Charter questions on Nov. 4 ballot
	Official Name	What It Means	DC 37 Says
Question 3	City Elections	Eliminate Democratic primary	NO
Question 4	City Purchasing	More contracting out	NO
Question 5	Government Administration	Cutbacks and downsizing	NO

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

District Council 37 is asking all members to stand together in solidarity Nov. 4 and send a message from the voting booth to Mayor Michael Bloomberg. On Election Day, voters will decide to accept or reject the Charter Revision Commission’s ballot questions. After careful study, the union is urging a NO vote on three proposals because they are bad for our city, bad for public services and bad for public employees.

DC 37 supports another proposal, Question 6, that could lead to smaller classes in public schools.

The three bad proposals — Questions 3, 4 and 5 on the Nov. 4 ballot — would increase the mayor’s power, diminish the public’s power and weaken labor. They would limit voters’ ability to make informed choices on candidates, make it easier to contract out services and eliminate public sector jobs, downsize services and eliminate the Preliminary Mayor’s Management Report.

Question 3: City Elections (Elimination of Party Primaries)
This proposal would limit voters’ ability to make informed decisions about candidates and would eliminate the voting system we are familiar with.
DC 37 urges you to vote NO, because eliminating party primaries is confusing and undemocratic.

Question 4: Procurement (Privatization and Contracting Out)
This proposal would be like a license for layoffs. It would ease the way to contracting out services — and jobs — by allowing the mayor to sidestep public involvement in the procurement process. Public notice, hearings, bidding and oversight would be eliminated on any contract the government classifies as a “security contract.”
DC 37 urges you to vote NO, because this is the strategy President Bush is using to enrich his buddies with tax dollars for rebuilding Iraq.

This proposal would also increase the number of contracts offered without competitive bidding and perpetuate a lack of accountability from contractors, who do not have to disclose the number of employees they hire with city funds, or whether they pay prevailing or living wages.
DC 37 urges you to vote NO, because bidding protects public funds and union workers.

Question 5: City Administration (Downsizing City Services)
This proposal hands more power to the mayor at the expense of the broader community by reducing the Voter Assistance Commission from 16 to seven members and letting the mayor choose the commission chair. It also would eliminate the Preliminary Mayor’s Management Report, the city’s measure of a mayor’s performance.
DC 37 urges you to vote NO, because this change would create a double standard, letting the mayor duck a performance evaluation as he demands more productivity from overworked, underpaid city workers.

Having a handpicked commission press these issues outside the legislative process chisels away at our democratic system. In the last seven years, Republican mayors have tried this tactic six times. DC 37, the labor movement and the people of New York have defeated them all — but this is the most dangerous yet. In 1999, DC 37 members sent a loud and resounding NO to Mayor Giuliani’s charter changes. We intend to send the same loud message Nov. 4 by voting down Questions 3, 4 and 5.