Cornwall Democratic Committee Statement on Police Brutality and Protests

The words “Equal Justice Under Law” stand over the entrance to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Declaration of Independence states “all men are created equal.” The 13th and 14th Amendments abolished slavery. But despite our ideals, America has yet to conquer systemic racial prejudice and discrimination.

Every new video of unarmed Black Americans dying at the hands of the state reminds us how far we still have to go to realize our nation's founding creed of equality. Whatever progress we’ve made since the days of legal slavery has been consistently undermined by more subtle tactics including, as we have been seeing, far too many instances of police brutality. 

We believe that the passion and energy of the demonstrations following the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Rayshard Brooks can be turned into a powerful force for good. Therefore we stand with our local and state elected officials and candidates who have attended Black Lives Matter demonstrations in recent weeks and spoken out against police misconduct. 

The Committee encourages and welcomes our neighbors of color and younger people to get involved and help us realize the values we share. We firmly believe that justice should not be a partisan issue, and we urge all people of good will to join us in seeking to end systemic racism against people of color.

None of us are free until all of us are free. Black lives matter.

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Cornwall Young Democrats: Black Lives Matter

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The Cornwall Young Democrats have always unequivocally supported the Black members of our community in advocating for the Black Lives Matter movement. Now, we stand with those who have chosen to protest. Furthermore, in light of the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other black people at the hands of racist police, we are imploring our elected officials to do the same. 

 Over the past ten days, Democratic governors have by and large condemned and repressed the protests that have taken place, prioritizing property over people and peace over progress. While the ballot box has been touted as our most effective tool in pushing for systemic change, the cry of “vote blue no matter who” falls short in consideration of recent events. It is Democratic mayors and Democratic governors who have responded to peaceful protests with heavily militarized police and draconian curfews, and who have defended the excessive force executed indiscriminately by cops upon dissidents as necessary.

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The Cornwall Young Democrats are hopeful when we see the choices that young people have made in light of the tragedies of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Botham Jean, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Walter Scott, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling, Freddie Gray, Laquan McDonald, and countless others, and contend that if the party is to survive in any kind of relevance, its response to the Black Lives Matter movement can no longer be a rain of rubber bullets, nor a cloud of tear gas, but meaningful systematic change that protects and values the lives of black Americans.

Phase One Reopening Information from James Skoufis

HUDSON VALLEY TO BEGIN SAFE REOPENING ON TUESDAY

Our region has successfully met all the benchmarks required to begin a safe reopening this Tuesday. Phase one begins the next stage of our recovery: we need to build back and build back stronger while continuing to protect the public’s health. As we move forward, please continue to respect CDC guidelines.

My team and I remain committed to supporting anyone and everyone who we can assist. We can be reached at skoufis@nysenate.gov and 845-567-1270.

HERE ARE THE CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES FOR REOPENING BY INDUSTRY, INCLUDING INDUSTRY-SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.

Democratic Presidential Primary Reinstated June 23: Absentee Voting Encouraged

From the Orange County Democratic Committee:

It is now confirmed that NYS Democratic presidential primary will take place on June 23rd. The United States 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court ruling that the June 23rd Democratic primary could not be cancelled by the Board of Elections. The NYS BOE will not appeal the 2nd Circuit decision. 

Please consider voting via absentee ballot. Although polling sites will be open on Primary Elections Day and during the new early voting periods, every voter is entitled to vote absentee based on the threat of exposure to the coronavirus.

The Orange County Board of Elections is sending every eligible Democratic Party voter an absentee ballot application, with an accompanying return postage paid envelop. Please fill out that application and send that document back to the Orange County Board of Elections to receive your ballot for the primary.

When applying to vote by absentee, check the box for “Temporary illness or physical disability” with no requirement for in-person signature or appearance to be able to access an absentee ballot.

Absentee Applications are DUE TUESDAY June 16th. This means the application must be postmarked or dropped off at the Board of Elections in Goshen by hand by- and on- TUESDAY JUNE 16th.

Delivery of absentee ballots to voters still remains the same—via mail or in person. There is no change in the return methods: mail or in person.

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Pandemic Resources from Senator James Skoufis

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If your family or business has been impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, the following grants and other resources may be of use. As many of these grants and financial resources are changing rapidly, Senator Skoufis’ Grants Specialist will update this document weekly with the most accurate and timely information. Please continue to check back for any changes or additions.

https://files.constantcontact.com/fb588e1b201/aeffccc3-0030-47b0-b089-19aecc6f324c.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1w15sj-4cQJM88kF6LKehlzQHzAIIGroKWZ8Ai_g_kTcfSHjHQfgHjvco

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Young Dems Step up to Tutor

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Some of the Cornwall Young Democrats are involved in a project that is providing virtual tutoring to students K-12 in Duchess and Orange county while school is closed. Duchess-Orange Tutoring, or DOT, was started by Jess Wu and has been running for roughly a month now. More information can be found here, https://dotutoring.wixsite.com/dotutoring.

