Recent Metro Justice Activities
Metro Justice Annual Dinner
Sunday, May 4th, 2008
Carol Hoffman and Rosemary Rivera
Tom Stephens receiving the Earth Mover Award from Metro Justice Organizer, Jon Greenbaum
Featured Speaker, David Cay Johnston, auther of Free Lunch
Citizen Action Confronts the Governor
April 29, 2008
Mary Clark tells Governor David Paterson that New Yorkers think Clean Elections will SAVE us taxpayer dollars
CMCE Press Conference
Monday, April 28, 2008
Steve Davis explaining that 79% of NYers support full publicly financed elections
Winter Soldier
March 16-20
Metro Justice intern Mike Totten tearing up his Bronze Star Award at the Winter Soldier Testimony
Rally to Support Martinez Ruling
February 25, 2008
Hundreds of area residents showed up at the County Office Building to protest Maggie Brooks' appeal of the Martinez ruling honoring the legality of Pat Martinez' marriage to Lisa Golden in Toronto
Zero Tolerance Speakout
Nick Robertson testifying about the ineffectiveness of Zero Tolerance policies
Persia in Peril
February 11, 2008
Babek Elah's presentation
IDA Reform Press Conference
January 31, 2008
MJ Members Lobby Susan John on CMCE
January 17, 2008
Metro Justice Annual Meeting
Metro Justice members discuss the pros and cons of endorsing candidates
Public Defender Protest
December 19, 2007
Myra Brown appeals to Deputies to allow the public to testify in favor of an inclusive search process
Racial Justice Workshop
Jennifer Bannister facilitates
Stop Funding the War Phonathon
Joyce Herman talks to constituents in Louise Slaughter's district.
Local Hiring Speakout
Jamel Brooks writes down Lovely Warren's commitment to work with Metro Justice on local hiring.
In the News
Fall, 2007
National Push Back Gathering July 13-15 2007
Louisville Kentucky
Social Action Cttee Chair Mike Patterson representing Metro Justice at the national gathering. Community groups from around the country shared their experiences with voter mobilization campaigns.
Ciudad Hermana Trip to Nicaragua
Rosemary Rivera in El Sauce with Nicaraguan youth
Health Care Strategy Meeting
Metro Justice members traveled to Albany to help formulate a statewide strategy for a universal health care campaign
Pastors for Peace Friendshipment, July 7, 2007
Peter Mott explaining how ROCLA gathered medical supplies to load onto the Pastors for Peace truck to help the people of Cuba.
Tom Moore, loading the truck.
Against All Odds Picnic Celebration, June 7, 2007
Freddie Thomas High School
Metro Justice Council Member, Vel Caldwell, serving at the picnic celebrating the Alliance for Quality Education's historic victory in securing over $7 billion in school funding. The Alliance for Quality Education succeeded in changing the school funding formula so that education dollars are dispersed according to district need rather than political clout.
Over 300 people turned out and were entertained by the soul reggae and hip hop sounds of Black August.
Sue Morgan organized the games.
MJ President Jesse Lenney with MJ Council Member and grillmaster, Mike Lopez.
Democrat and Chronicle Speak Out Piece, June 19, 2007 
Campaign Finance Forum, May 24 sponsored by NYPIRG, LWV, Common Cause
Eleven elected representatives were invited to participate in a public forum on campaign finance reform. Only David Koon showed up. Koon expressed his support for full public financing of elections. A representative from Senator Robach's office said he supports elements of campaign finance reform. Assemblywoman Susan John sent a letter expressing her support for full public financing. Senator Bruno says "New Yorkers don't give two hoots about campaign finance." It looks like some of our elected representatives are the ones who don't give two hoots.
Metro Justice members filled the room, wearing our red T-shirts.
We raised our brooms aloft in support of cleaning up the campaign finance system in Albany.
Peace Action Education Anti War Crisis Center Grand Opening , May 11
Annual Dinner, May 6, 2007>
Over two hundred people enjoyed the Metro Justice Annual DInner
Keep on Pushin' Award winner Judy Bello
AQE organizer Rosemary "Rocky" Rivera awarding Tammy Gurowski for "Stickin' and Stayin'
Tenacity with Aplomb Award winner Bess Watts (awarded with her partner Ann Tischer, not shown)
Lifetime Achievement Award winner Marv Seemann
Executive Director of Jobs with Justice, Adrianne Shropshire.
