ISSUES
Green Party Platform
Government Tranparency
Greens believe in Grassroots Democracy so open goverment, accountable to the people is
a natural corollary. As such, we will commit to the following:
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Solicit public input into county and city government decisions
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Ask questions and provide the public with information to meaningfully participate
in decision-making
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Comply with the letter and the spirit of the New York State Open Meetings Law and Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)
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Hold County and City officials - elected and appointed - accountable for their actions or inaction
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Ensure rigorous enforcement of, and adherence to, the highest standards of ethical conduct by elected and appointed County officials
Greens are committed to an economy that works for all residents providing needed goods and services and meaningful work that ensures all residents share more equitably the wealth generated in and around Schenectady County. We will begin to do this by:
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Embracing the principles of a Steady State Economy that eschews economic growth, profits for the 1% fueled by mindless consumerism ("More is Better") in favor of balanced investment, more leisure time and an improved quality of life for all through equitable distribution of social wealth ("Better is Better").
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Requiring all vendors holding county contracts to pay their employees a liveable wage of at least $15/hour plus comprehensive benefits such as health care, sick pay and annual leave.
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Prohibiting Metroplex and any other City or County-operated or funded economic development agency (eg. Industrial Development Authorities, City Economic Development Office etc.) from funding business start-ups that compete with other, pre-existing small businesses already paying taxes in Schenectady County.
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Requiring all City or County-funded or sponsored organizations to review their procurement policies and contracts to give a preference to locally-produced or provided goods and services. We will encourage all other large local institutions - both public and private (for-profit or non-profit), such as hospitals, schools, universities and businesses, to also give preference to locally-produced or sourced goods and services from local businesses that pay their employees a liveable wage with benefits. In this way, our community anchor institutions will keep their dollars in the local community and economy helping to create and sustain jobs our residents can count on to provide a decent standard of living
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Greens will also work to encourage the formation of co-operative, worker-owned local businesses to produce products and services not currently available locally. City and County governments and funded agencies will also be required to give preference to these businesses for all procurements.
Sustainable Local Economy
Fight Climate Change
Environmental protection is central to the Green mission and philosophy, and taking aggressive and affirmative steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and convert our communities to be powered by renewable energy sources is key to human survival in the 21st century.
Consistent with this effort is the need to establish a local Steady State Economy (SSE) that avoids traditional notions of "economic growth" that always comes at the expense of our environment, health and need to promote long term, locally-sustainable and viable communities. We will reduce Schenetady's carbon footprint and promote the development of a network of local, non-profit and cooperative organizations to source essential goods and services and keep our dollars local to reduce the need for long-distance transport/import of needed goods and services.
With these goals in mind, Greens are committed to:
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Reducing the total County and City carbon footprint including reducing local greenhouse gas emissions by implementing a county-wide home/institution/business energy saving program by conducting energy audits, retrofitting and weatherizing buildings throughout the county.
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Developing a Renewable Energy Technician training program at Schenectady County Community College and providing free tuition to qualified student residents to complete this program, receive certification and retain a position working for the County to install and maintain solar and other systems in Schenectady County;
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Providing public funding through redirecting existing "economic development" funding - through Metroplex and other government-funded or supported IDAs or agencies and issuing public bonds to pay for the SCCC program development and staffing it, hiring a team of graduates to implement a comprehensive auditing and retrofitting program to provide solar and/or other renewable energy systems to all public buildings in Schenectady County. Upon completion of this phase of the project, we will expand the project in years to come to local non-profit, residential and commercial properties.
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Supporting a ban on all plastic bags in grocery stores operating within Schenectady County
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Promoting and supporting the use of existing public land for the development and expansion of community gardens and supporting the expansion of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs through existing family farms or through the development of co-op farms using existing or expanded Cornell Cooperative Extension services
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Exploring cooperative arrangements with all local and regional government entities to reduce the need for maintaining separate fleets of vehicles, police forces etc.
Improve County Quality of Life
Greens believe that creating a thriving community that serves the needs of all its residents is critical. We will do this by supporting the following initiatives that will improve the overall quality of life for all Schenectadians:
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Creating walk-able, pedestrian-friendly communities
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Ensuring that all front-line service providers (police, EMTs, nurses, social workers etc) are adequately compensated and provided time to decompress from highly-stressful work. We will do this by ensuring staffing ratios are realistic to meet the community needs to be served, etc....That the work week is shortened from 40 to 37.5 hours for work.