Today, the DOT administrative team got to speak to Congressman Antonio Delgado; this weekend they will be included in his local hero's spotlight.

If you know a K-12 student in need of tutoring, or a college or high school aged student who would like to become a tutor, please visit the site where you can sign up via google form. The team wants to reach as many kids as possible, so please help them get out the word!

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Uncertainty Reigns for Young Voters

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By Isabella Crow and Alex Raposo

In the wake of the recent Presidential primaries, Gen Z democrats have expressed “dissatisfaction,” “concern,” “worry,” and, most overwhelmingly, a lack of confidence in the apparent frontrunner of the Democratic party. Notably, however, they have not been turning out in electoral support of the progressive candidate, either, which begs the question: what will get young people to the polls, if it’s not electability, and it’s not idealism?

This feeling of confusion has been permeating the political atmosphere, especially since the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), recently declared pandemic by the WHO. It remains too early to tell if coronavirus will ultimately eclipse the election season entirely or whether, at this crucial turning point, it will unify the party into a decisive faction by November.

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Cornwall Democrats Announce 2020 Vision

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Strong Slate Topped by Maloney, Skoufis, and Bhandarkar

It’s Finally here. The Main Event. We’ve been hearing this so frequently over the last 40 months that it’s almost cliché to call the 2020 Presidential Election the “most important election of our lifetimes.” And yet it is.

But while we cannot take anything for granted we can feel confident that that New York’s 29 electoral votes will go to the eventual Democratic Nominee – whoever he may be. However that same level of confidence does not extend to the local down-ticket races and the gains made at the state and local level could be in jeopardy.

But fear not, because the Cornwall Democratic Committee and the Orange County Democratic Party have endorsed a slate of candidates that provide outstanding alternatives to the cynical Republican opperatives seeking your trust.

On the ballot just below President and Vice President we will find the 18th Congressional District candidates. Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney is seeking reelection. Those of us that watched the House Intelligence Committee’s impeachment hearings will never forget Congressman Maloney’s direct question to Ambassador Gordon Sondland:

Congressman Maloney: Was there a quid pro quo?
Ambassador Sondland: Yes.

Following Congressman Maloney on the ballot is Cornwall’s long-time friend and new resident, Senator James Skoufis. Reflecting on the year’s accomplishments, Senator Skoufis recently told The Cornwall Democrat, “I'm proud to have led theeffort in Albany to: protect sexual abuse survivors by passing the Child Victims Act; eliminate vaccine loopholes; make the property tax cap permanent; unmask shady LLC property owners; hold the Kiryas Joel-owned well in Cornwall accountable; and secure more money than has ever come back to our Senate District for our schools and roads.”

In addition the Senator is well known for his tireless work in-district on behalf of local residents. For all of his hard work Senator Skoufis has a target on his back. State republicans have made a priority out of regaining the senate and our senator heads their hit list.

On the Assembly side Sarita Bhandarkar is running for the 99th Assembly District seat formerly held by James Skoufis. Since the 99th fell into Republican hands two years ago the district has seen nothing but grandstanding from its assemblyman. Ms. Bhandarkar will work with Senator Skoufis to ensure that local needs are met in Albany. 

There are the judicial candidates too. Running for Orange County Court Judge is Judge Paul Trachte from the City of Newburgh where he established a “drug court” as well as a policy towards offenders with underlying mental health conditions that provides for treatment over incarceration when appropriate. For Family Court Judge the convention nominated Maria Patrizio who has this to say about her candidacy: “I’m running for Family Court judge because families need a good, caring judge to be there during their most difficult times. I have spent 20 years serving the people of Orange County as a Family Court attorney, prioritizing excellence and compassion. As a judge, I will work to make an already difficult process easier on struggling families.” Ms. Patrizio Literally wrote the book on Family Court, Successfully Navigating Family Court in New York.

In this year’s only race involving the Town of Cornwall Cornwall exclusively, Lynn Beesecker is seeking another term as Town Justice where he continues to deliver fair and steady justice that the residents of Cornwall have grown accuustomed to and deserve.

Donald Trump Impeached by House of Representatives