Progressives In Action members Ann Diehl and Marianne Hamilton. PIA was recognized with the MJ Community in Resistance Award
Equal Justice Day, Albany, May 1
Metro Justice members travelled to Albany to lobby for equal marriage for same sex couples.
Reform IDA Press Conference, May 15
Metro Justice member Fred Schaeffer calling for statewide reforms
Brighton Town Supervisor Sandra Frankel explaining out current IDA law cuts local municipalities out of the decisionmaking process.
AQE Town Hall Meeting , March 22, 2007
Mike Patterson pointing out that the Senate education funding formula will lock in funding inequities in favor of wealthy school districts.
Hundreds of area residents showed up to hold their elected officials accountable for equitable school funding.
Senator Robach said that he liked much of what Governor Spitzer had proposed and expressed his hope that negotiations will develop an acceptable compromise.
Fourth Anniversary of War Rally, March 18
Rallying to fund the withdrawal of our troops from Iraq.
Empire State Economic Security Rally, Albany, March 13
Sister Grace Miller calling for an increase in the welfare allotment.
ROCLA Annual Rice and Beans Dinner, March, 2007
Michael Argaman of Ciudad Hermana Task Force accepts ROCLA’s White Dove Award at the annual Beans and Rice dinner on March 16th. Michael was honored for his extraordinary efforts on behalf of Nicaraguan solidarity and the people of El Sauce, Nicaragua.
Valentines Day Have a Heart for Marriage Equality
Debby Oppenheimer and Ruben Rodriguez making valentines cards to send to their elected officials, urging them to "have a heart" and support Equal Marriage legislation.
Sue Morgan, Jenny Gaul and their daughter Kate.
Ralph Carter being interviewed by Channel 13.
Metro Justice Annual Meeting, February 3, 2007
Operations and Development Director, Tanya Smolinsky, and 2006 Finance Chair, Julie White, explaining MJ's budget and finances.
Metro Justice sends 300 Area Residents to DC to Rally to Bring Our Troops Home, January 25
Iraq vet, Robert Hunt, speaking in favor of bringing the troops home before he boarded the MJ bus to Washington DC.
One NY Economic Development , January 23
MJ Organizer, Jon Greenbaum, presenting the One NY economic development proposal at the Rundell Library's Thursday Thinker series.
MJ Members Rally at Federal Building to Reject Bush's Call for Troop Escalation, January 11
Bonnie Freeman calling for justice for detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
Rochester City School Board Hearing, January 2006
Ethel Dix (top) and Vel Caldwell (below) at a January Board of Education hearing on hiring a new Rochester City School District Superintendent. Alliance for Quality Education members presented their expectations on the qualities and characteristics the next RCSD superintendent.
Mondays at 6pm, RCTV Channel 15, December 2006
TV Dinner
Metro Justice's cable television program, TV Dinner, focuses on same-sex marriage in December.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
High Road Economic Development Strategy Breakfast
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Chris Hollfelder, President Sheet Metal Workers Local 46 and county legislator Paul Haney, at the High Road Economic Development Strategy Breakfast last month. Working with Jobs with Justice/NY, Metro Justice brought together 30 leaders from local neighborhood, labor and church groups to discuss a Main Street alternative to the prevailing Wall Street economic development model. We will continue to work on passing legislation reforming COMIDA and will look at the possibility of pulling together a community labor coalition aimed at holding elected officials accountable, creating project labor agreements and ensuring that economic development projects are rooted in community decisionmaking and are sustainable.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Push Back
Metro Justice members training to go door to door to mobilize progressive anti-war voters.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Metro Justice Council Priorities Retreat
The Metro Justice Priorities Committee hosted a retreat for the Metro Justice Council. The council has been looking to see how Metro Justice should develop in the next few years. In the retreat the council identified several goals, including initiating campaigns with direct relevance to poor and working class, adding community based organizing, increase political clout, increase membership and involve racial justice in all campaigns. Within the next several months the council will look at these goals, flesh them out and prioritize them.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Clean Money Clean Elections
MJ members Mel Braverman and Gary Pudup make the case for public financing of elections.
