unaffiliated and parties are having their own reckoning in terms of how they are growing their individual parties and how they are looking to engage people.
1:47:43
But there's no shortage of New Yorkers being engaged in the civic fabric of our city.
1:47:47
You could see that in community boards, you can see that in mutual aid societies that continued populated through the city, people are civically engaged.
1:47:58
And so to put the question to them and say that we want your voice and how we should structure, how we change our election process in order to increase participation, that we may get better candidates that will more represent our ideals, I don't think it's haphazard to stop and actually pose the question.
1:48:21
And to miss Anita, your question of what we do in that pause.
1:48:25
I do think that which is something we continue to advocate for, there needs to be increased resources into the city agencies that are responsible for the civic engagement process to bring people into that process.
1:48:40
And it can't just be us having the meeting and expecting people to come in.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
1:48:46
No.
1:48:46
I definitely appreciate the push and being careful about making sure that we give education its due.
1:48:52
I guess the and we don't have to I mean, it's not something that we can resolve, but but I appreciate the conversation.
1:48:57
I I guess where I'm stuck is you say that don't we need a process to bring this to community?
1:49:03
And it strikes me that that's what an election is Because anything that we propose, you know, we don't determine by fiat.
1:49:10
It then becomes an issue for voters five months from now.
1:49:14
I can't count.
1:49:15
For July, August I mean, November, I can't count.
1:49:19
July.
1:49:20
Well, no.
1:49:20
July, August, September, October, four months.
1:49:24
You're in November.
1:49:25
Right?
1:49:25
I'm not crazy.
1:49:26
I'm like, elections in November.
1:49:27
So and so I agree that making sure that people have the resources to have that conversation appropriately.
1:49:36
I guess I just struggle with why we've given enough time to have a
L. Joy Williams
1:49:38
robust how the question is presented to them.
1:49:42
Because there have been times when the question as presented to them
Richard R. Buery Jr.
1:49:45
That's absolutely part
Diane Savino
1:49:46
of our task.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
1:49:48
Job is to present questions that are clear in your single vote.
1:49:52
And if we don't do that, then we have it in our job, whatever we recommend.
L. Joy Williams
1:49:55
And I don't think and and to that point, will voters have an opportunity to have an endpoint on what type of open primary system they will have.
1:50:03
Right?
1:50:03
Like, that is still the question because to say the question won't be or should or, you know, as you deliberate, will we have open primary such to be determined that fits New York?
1:50:17
Right?
1:50:17
You're you're trying to you're questioning what type of system will we have and then be putting that on
Richard R. Buery Jr.
1:50:24
the phone.
1:50:24
Proposals that voters will
Diane Savino
1:50:25
have to vote.
1:50:26
Yes.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
1:50:26
Exactly.
1:50:26
No.
Kathryn Wylde
1:50:26
There aren't that many choices.
1:50:29
I mean but what we do have is more hearings coming up where people can come in and say what kind of system they'd like.
1:50:36
The other point I wanted to make is I think that you're absolutely right that we should be coupling this with thinking about the voter access and the other issues.
1:50:45
Unfortunately, those are all in Albany.
1:50:47
Yeah.
1:50:47
Those are nice.
1:50:48
So, I mean, we certainly should be working with you on thinking through that as well.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
1:50:53
Absolutely.
1:50:54
And thank you for taking so much time with us.
Jen Gaboury
1:50:55
Really appreciate Thank