The next meeting of the New York Coalition For Open Government will be held on Thursday September 9th, 6:30 pm via Zoom. See meeting link below:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 880 1072 9468
Passcode: 952262
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+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
The meeting agenda and documents are attached.
Highlights of the Past Month
Extraordinary Legislative Session
Governor Hochul has promised that transparency will be the hallmark of her administration. Hochul called the legislature into a special session to deal with evictions and added legislation regarding the Open Meetings Law. Legislators and the public were not provided copies of either bill until the special session was under way. We objected to the process used and the fact that the legislation passed which allows for remote meetings by public bodies was lacking several items such as:
- Allowing for hybrid meetings, a combination of in person and remote;
- Mandating that public comments be taken in person and remotely during meetings;
- Mandating that meeting recordings be posted online afterwards;
Our press release on this issue received coverage across the state.
Buffalo Bills Stadium Transparency
The Pegula's as billionaire owners of the Buffalo Bills have conducted a study to determine the cost of building a new stadium. The study has been shared with government officials but has not been released to the public. As taxpayers are being asked to contribute several hundred million dollars towards the cost of a new stadium, the public should be able to see the Pegula study. Gov. Hochul and Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz are not advocating for releasing the study, which they should. We sent an email to every member of the Erie County Legislature who will vote on a financing agreement asking them if they support releasing the study and if they support a process where the public can be heard prior to any vote. Not one legislator has responded in support of releasing the study and for engaging the public! It should not be hard to take a stand for transparency but apparently it is.
We will be advocating more on this important transparency issue. Please sign the petition posted in the link below and share it through email, Facebook, Twitter etc.
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