Devin Cohen, candidate for Broklyn's 1st Civil Court in the September 9th primary, has announced two new endorsements: Congresswoman Yvette Clarke and City Councilman David Yassky. All he needs is a Chris Owens endorsement and Devin will have three-of-a-kind from the 2006 CD-11 Congressional race that divided the district so much. Since Devin already got the endorsement of CBID, the club that Chris is now the president of, in some ways Devin already has unified the CD-11 candidates behind him. This brings Devin's endorsement list to the following:

# Congresswoman Yvette Clarke
# Assemblymember Joan Millman
# Assemblymember Jim Brennan
# State Senator Velmanette Montgomery
# State Senator Martin Connor
# Councilmember Letitia James
# Councilmember David Yassky
# District Leader Alan Fleishman
# District Leader JoAnne Simon
# District Leader William Saunders
# Independent Neighborhood Democrats
# Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats
# Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn
# 57th A.D. Regular Democratic
Organization

Norm Siegel, candidate for Public Advocate, has a new website and a new Youtube video:

For those who aren't familiar with Norman Siegel, he has been defending the Civil Liberties of Americans decades. From his website:

Norman Siegel, raised in Brooklyn, has been an advocate for New Yorkers throughout his 40 year career. He has been a leader in the fight for freedom, justice, and equality for all, issues that have pulled at our city’s fabric for too many generations.

Big Kick Off Fundraiser for Norm Siegel for Public Advocate

Monday, February 25th, 2008, 6pm to 8:30pm

Cafe Deville
103 Third Avenue (at 13th Street)
NYC

Let me just preface this with the comment that Joy Romanski, Marjorie Gersten and myself have already held a fundraiser for Norm Siegel...so maybe we should claim the Kick off fundraiser

Norman Siegel is the ideal candidate for NYC Public Advocate. In essence he has been our public advocate for decades, having been head of the NY Civil Liberties Union, defending the rights of NYC protestors against the 2004 Republican Convention, defending the rights of Critical Mass bicyclists, fighting destruction of Harlem neighborhoods, etc.

You can read more about my impressions of Norman Siegel here.

And you can attend this big, big fundraiser and meet the man himself:

This month there are four fundraisers I am pushing. One I am on the host committee of, two I am full on co-host (one of which is at my apartment) and one I am merely plugging for friends.

The first one was last Sunday, and I now have results from that. Sunday, Marjorie Gersten, Joy Romanski and I hosted a fundraiser for Norman Siegel, running for NY Public Advocate. You can read about my (3-year old interrupted) comments on the event here. And you can read another participant's obeservations here at the Brooklyn Optimist. But now I would like to add that the fundraiser did quite well for a small scale event put on by people like me who almost never do fundraising. We brought in $1400 for Norman Siegel. Now I am sure many out there see that as small potatoes, but it's damned good in my world!

If you want to add to this, please call his campaign at 212-448-6271. Tell them Marjorie, David and Joy sent you.

Come meet, greet, and support Norman Siegel for Public Advocate.

Marjorie Gersten, Joy Romanski (Corresponding Secretary for Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats), and I will be hosting a fundraiser for former executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union (1985-2000), Norman Siegel, who is running for NYC Public Advocate. I can think of no one better suited to be our Public Advocate than Norm Siegel.

Essentially, Norm has already been New York's unelected Public Advocate for years, standing up for the protesters against the Republican Convention and standing up for the rights of all New Yorkers when no one else seems willing. Norm Siegel's credentials go WAY back. He even spearheaded the NY State campaign for to impeach Richard Nixon!

Tracked down an old photo from election night 2005 when I was campaigning with my son for Norman Siegel.

In 2005 Norman Siegel started late, only got fundraising going last minute, and was up against and incumbent.

Norman is running again in 2009. And he is starting early and already is fundraising (sent in my donation already!). Guaranteed you will see an update to this photo as Jacob and I campaign again for Norm. You can read my opinion of Norm Siegel for Public Advocate in 2005 here.

