ACTS-CNY

We Fulfilled Our Promise…

ACTS PUBLIC ACTION MEETING 2009

FULFILLING OUR PROMISE

Two days before Election Day ACTS organized 1,200 community leaders and residents at Henninger High School to secure concrete public commitments from our region’s elected officials and candidates.  The ACTS Public Action Meeting on Sunday, November 1^st was the most moving, transforming, beautiful and powerful in Syracuse and Central New York.  It was indeed a new day.

We had standing room only.  It began with a magnificent Roll Call & Procession that ended with 1,200 people on their feet cheering.

ACTS has become a powerful civic force in Central New York. 

The Post-Standard wrote on Election Day November 3^rd, 2009: ”Task force leaders laid out their agendas and respectfully asked mayoral candidates to sign on. One by one [each candidate]…promised to work to bring a supermarket to the South Side, expand job opportunities and end racial profiling.”  The Post-Standard continued in their editorial: “the positive, collaborative tone of Sunday’s meeting provided a reason to vote today: to commit with public officials and community advocates to achieving worthy goals together.”  Also as a result of the meeting, ACTS leaders met for the first time with Governor David Paterson in Syracuse.

Close to 40 public officials and candidates for office at the federal, state, and local government level stood and waited politely for the applause that was allowed-only after every one had been named.  Not a single politician or candidate was allowed to grand stand.

As a result, the Public Action Meeting was all about ACTS’ members: our values, our stories, our issues, and our specific demands.  We did something that is rarely seen between public officials and constituents: we made our public officials and candidates sit and listen to us and answer to our agenda.

• See More Photos
• Read Press Coverage of the Event
• Read about the Powerful Testimonials Presented at the Event
• Read about the Commitments Candidates and Elected Officials made the Members of ACTS

On Tuesday, January 26, 2010, leaders representing ACTS met with Governor David Paterson in Syracuse for 45 minutes. It was ACTS’ first face-to-face meeting with a NY State Governor.

ACTS Co-President Rev. Kevin Agee, ACTS Clergy Caucus Chair Rev. Nebraski Carter, ACTS Executive Committee member Mrs. Linda Ervin, ACTS Southside Food Access Team leader Ms. Mable Wilson, ACTS Justice Task Force Chair Ms. Emily Napier, and ACTS Economic Development & Jobs Task Force Chair Mr. Julio Urrutia, Sr. represented ACTS in this milestone meeting.

Rev. Agee opened the meeting with an opening blessing. Linda then masterfully explained ACTS growing interfaith, interracial, urban-suburban coalition, and our regional scope. She mentioned ACTS’ county-wide initiative that has enrolled over 3,000 children onto Child Health Plus in just two years.

Gov. Paterson was extremely impressed by our meeting. He said hearing about the Justice Task Force’s ID issue was the “event of the day today.” He also said we were “better organized than most groups” and that we were a “very talented group.”

Key issues discussed:

• Onondaga County SCHIP Coalition: Gov. Paterson committed to speak with NYS Department of Health officials about the department’s bureaucratic barriers that keep children from enrolling on Child Health Plus. This has statewide implications.
• IDs: Gov. Paterson committed to speak with NYS Department of Motor Vehicles officials to have the DMV accept letters from the county justice departments as proof of identification. This also has statewide implications.
• Southside grocery store: Gov. Paterson committed to look into bringing tech assistance and resources from into the south side.
• Stimulus accountability: Gov. Paterson committed to support ACTS in pushing for community benefits, accountability, and transparency with a specific stimulus project we chose to focus on in the greater Syracuse region.