NYC 9/11 Commission ballot initiative

[jaqeboy]

I'm moving info specific to the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative over to this thread specific for it. I'll see if I can move some past posts over from 9/11 Was an Inside Job thread, if that's possible. Otherwise, will just post new info here.

[jaqeboy]

Oops, how can I move this to "Outside the Shire"?

[jaqeboy]

The latest from Les in NYC:

--------------------------------------
Hello all,

Hip Hop Artists "Arrested Development" Endorses NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative

Grammy award winning hip-hop group Arrested Development appeared at the Highline Ballroom in NYC July 17th, 08. In line with their high level of political awareness which has influenced their music and personal activism, the lead vocalist named "Speech" gave a heartfelt endorsement of the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative. The group's manager, Gregg Adams, lost many friends in the attacks so, for him, this is personal.

Be sure to see the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5gARcsH-3w !!! Thanks to Dave Cosgrove, Drew Rosenblatt, and Tom Breidenbach for being at the show, doing video work, and collecting signatures.

Arrested Development is just the latest in a long list of prominent Americans who have stated their support for the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative. These include former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, Tony award winning actress Christine Ebersole, Dallas Cowboy football player Mark Stepnowski, AZ state senator Karen Johnson, consumer advocate Ralph Nader, Green Party presidential candidate and former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, former FBI field agent Colleen Rowley, retired CIA analyst Ray McGovern, retired NSA analyst Wayne Madsen, former senators Mike Gravel and Lincoln Chafee, and more.

NYC 9/11 BALLOT INITIATIVE

Petitioners are out collecting hundreds of signatures daily. See some photos at  http://www.flickr.com/photos/nyc911initiative/. Many more will be uploaded soon. Thousands of petition forms and distribution materials have been ordered weekly. Right now signed petitions are being sorted and validated against the NYC voter roles with the intent of showing the NY Board of Elections that we are organized and mean business. If you're a fast typist and own a laptop, we need your help immediately. Please send an email to jazzyday@earthlink.net with "Data Entry" in the subject line.

Also, we're expecting folks from out of town this weekend. We may need help housing people. Please let us know ASAP if you have a couch or extra room to accommodate people.

For all NYC folks on this list, we're now coming up to our deadline. This campaign is of global importance. It's success depends on ALL of us. There's still time to participate but there's not a day to waste. We urge you to do all you can to give it one last push to collect as many signatures as possible. You can download the petition at and read the instructions http://www.nyc911initiative.org/instructions.htm . Then we need you to submit the petitions to us. Either bring them to St. Marks Church this Sunday at 6pm (2nd Ave. & 10th Street), or contact me by email to coordinate.

If you're from outside of NYC and know NYC registered voters, urge them to go to www.nyc911initiative.org and download the petition and volunteer to help. Also, we ask for your financial donation which can be made by clicking the Download button on our site. Remember, presidential candidates are raising millions of dollars, yet we're working to establish a commission that would thoroughly investigate the most consequential event of our time. Please help us with your donation today. For all who have offered their generous support, we thank you and will continue to do everything within our power to forward the effort for a full, authentic investigation of the most consequential event of our time.

Truth will prevail,

NY 911 Truth

[jaqeboy]

Les Jamieson reports from NYC:
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Hello all,

We now are approaching 28,000 signatures, which has been a great
accomplishment! Thanks to all who have participated and made a
contribution to the cause. The immediate task is to reach the milestone of
30,000 by Sat. Sept. 6th. This will then give us time to review, count and
organize the petitions. We will then hold a press conference on 9/11 of
this year to report on our achievement. This will be a major milestone!
Also, we'll be doing a special educational outreach that day and be
collecting signatures as well. More to come...

Now here's what YOU can do. Go to
http://www.nyc911initiative.org/instructions.htm to read the Instructions.
If you haven't signed yet, download the single petition form, fill it out
and submit it. Then download the Multiple Form which has space for 3
signatures. Make copies and at the very least, get 3 signature this week
and submit them as instructed or meet us in Union Sq. Park on Saturday the
6th from noon - 3pm. We'll be on by the subway entrance at 14th St.
accross from Whole Foods. Please remember, time is of the essence! You can
help make history by being part of this heroic effort!

For those who live outside outside of NYC, you can direct anyone you know
who lives here to www.nyc911initiative.org to learn about the campaign,
download the petition, and volunteer. We also ask for your donation to
help pay for printing, new banners, paid petitioners, and related
expenses. This week we need to order more petition forms which will cost
$400.00. We need more banners which cost $75 each.

