Our Choices
Syracuse Common Council 4th District: Howie Hawkins
Syracuse Post-Standard | October 28, 2009
Perennial candidate Howie Hawkins, running on the Green Party line, has sought public office in Onondaga County 17 times. It’s time to take him up on his offer.
The man and the moment have met in the race for a seat representing the diverse 4th Common Council District, which covers the Westcott neighborhood, the near West Side, Downtown and the South Side.
Hawkins’ lengthy list of public policy initiatives includes tax reform and reining in “corporate welfare.” He also gets down to Earth with calls for a new grocery store on the South Side, more investment in youth programs, a municipal development bank and a community hiring hall, with training for “green” jobs. He still advocates for public power as an economic alternative for Syracuse, and wants full implementation of the living wage law.
Hawkins says he was reluctant to run against Democrat Tom Seals, whom he considers a friend and ally. While Seals led the successful fight for the living wage law, Hawkins notes that the city has found loopholes to avoid applying it uniformly. Seals says he is confident a commission studying the matter will close the loopholes.
Seals, a retired police officer, says he joined the council in 2003 to serve his constituents, that he is a strong supporter of schools and is proud of his public role as a visible and calming presence. As for larger issues, he says those are matters for the mayor.
Hawkins’ approach takes the councilor’s role to a more proactive level — where it needs to be in these challenging times.
by The Post-Standard Editorial Board
Endorsements
Green Party of Onondaga County
Socialist Party USA, Central New York Chapter
UNITEHERE 150
What They Say About Howie Hawkins
Howie Hawkins is the most unwavering progressive I think I've met in New York state.
Ralph Nader - Syracuse Post-Standard
October 8, 2004
The Post-Standard endorses Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate, for one of the seats.... His many ideas - including establishing a community hiring hall, creating a municipal bank and developing a green tech training center - could spark more progressive, out-of-the-box thinking in City Hall.
Post-Standard Editorial endorsing Howie Hawkins for Councilor At-Large in 2007
October 30, 2007
The Green Party's agenda seems to hold more water every time Howie Hawkins gets a platform.
Post-Standard Editorial
September 29, 2005
Hawkins is far and away the best candidate in this three-way race. As is his custom, Hawkins has shaped his campaign around a promise to provide a voice for the voiceless. He is a tireless activist for empowering the traditionally disenfranchised. He promises to be a councilor who "represents the community instead of the power structure".
Post-Standard Editorial endorsing Howie Hawkins for 4th District Councilor in 2001
October 20, 2001
Howie Hawkins has always been willing to speak truth to power and to organize for justice for those who are oppressed. He has worked closely with communities of color in Syracuse and statewide on issues such as environmental justice, living wage jobs and criminal justice reform. Howie will speak up on issues such as universal health care, affordable housing and opposition to the war.
Dr. Alice Green, Executive Director, The Center for Law and Justice, Albany
Endorsing Howie Hawkins’ Green challenge to Hillary Clinton for US Senate in 2006
Howie Hawkins gets it when it comes to the central issue of our time: the need to rapidly enact a clean energy revolution with all that goes with it as far as job creation, economic development, peace, mass transportation, energy conservation and an end to corporate domination of politics. A continuing fossil-fuel dependent world economy ensures years and years of violent and destructive energy wars. We must end the war in Iraq and renounce plans for military bases and corporate control of oil as we enact the kind of Clean Energy Transition that Ross Gelbspan, Howie Hawkins and others have put forward.
Ted Glick, Coordinator, U.S. Climate Emergency Council
Endorsing Howie Hawkins’ Green challenge to Hillary Clinton for US Senate in 2006
Clinton has deftly avoided any substance in her campaign, riding a wave of celebrity back into her current office and possibly into the White House. But one candidate is talking about the issues that are important. One candidate wants to end the botched war in Iraq and ensure Americans have access to health care, and that candidate is Howie Hawkins.
Metroland (Albany) endorsement of Howie Hawkins for US Senate in 2006
Howie Hawkins is a man of principle. A union activist with the Teamsters, a working-class environmentalist, and a widely respected figure in Syracuse politics, Mr. Hawkins has the on-the-ground experience needed to grab Washington by the throat and turn it around, forcing millionaire career politicians to stop sending our families to die for oil, to create good-paying union jobs replacing our outdated energy infrastructure with power sources that don't poison our kids, and give our tax money back to local business and Main Street, rather than to huge corporations bloated with taxpayer subsidies. Howie understands the concrete policies we need to make this happen. He has the backbone to fight, and the dedication to win. He's in this for the long haul and deserves the support of every New Yorker.
Jason West, Mayor of New Paltz
Endorsing Howie Hawkins’ Green challenge to Hillary Clinton for US Senate in 2006
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