Letters: Vote ‘Yes’ on ConCon

In the months leading up to Halloween, New York’s vested interests, primarily the unions and elected officials, have been trying to scare us. These special interests, including my own union, NYSUT, want us to pass up a once in a generation opportunity to make government work for us rather than them. Their arguments rest almost exclusively on fear of the unknown. The reality is that we have more to fear from letting the status quo continue. Voting Yes for a Constitutional Convention is the only solution to the ills of Albany.

The scariest argument is that the Constitutional Convention will take away New Yorkers’ rights. The rights that are held out as being in danger are many, but the argument has no base in reality. No one, other than the fear mongerers, has expressed any interest in undermining or eliminating these rights. No ConCon has ever eliminated our rights. To the contrary, many of the rights New Yorkers hold dear came to us through the Convention process.

A Constitutional Convention has the POWER to change anything in the Constitution, but that does not mean it will. The Convention could propose changing the name of our state to New Amsterdam, but the fact that a convention COULD do something does not make it something to worry about.

One thing that is definitely on the agenda at a Constitutional Convention is ethics reform. New York, by many criteria, is the most corrupt state in the nation. If you are tired of reading stories about our legislators being tried and convicted for bribery and other violations of the public trust, the ConCon is your only option. Legislators will not vote to end their own corruption. Two generations of inaction have proven that.

The Convention can save New York a huge amount of money. If all the ConCon did was streamline and simplify our courts, it would save New York an estimated half a billion dollars a year. That is no small savings.

It is important to remember that the ConCon does not actually change our constitution. That power rests with us, the voters. The Convention can only propose changes. If we do not like the changes, we get to vote them down.

A vote for the Convention is not an issue of Democrat versus Republican, Conservative versus Liberal or Upstate versus Downstate. It is about ordinary people versus the politicians and the special interests. If you think Albany is already the best it can be, then you have no reason to vote for the ConCon, but if, like me, you believe that we must change the laws that let our incumbent politicians stay in power and line their own pockets, I urge you to turn over your ballot, find Proposition 1, and vote Yes on the Constitutional Convention.

Howard Leib
Dryden