The Green Party of Suffolk

"The Green Party of Suffolk supports the proposition to bring council districts to Huntington town," said its chair Roger Snyder, a Huntington resident. "A key value of the Green Party is Grassroots Democracy, and it is clear that at-large districts are the farthest from that ideal."

On Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009, voters in the Town of Huntington will be able to vote in favor of setting up council districts, or a ward system, to elect their town council members. "A system that offers better representation from all parts of a town, with smaller districts and an opportunity to be closer to one's elected representative is a win for all a towns residents," said Snyder. "Experience in other towns in Suffolk and Nassau counties has shown that a system of Council Districts works better for residents and their representatives."

The current Huntington at-large electoral system diminishes the voting power of some residents, reducing representation of all of a town's neighborhoods. Council districts make it easier for citizen candidates to participate by providing more reasonable sized districts. Currently the town council district, with over 200,000 residents, is three to four times the size of Suffolk County legislative districts.

"This change would be a good step towards insuring a representative government in Huntington," Snyder continued, "and we urge a yes vote on Dec. 22, 2009."

"The Green Party of Suffolk is outraged to discover that Suffolk County has been using Tasers against its residents," said its chair Roger Snyder. "It is inconceivable that Suffolk has continued to use Tasers after residents have died after being tasered."

Snyder outlined the Green Party's plan to protect the lives of Suffolk residents: "In line with its pillar of nonviolence, the Green Party of Suffolk demands Suffolk County seek out ways to avoid the use of easily abused and potentially lethal Tasers. As an immediate step, the Green Party of Suffolk calls on the county to put a moratorium on the use or purchase of any Tasers. In the long term, the Green Party calls on the county to train the police in nonviolent methods of resolving situations."

The existence of Taser use in Suffolk County was brought to light by the death of a Darryl Bain after he was tasered by the Suffolk Police. According to Newsday, Bain is the fourth person to die after being tasered by Suffolk Police. Amnesty International USA has found that 350 people died in the United States and Canada after being shot by Tasers since June 2001.

The heavy-handed use of Tasers in Suffolk is striking. According to Newsday, "Suffolk police have 669 Tasers, and supervisors hope to arm most patrol cops with one." The large number of Tasers has created an explosion in their use in Suffolk. Newsday also reports "Tasers were used 44 times in 2006, 53 times in 2007, 65 times in 2008 and 146 times so far this year."

The dangerous nature of Tasers is well-known. Amnesty International released a report on December 16, 2008 that labeled Tasers as "Potentially Lethal and Easy to Abuse." Angela Wright, US researcher at Amnesty International and author of the report said that "Tasers are not the 'non-lethal' weapons they are portrayed to be. They can kill and should only be used as a last resort."

The Amnesty International report showed that abuse of Tasers is widespread. The Amnesty report "found that 90 per cent of those who died after being struck with a Taser were unarmed and many did not appear to present a serious threat. Many were subjected to repeated or prolonged shocks – far more than the five-second "standard" cycle – or by more than one officer at a time. Some people were even shocked for failing to comply with police commands after they had been incapacitated by a first shock." The report found that Tasers were used against persons with "medical conditions such as seizures." It also found that "police officers also used Tasers on schoolchildren, pregnant women and even an elderly person with dementia."

The Green Party of Suffolk (GPoS) is the electoral arm of the Green movement. GPoS supports candidates at the local level. The Green Party is an alternative to the Democrats and Republicans, an alternative to politics as usual. Green Party candidates do not accept contributions from corporations.

Voters may join the Green Party by checking the box that says "other" on a voter registration form, and writing in the word "Green." There are currently about 37,000 registered Greens in New York state. As a party devoted to diversity and grassroots democracy, there are many opportunities to volunteer; run for office; and serve in various committees at the local, state and national level.

In addition, Suffolk Greens may also petition to become State Committee members, so they can represent their area at GPNYS.

Help the Green Party of Suffolk Reach out to Suffolk Greens

If you have been an enrolled Green in Suffolk for a while, you know that those of us helping to organize the party in Suffolk try to reach out to all Greens in Suffolk County as much as we can. We use this web site, email (sign up at right if you haven't yet) and other means to keep Greens in Suffolk informed. As a way to reach all of Suffolk's Greens, we mail to every enrolled Green in Suffolk County periodically. (If you haven't received a mailing from us, please check your voting registration address, or contact us.)

Everyone who registers to vote has a mail address so we can contact and inform them. We believe every Green in Suffolk has the right to know about and participate in their party. The Green Party believes in grassroots democracy. Unfortunately, postal mailings cost money. Just one mailing to all of Suffolk's Greens can cost over $1200.

If you look in the column at the left, you will see a chart on our fund drive to pay for the GPoS's next mailing. The mailing needs to go out in time to notify Greens of our next countywide meeting, and the April fundraising party. (See below) Hopefully everyone can contribute what they can to push us over the top so the GPoS can continue to reach out.

To contribute by credit card, just click on the "DONATE" link at the left of this column. (This is a secure transaction.) To contribute by check, please make your check payable to "Green Party of Suffolk County," and mail to 14 Robin Drive, Huntington, NY 11743-4712. Please include your name and address. We are all volunteers, and all money raised goes to Green Party expenses. Thank you. -Roger Snyder, Chair, Green Party of Suffolk