As an FYI, someone posted a very negative comment on 911blogger a few
weeks ago. This is one in a chain of defamatory, divisive moves made in an
effort to discredit, divide and undermine. A full reply is being prepared.
One of the false accusations was that money donated from the Initiative
web site goes directly into my personal account. We have bank statements
showing money going directly into the Initiative business account. Those
who are closely involved in doing the work here see the results. You can
see just a small glimpse of the results at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nyc911initiative/. Regardless of challenges,
we have accomplished some incredible feats with more to come.

McCain & Obama have raised hundreds of millions and will never make an
effort to arrive at an authentic investigation of 9/11. We now ask for
hundreds of you to help with a minimum of $25, the cost of an average meal
for two. With your help we can build momentum in the coming months that
will create an undeniable demand for truth, justice and accountability for
9/11. We hope you'll seize the opportunity today.

Truth will prevail,

NY 911 Truth

[jaqeboy]

From the website: http://www.nyc911initiative.org/

Thanks to all the hard-working petitioners who have spent months on this historic effort, we have now gathered over 30,000 signatures of NYC registered voters!

This is the minimum requirement to submit a ballot initiative to NY City Council. Now the foundation has been established. From here we will build and create a winning campaign that will result in placing the Initiative for a new, independent, comprehensive 9/11 investigation on the ballot in 2009. Read on...

[jaqeboy]

The New York City ballot initiative to create a city criminal investigation of 9/11 events has been re-tooled and re-named:

NYCCAN (NYC Coalition for Accountability Now). They've got a new website at: http://www.nyccan.org/index.php. From the site:

Following the release of the 9/11 Commission Report in 2004, 66% of New Yorkers were in favor of another investigation to address the "still unanswered questions". Commission Chairman Thomas Kean would later come forward with the stunning assessment that the Commission was, in his words, "Set up to fail". NYCCAN (NYC Coalition for Accountability Now) strives to deliver the 9/11 Families, ailing First Responders and New Yorkers what they deserve: an investigation that will succeed.

How?

New York City voters have the power to legally mandate the formation of a new investigation with subpoena power by petitioning to place a referendum on the ballot in the November 2009 General Election. With the passage of this referendum New York City will take the first giant step towards truth and justice.
=====================

It's a group worth supporting. 2 ways people can help: 1) go to NYC and assist in the signature gathering, or 2) send money for them to hire Manpower temps with to gather signatures.

[jaqeboy]

William Pepper Writes in Support of NYC CAN

By William F. Pepper
April 18, 2009

Many deeply concerned citizens of this Republic and the world have been engaged in tireless, multifaceted research and investigation about the events surrounding the 9/11 tragedy. These patriots have produced articles, essays, books and films that seek answers to the multitude of unanswered questions about this atrocity. Not having researched these questions myself and having no answers, when I have appeared before them I have encouraged the continuation of their valuable work as citizens of the Republic.

In their numbers are distinguished scientists, engineers, architects, professional people from all walks of life and families of victims who seek closure -- people for whose courage, determination, intelligence and steadfastness, I have boundless admiration. It was largely as a result of their efforts that a 9/11 Commission was established in the first place over the initial opposition of the Bush administration.

The failure of that Commission to seek, even address the critical questions is now a part of contemporary history. Former Georgia Senator, Max Cleland, resigned early on in disgust citing official obstruction. More recently, Co-Chairmen Kean and Hamilton, have themselves declared their awareness that their work was obstructed and denied valuable information, materials and evidence. Consequently, there is overwhelming agreement that the initial government sponsored investigation was a failure in respect of bringing truth about 9/11 to the light of day.

That is why a group of citizens in the City of New York, aided, supported and encouraged by citizens throughout the United States and the world (remember, 80 nations lost citizens in that attack) came together to mount an effort to put a Referendum question on the general election ballot for the consideration of the voters of New York City, seeking their approval for the establishment of a new, independent Commission to investigate all aspects of 9/11. The Commission will convene with a commitment to go where the facts lead, and they will have subpoena power to compel testimony under oath and full investigative and legal support staff.

I encourage all citizens, everywhere, to support the establishment of this Commission and its work.
...

[jaqeboy]

A message of thanks from the committee:

Dear Supporter!

Thanks to your generous support and ongoing efforts to keep 9/11 front and center, NYC CAN eclipsed the milestone of 35,000 signatures on Sunday, April 26, 2009.