October, 2006
Alliance for Quality Education
Metro Justice member, Carla Carey, is piloting an educational program and advocating for equitable funding with the Alliance for Quality Education campaign.
Monday October 9 , 2006
Alliance for Quality Education
MJ members got on a bus to Albany and joined people from around the state to rally outside the NYS Court of Appeals in support of the Coalition for Fiscal Equity’s lawsuit for equitable education funding. This is the final appeal, calling for a clear and direct enforceable order to compel the legislature to act (the legislature did not act on previous ruling requiring more funding).
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Youth March
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Youth March
photo by Clarke Conde
Elected officials Willa Powell, Tom Brennan and Carrie Andrews join Jason and Natalie Dixon (not pictured) in holding the AQE banner.
In order to highlight the importance of the Appeals court case concerning equitable funding of education in New York, AQE brought students together to organize a march.
September 21 , 2006
Medicare Part D Donut Hole Day
September 22 was the day most seniors on Medicare found themselves in the donut hole. To spotlight the problem Metro Justice members gathered in front of Randy Kuhls office in Fairport and called on him to break with the White House and fix the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan by untying the hands of government so that it can negotiate lower drug prices and cut out the insurance company middlemen and provide real medicare. Freddy Macek and Joan Van Ness spoke to rporters and we delivered donut holes to Kuhl's staff and close to 100 handwritten letters.
September 18 , 2006
Clean Money Clean Elections Presentation at NOW
Paula Hansen (left) and Carole Hoffman (right) explained the Clean Money Clean Election system for full public financing of elections to the local chapter of National Organization of Women. The CMCE speaking bureau can do a presentation to your group. Contact the Metro Justice office at 325-2560
September 16 , 2006
Marriage Ambassador Training
Metro Justice teamed up with the Empire State Pride Agenda to do a workshop on Equal Marriage advocay. Participants learned how to tell their stories and lobby elected representatives.
September 15, 2006
Letter to the Editor
September 14 , 2006
Bus Fareness Public Forum
Metro Justice organized the Bus Fareness Coalition and called a public forum on the RTS. Participants told their stories and called for RTS to be held accountable to the people who ride the RTS buses. The coalition is currently circulating postcards calling for the creation of a citizen review board with veto power.
September 13 , 2006
Bus Fareness Survey
Utilizing state of the art polling technology (marbles and 3 mayonnaise jars), members of the Bus Fareness Coalition (Bonnie Cannan pictured) asked bus riders downtown if they 1) felt that the RTS board represented them 2) had been consulted by RTS 3) wanted the transfers to return.
September 7 , 2006
RTS backs off on fare increase
After the Bus Fareness Coalition called the bus fareness public forum, submitted Freedom of Information Requests, and talked to City Hall, RTS backed off on its scheduled bus fare increase.
September 11 , 2006
CMCE Committee meets with D&C Editorial Board
After meeting with the D&C editorial board the board endorsed the CMCE system of financing campaigns.
September 8, 2006
Act for Education Month Press Conference
Mildred Vazquez of Puerto Rican Youth Development at the Alliance for Educations Act for Education Month press conference.
August 26, 2006
Metro Justice Garage Sale
photo by Dale Carselli
Thanks to an excellent response from our members we exceeded our fundraising goals by 50
August 15, 2006
Clean Money Clean Elections Committee
The Clean Money Clean Elections committee captiured on film plotting the cleanup of politics in New York. Metro Justice has formed a rapid response team to turn out at election events to highlight the Clean Money Clean Elections issue. Metro Justice members have participated in CMCE trainings and have spoken to local community groups, explaining the CMCE campaign finance system, and have produced a video now showing on local cable access channels.
July 6, 2006
Rallying for the Freedom to Marry
Hundreds of area residents rallied after the NYS Appeals Court handed down its decision
June 13, 2006
Packing the County Legislature for Industrial Development Reform
photo by Clarke Conde
Frank Wirt, Carpenters Local 85, testifying about the need for Industrial Development Agency Reform
photo by Clarke Conde
Rosemary Rivera, Alliance for Quality Eduction, urging county legislators to sign onto the memorializing resolution is support of IDA reform legislation.
