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Q&A
The political risk of packaging housing reform with election reform
1:39:41
·
70 sec
Commissioner Grace Bonilla questions Annemarie Gray of Open New York about her suggestion to not include the open primaries question on the ballot, noting that previous hearings showed significant support for the issue.
Gray clarifies that her organization focuses on housing and believes it is the most existential threat the city faces.
She fears that adding a controversial election reform question could jeopardize the passage of the "exceptional" and "thoughtful" housing reforms the commission has developed.
Grace Bonilla
1:39:41
I actually wanna have one quick one.
1:39:45
Hi.
1:39:45
I remember seeing you at a few other hearings as well too.
1:39:48
I guess I just wanna pose the question when you're saying you don't wanna, in a sense, dilute the housing points.
1:39:55
But you were at the other three hearings, and the other three hearings, we had more than half the people testify in support of open primaries.
1:40:04
And I'm I'm curious to know how you respond to that.
Annemarie Gray
1:40:08
I so I have I've been to some of the other hearings.
1:40:10
I haven't been to all of them, and I really respect the process that the commission is going through to really make sure you're hearing from everybody.
1:40:16
I focus on housing.
1:40:17
I think that housing is the biggest existential, The cost of housing is the biggest existential threat that the city faces.
1:40:24
I think the commission has done a really exceptional job actually coming up and really wrestling with and listening to some proposals that are really, really gonna make it better.
1:40:33
And I think, clearly, there is you know, I I'm not weighing officially in on any of the other proposals outside housing, but I just think the commission should think really hard about questions that are going to threaten the success of something that is so important that you've done a really exceptional job at creating some really thoughtful reforms.