We continue to charge ahead collecting hundreds of signatures everyday, but we can only continue with YOUR support.

We are growing.  Our petitioners are becoming ever more skilled, now collecting a rate of one signature for every dollar we spend.  With the exception of modestly paying one representative to do full-time outreach and fundraising, every dollar spent so far has gone into paying petitioners to be out on the streets.

We urge you now to dig deep so we can continue this effort.  If every person who reads this letter acts now to become a member of NYC CAN by donating just $25, we will quickly surpass the bare minimum of $60,000 required to fund the rest of our petitioning effort.  Only 2,400 people need to donate $25 each.  Not so difficult, right?

Please join our commitment to answers, accountability and action by standing together and donating what you can - $25, $50 or $500 - today. 

DONATE NOW (http://nyccan.org/donate.php)

One real chance.  One real investigation.

Sincerely,

Ted Walter
Executive Director

Frank Morales
Treasurer

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Donna Marsh O'Connor
Bob McIlvaine
Jean Canavan
Edith Beaujon
Janette MacKinlay
William Rodriguez

The New York City Coalition for Accountability Now   www.NYCCAN.org

[jaqeboy]

Here's the plea of an eyewitness and survivor of the 9/11 NYC attacks to join in the efforts to petition for a ballot initiative for an independent investigation into the 9/11 crimes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWmhJ51WPyA

[jaqeboy]

Here's a 50 second video produced by NYCCAN:

[jaqeboy]

Dear Friends!

Finally, after more than a year of collecting signatures, we are ready to file the petition with the City Clerk's Office of New York City!

On Sunday, June 7, we reached a total of 47,767 signatures. By this coming Sunday, we will be well over 50,000 signatures. With that number, we should be comfortably above the 30,000 valid signatures needed for City Council to consider the referendum. As of now our planned date of submission is Wednesday, June 17!

It's becoming real, folks.

Now, for some important details if you are wondering how the process will work from here:

-City Council could okay the placement of the referendum on the ballot without NYC CAN needing to submit additional signatures.

-In the event that City Council vetoes it, or they take no action within 60 days, NYC CAN will come in with an additional 15,000 signatures to override City Council and guarantee the referendum goes on  the ballot. These signatures will be collected over the next two months.

-Supposing many more than 30,000 of our first 50,000 signatures are deemed valid by the City Clerk, we are waiting to learn if we need an additional 15,000 valid signatures to override City Council, or if we only need enough to bring our total to 45,000 valid signatures (for example if 40,000 are considered valid the first time around, do we only need 5,000 more valid signatures?)

You may notice we don't have as many signatures by this point as we were anticipating. The job of a petitioner is physically strenuous and requires superb communication skills, so it has proven difficult to keep enough people on to build a staff big enough to collect 1,000 signatures per day. However, we ARE collecting 3,000 signatures per week and we are on our way to the 4,000 per week we need to successfully override City Council by the end of the summer. It just takes time. We are building a highly skilled staff who bring in only quality signatures. I want you to know that no money has been wasted - our payroll simply hasn't been as big as it could be, so we still have lots of money in the bank.

But, we need more. We have enough to get us to 60,000 signatures, but we really need another $25,000 to get us to 75,000. I know many of you have given before, so I don't want to ask you to give again unless you are truly able. The more important way you can help our fundraising effort is by talking to everyone you know and asking them to contribute. After filing the petition with the City Clerk next week, we anticipate it will become even easier to raise funds, especially from those who are able to give larger amounts. Please spread the word, it will help! If anyone wants to donate, send them to NYCCAN.org.

Lastly, we are assembling a legal team to lead the way once we have filed the petition. In the event that the City tries to block our effort by legal means, we will need the best people on our side. If you have suggestions or would like to offer your services, please contact us.

And, if you haven't yet watched our 45-second ad, go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzC3QI8JenU&fmt=18

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Sincerely,

Ted Walter

Thinkers think and talkers talk.  Patriots ACT.

[violence]

 

[jaqeboy]

Dear Friends!

On Wednesday, June 24, 2009, we filed the petition with 52,000 signatures!

9/11 Family Members Maureen Hunt and Manny Badillo, and First Responders Charlie Giles of the Feal Good Foundation and Bill Gleason of the World Trade Center Rescuers Foundation, arrived at the City Clerk's office to deliver the petition and speak in behalf of all the proud and concerned citizens who deserve an unbiased, nonpolitical investigation of the tragedy that has affected us so deeply.   