May 7, 2006
Metro Justice Annual Dinner
Featured Speaker Greg Leroy, Director of Good Jobs First and author of The Great American Jobs Scam: Corporate Tax Dodging and the Myth of Job Creation
Annual DInner Chairperson Jackie Farrell pulled off a wonderful event!
April '06
Press Conference for Release of COMIDA isn't Spanish for Free Lunch report
MJ member, Bill McCoy, calling for IDA reforms. photo by Ann Baughman
March 14 President's Bush Comes to Canandaigua to Talk about his Part D Prescription Drug Plan Disaster
photo by Annette Dragon
Father Phil Schaefer, Metro Justice Council member, "D is for Disaster"
March '06
Clean Money Clean Elections Workshop
Participants in MJ's speaker training for Clean Money Clean Elections
March 12 Part D Prescription Drug Plan Speakout
Chris Hilderbrant (left), Center for Disability Rights and Lyn Varrichio(right), Rochester Area Task Force on AIDS, testifying about the Part D mess and the need to take the prescription drug plan out of the hands of the insurance company middlemen and bring it into the Medicare system and allow the government to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices.
Feb 28th
ES2 Legislative Education and Action Day
Dozens of people boarded the Metro Justice bus to join hundreds of people from around the state to rally and lobby in Albany for a fair budget for ALL New Yorkers.
Greg Leroy, author of the Great American Job Scam, rallying the crowd to end corporate welfare abuse in New York State
Metro Justice Annual Meeting January '06
Metro Justice members voted on bylaws, the budget and a new council
and broke out into groups to discuss MJ's future
Metro Justice's new President, Katie Castern, facilitating the meeting.
December 20 City Council Passes Legislation
on Lead Poisoning!
Rochester Makes Lead History
Joan Rosenthal at the City Council meeting in which an
emotional Tim Mains urged his fellow City Council members to pass
strong and effective legislation to end childhood lead poisoning
in Rochester by 2010.
Monroe County Agrees to Test for Lead
Dec 13 State Board of Election Public Hearing
on Voting Machines
Chris Hildebrant, Center for Disability Rights telling
the BOE that none of the machines demonstrated so far are accessible.
Tim Minerd addressing the security issue.
Dec 13 Every Vote Counts Coalition Addresses
County Legislature
Nov 19th 2005 Dozens Turn out for Wal-Mart
Protest
MJ Vice President Katie Castern
Clipping from the Labor News Dec 2. The caption reads dozens of
protesters Showed up outside of Wal-Mart in Gates recently to protest
the impact htese mega-stores are having on our community. The event
was put together by Metro Justice and supported by organized Labor.
Katie Castern, Vice President of the group (pictured above) spoke
on the evils of Wal-Mart and the damage they do to workers.
The Event was organized by Katie Burke
Nov 7 Press Conference
Caravan to Stop Congress'
$50 Million in Budget Cuts to Medicaid, SSI, Medicare and Food Stamps
The Caravan stopped at St. Joe's House of Hospitality and the House
of Mercy
At a speakout at the House of Mercy Maurice pointed out the absurdity
of cutting funds for Food Stamps while giving tax breaks to the
wealthiest Americans
John Keevert and Sister Gratia Esperanza at the House of Mercy
Oct 29 March to Bring Our Troops Home
photo
by Georgia NeSmith
Hundreds of area residents marched from the Federal Building to
the Democrat and Chronicle to the War Memorial on the occasion of
the 2000th American military casuality in Iraq.
Oct 11 Protect Our Children from Lead Poisoning
Rally
Dozens of Metro Justice members surrounded City Hall with a chain
of thousands of postcards. The postcards urged City council to pass
strong effective legislation that ends childhood lead poisoning
by the year 2010 (clipping from the Oct 12 D&C- Carlos Ortiz,
photographer)
October 2nd Metro Justice
Annual Dinner 2005
featuring Camilo Mejia, war resister
Julie White, Metro Justice Fundraising Cttee Chair. Kudos to Julie
for an excellent event!
What We've Been Up to Archives.