“CSEA Central Region 5 is very proud to endorse Howie Hawkins for Syracuse Common Council District 4. We are confident Howie is the candidate for the middle class, working men and women and those less fortunate. He will bring an independent and thoughtful no-nonsense approach to the Syracuse Council, something we need during these tough economic times.”

Want to know if you're in the 4th? Check out our map below! You can find your polling place at My Voter Search: https://voterlookup.elections.state.ny.us If you need a ride to the polls, call (315) 474-7055.

By Kevin Bott and Howie Hawkins - Read on syracuse.com here.

The City of Syracuse is moving ever closer to bankruptcy. By the end of next fiscal year, we face a Detroit-like takeover of our elected city government by a state-appointed Financial Control Board.

The once and future solution to the city's fiscal crisis is state revenue sharing, funded by progressive taxation. Revenue sharing is not a bailout. We already pay for revenue sharing with our state income and sales taxes. It is a fiscal responsibility the state took on to fund the services it mandates that municipalities provide.

Syracuse, NY – Green Party candidates Kevin Bott for Mayor and Howie Hawkins for 4^th District Councilor said today that a restoration of previously promised levels of state revenue sharing for urban aid and school aid was the only viable solution to Syracuse's fiscal crisis. Download the complete position paper.

The paper criticizes those, like 4^th District Councilor Khalid Bey as well as Governor Cuomo in remarks in Syracuse last June, who call for fiscal self-reliance for Syracuse based on expanding the local property tax base with economic development. “Syracuse needs about $1 billion in new taxable property to raise the $24 million a year in additional revenues over the next three years that is needed cover projected budget gaps. That won't happen. The city only has 3.7 billion in taxable property now. Fiscal self-reliance is fiscal fantasy for Syracuse,” the position paper says.

“We have no apologies for progressive taxation and a revitalized public sector.”

 One could argue that the most energetic opposition to the Democratic candidates for Syracuse City offices this November is coming from a third party, the Greens.  In this edition of the Campbell Conversations, Grant Reeher speaks to the Green Party candidates for mayor, city council, and board of education, and explores their collective vision for a new set of city policies and a new way of governance. Listen to the interview on WRVO's Campbell Conversations hosted by Grant Reeher.

"Maffei promised the voters that he was different from the Tea Party Republican, Ann Marie Burkle. Yet when the Tea Party decides to hold the government hostage out of their obsession with Obamacare, Maffei was one of nine House Democrats to vote with them," stated Ursula Rozum, the Green Party candidate for Congress in the last election in 2012.

"...to now cut off essential services, lay off close to a million workers, and blow off the economic consequences is unforgivable," noted Howie Hawkins, Green Party candidate for 4th District Councilor.

Howie is running for Syracuse City Council in order to speak up for the policies needed to fully fund our schools and public services. He is a lifelong activist, always working hard, agitating and organizing for practical solutions. Howie received 48% in 2011 for this same seat, so we know he can win.

To support him, please pledge to during the Money Bloom on Friday September 27: http://www.howiehawkins.org/moneybloom_for_howie

On Labor Day, it is once again an appropriate time to ask the questions we asked leading up to the Aug. 27 community forum in Syracuse on the 50th Anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Justice. 

Why progress on civil rights and economic justice stalled and reversed since the demands of the 1963 March on Washington were made?

Howie was on WCNY's Insight program on Aug. 30 discussing city issues and the recent debate among Democratic mayoral primary candidates: http://video.pbs.org/video/2365071230/