Thank you for getting us this far! City Council now has until August 24 to approve the placement of the referendum on the November 3 ballot. As hundreds more family members, first responders and survivors join our campaign and lobby their council members to support the petition, our chances grow.

In the unlikely event City Council does not approve the placement of the referendum on the ballot, we will be prepared to deliver an additional 30,000 signatures on August 24 to guarantee it gets on the ballot. Already we have 8,000 of the additional 30,000!

Now more than ever is the moment to stand up for what we believe in and convert to reality what we have been working towards for so long. This is how you can help:

DONATE IF YOU CAN. We need money to pay our amazing petitioners who are now collecting 4,000 to 5,000 signatures per week. We need money to pay a legal team. We need money to launch a full-scale PR campaign once the referendum is on the ballot. Go to http://nyccan.org/donate.php right now! 

TELL FAMILY MEMBERS, FIRST RESPONDERS and SURVIVORS. We have a Statement of Support at NYCCAN.ORG that every family member, first responder, and survivor is welcome to sign. We have already accumulated over 60 signatories in the last week - THANK YOU to those of you who joined us in calling for a new, impartial investigation. Now our goal is to reach 1,000 signatories by September 11, 2009. If you know someone who was directly affected and wants accountability, send them to NYCCAN.ORG. The more New York-based family members, first responders and survivors who sign on, the more City Council will hear from the constituents it simply can't ignore.

TELL YOUR FRIENDS. Nothing works like word of mouth. Forward this email far and wide.

While there is little room for celebration, we deserve to be proud of how far we have gotten and where we are going. Over eighteen months of hard work and selfless dedication from hundreds of individuals, and the generosity and faith shown by thousands of you across the globe, have gotten us here. And now it comes down to the next four months. Thank you for standing with us.

Sincerely,

Ted Walter

[jaqeboy]

Ted Walter of NYC CAN writes asking us to help make the 9/11 commission petition veto-proof:
==============================================

Dear Friends,

We now have 10,000 signatures in addition to the 52,000 we submitted last week - thanks to your support. We have made good on our promise to convert your generosity into the signatures needed to get the referendum on the ballot. We are so close to the finish line!  Only 20,000 more signatures and we will have enough to safely override City Council if they veto us. But we are in urgent need of funds to get there.

Please Donate Now: http://nyccan.org/donate.php

If everyone receiving this email donates just $10, we will raise over $45,000. That's enough to not only collect the signatures, but to launch a summer PR blitz that will ensure the whole city will be watching if Mayor Bloomberg and City Council try to kill our effort.

Please Stand Together Now.

Whole industries spend billions of dollars to get the laws passed that they want. For only $10 - less than the cost of a movie ticket - you can help us pass the law for a New York City independent commission to investigate 9/11. That's a deal you can't walk away from!

Do not hesitate. Click this link:


http://nyccan.org/donate.php

And donate $10, or whatever you can.

We have never been this close, and we will probably never be this close again. This is our opportunity to stand together and make history.

Sincerely,

Ted Walter

Thinkers think and talkers talk.  Patriots ACT.

[jaqeboy]

Kyle Hence, producer of 911: Press for Truth, writes:
=================================

From Kyle Hence <kylehence@earthlink.net>
-----------------------------------------------------------
Dear friends, colleagues, activists:

As most all of you know I've been at this for seven years now, since launching unansweredquestions.org in June of 2002. Over the past couple of years I've been intermittently involved with the 9/11 Commission ballot referendum initiative in New York City and I'm pleased to report that this past June 24 NYC CAN, the sponsoring organization, filed over 52,000 petition signatures with the City Clerk. This marks a major milestone in the long campaign to launch an official investigation into the events of 9/11/01 - one that genuinely seeks to answer all the questions. Now, in order to take the next steps of lobbying City Councilors, securing PR services, and collecting the last 20,000 signatures to override a potential City Council veto - guaranteeing the referendum goes on the ballot - we need your help. We mustn't fall short after all the hard work so many have done.

I believe that this initiative offers our best shot at a new investigation and I'm standing behind it 100%. Will you please join me now by clicking here to donate $25 or whatever you can so that the team in NYC led by an Executive Council of 9/11 family members, first responders and survivors can continue to make inroads with the press, with City Councilors and the general public?

Over the past seven years, I've very rarely solicited donations for this work. But now is a most critical time. We have never been so close. So please help with a modest donation, or a big donation if you can, by clicking here: <http://nyccan.org/donate.php>. Without it we will not be able to make the final push over the next six weeks.

I thank you in advance for your support.

Kyle F. Hence