If you are interested in electing the former head of the New York Civil Liberties Union as NYC's Public Advocate, contact New Yorkers for Norman Siegel:
212-488-6271

There's a big story in The New York Times today, confirming what many people involved have long suspected: the NYPD's intelligence unit infiltrated and subsequently filed reports on various Progressive left political groups in New York City that were engaged with the 2004 Republican National Convention under the pretext of stopping criminal activity in opposition to that event. This also provides a case study into government dysfunction in New York on several levels.

But potential troublemakers were hardly the only ones to end up in the files. In hundreds of reports stamped “N.Y.P.D. Secret,” the Intelligence Division chronicled the views and plans of people who had no apparent intention of breaking the law, the records show.

These included members of street theater companies, church groups and antiwar organizations, as well as environmentalists and people opposed to the death penalty, globalization and other government policies. Three New York City elected officials were cited in the reports.

In at least some cases, intelligence on what appeared to be lawful activity was shared with police departments in other cities. A police report on an organization of artists called Bands Against Bush noted that the group was planning concerts on Oct. 11, 2003, in New York, Washington, Seattle, San Francisco and Boston. Between musical sets, the report said, there would be political speeches and videos.

“Activists are showing a well-organized network made up of anti-Bush sentiment; the mixing of music and political rhetoric indicates sophisticated organizing skills with a specific agenda,” said the report, dated Oct. 9, 2003. “Police departments in above listed areas have been contacted regarding this event.”

Parents to Begin Telephone Campaign to Seek CFE Money.
Tell NYC's Four Republican State Senators to Fund Our Schools.

Please join AQE, Cynthia Nixon, Public Advocate Betsy
Gotbaum, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer,
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, City
Council Education Committee Chair Robert Jackson and
others to kick off 1-866-KIDS-NYC, a new hotline AQE
is setting up.

The hotline will be available for anyone to call and
will direct calls to the four NYC members of the State
Senate Majority. We will also be launching a new web
campaign on www.ourkidscantwait.org to generate faxes
to these four senators. We hope that calls and faxes
generated over the next week will push the Senate to
build a CFE solution into this year's state budget to
be voted on by April 1st.

Please join us to launch this exciting new campaign!
Thursday, March 23, 11:45 - 12:45 PM (*please note
slight time adjustment)
Steps of City Hall
Take the R/W to City Hall, 4/5/6 to Brooklyn Bridge -
City Hall, 2/3 to Park Place, or A/C/E to Chambers
Street

I have already endorsed Andrew Rasiej in a speech I gave about him at City Hall.

This is another campaign that became heated if only for the fundamental rift in the grassroots as to what the role of the public advocate should be. Let's call them the civiroots. The civiroots support Siegel do so because he is an astounding legal force in the city and his profile could not have risen higher after his defense of protesters during the RNC. This side of the grassroots want a defense attorney.

On the other side of the grassroots people are looking for a candidate that understands that government has to be fundamentally changed, to the core, through the way they practice government on a daily basis. The techroots look at the internet as the roadmap to a new democracy. Those who support Rasiej believe like me that this is where the political beef is right here, right now. For New York City, the most important city in the United States to fall behind in the uses of technolgical innovations in government is a sign more of the state of our democracy than the incompetence of bureaucrats. That's why changing how people interact with the NYC government should be the #1 priority of not just New Yorkers but all Americans as well.

That's why I am voting for Andrew Rasiej.

http://www.norman2005.com/node/660

Siegel Delivers!
Tomorrow night at Keyspan Park at Coney Island, Norman will be appearing at the Brooklyn Cyclones game against the Aberdeen Ironbirds. Norman will be on hand to support the SpikeTV Check Up or Check Out Campaign for Men’s Health Awareness. There will be free health screenings and Norman will throw out the first pitch!
Come help us hand out flyers (starting at 4:30pm) and stick around to cheer on the Cyclones! Tickets are $5 and are available through the Cyclones ticket office.