NYC Ballot Initiative relaunched as NYCCAN - The New York City Coalition for Accountability Now
(The NYC Ballot Initiative has been reorganized, placing the further gathering of signatures for the petition in the hands of Ted Walter, one of the lead petition workers involved with the first phase of this project. He is joined by Frank Morales, who will safeguard funds for NYCCAN.org - Behind Walter and Morales are some familiar names; Donna Marsh O’Connor, Bob McIlvaine, Bill Doyle, Janette MacKinlay and William Rodriguez, who have formed an interim Executive Council for the coalition. This reorganization is the result of feedback that has effected change in the handling of the petition. NYCCAN also offers a new email address for further feedback, that will be accessible by the Executive Council. This could include opinions on the current membership of the commission, which can be changed once the commission has been established. Please feel free to distribute the Press Release below far and wide, and donate if you can. - rep.)
Press Release from NYCCAN.org:
April 9, 2009
Dear Friends around the World,
THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW
To place a public referendum for an impartial, independent and subpoena powered investigation of 9/11 on the New York City Ballot for the November General Election.
The 9/11 Commission was set up in 2002 to “provide the fullest possible account of the events surrounding 9/11”. What we got instead, in the words of Commission Chairs Governor Thomas Kean and Representative Lee Hamilton, was a Commission “Set up to fail”. A joint statement from both sides of the aisle is a rarity. This one speaks volumes.
AMERICA DESERVES BETTER
Today, over 66% of New York City residents support a new 9/11 investigation. Millions now know that critical questions were left unaddressed. Only an objective, independent, subpoena powered investigation can ask the right people the relevant questions the 9/11 Commission certainly did not. Only an impartial investigation, free from intervention and powered by subpoena, can deliver the answers that every American deserves.
Thanks to your hard work and dedication in keeping 9/11 front and center all along, the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative has succeeded in collecting over 30,000 signatures, leading us to the final phase of our mission; to place a referendum for an independent subpoena powered 9/11 investigation on the NYC Ballot for the November General Election.
Those 30,000 signatures are needed to present the petition to the New York City Council for its approval. Our goal, however, is 75,000 signatures by the end of June, making it a virtual certainty that the referendum will be on the ballot, placing the decision to approve the pursuit of evidence and fact wherever it may lead exactly where it belongs - in the hands of New York City voters.
The NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative has evolved into the NYC Coalition for Accountability Now, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization comprised of 9/11 Family Members, First Responders and concerned citizens like you, determined to bring about an impartial, independent investigation into the events of September 11, 2001. Along with its new name, NYC CAN has brought new leadership and a renewed commitment to transparency and accountability.
Ted Walter, the key coordinator of the Initiative’s 2008 petitioning effort, has taken on the role of Executive Director, along with First Responder Reverend Frank Morales, who will serve as Treasurer. The organization’s Board of Directors will be comprised of 9/11 Family Members, First Responders and others committed to this effort. In the interim, the organization has created an Executive Council consisting of individuals most directly affected by September 11, including 9/11 family members Donna Marsh O’Connor, Bob McIlvaine, Jean Canavan and Bill Doyle, former downtown resident Janette MacKinlay and 9/11 Survivor William Rodriguez.
This initiative is the tangible result of all your efforts to keep 9/11 alive in the hearts and minds of the American public. At the height of our petitioning effort, we collected over 1,000 signatures per day. With 90 days and 45,000 signatures to go, our goal of 75,000 is well within reach.
THE TIME TO DONATE IS NOW
If every person who reads this letter acts now to become a Member of NYC CAN by donating just $25, we will move that much closer to our goal of 1 Million Members worldwide and quickly surpass the $100,000 required to fund the final phase of the petitioning effort. With minimal overhead, your contribution will provide well-trained, professional petitioners along with all the marketing, advertising and collateral materials necessary to help New Yorkers realize their wish for an independent and impartial investigation into the events of 9/11.
Please join our commitment to answers, accountability and action by standing together and donating what you can - $25, $50 or $500 - today. If we stand as Americans, united as one, we do not simply succeed - we make history.
Our success together depends on the efforts and participation of all, which includes an active and ongoing dialogue with you. We encourage you to email us at info@nyccan.org with any questions, comments or suggestions you may have. We’re listening. And we guarantee you’ll hear back from us. After all, we’re in this together.
And remember, while thinkers think and talkers talk, patriots act.
The time to act is now.
DONATE NOW
BECOME A MEMBER NOW
TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS NOW
Sincerely,
The New York City Coalition for Accountability Now
Donna Marsh O’Connor
Bob McIlvaine
Jean Canavan
Bill Doyle
Janette MacKinlay
William Rodriguez
Ted Walter
Frank Morales
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Good luck...
To those involved.
Do these people deserve to know how and why their loved ones were murdered? Do we deserve to know how and why 9/11 happened?
This is important
Pls go all the way.
Years have passed.
But we cannot forget.
This has to be resolved.
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The CONSTITUTION is NOT going to "collapse" into pulverized dust no matter how much thermate/explosives or planes they throw at it
Absolutely!
Those involved should be everyone. This needs movement-wide support. Good luck to all of us!
Great!
Yes this is such an important initiative for the final settlement so I hope everyone pushes full steam for this.
Donation and emails sent.
That's Good But That Sucks.
That's Good But That Sucks. I just printed up 5000 postcards with VOTE YES on the 911 Ballot Initiative. I listed the old website for the Ballot Initiative. oh boy
ESP
Although the organization has changed, and good people appear to be involved, my concern is that you have to use the original petition in order to use the existing signatures.
The original petition says:
3. The Commission shall include Dr. William Pepper (international attorney and author), Lorie Van Auken (9/11 widow,
representative of 9/11 victims families), Dr. Edgar Mitchell (Apollo 14 astronaut), Lincoln Chafee (former U.S. Senator), Mike
Gravel (former U.S. Senator), Ed Asner (actor/activist), Ralph Schoenman (political scientist), Thomas Gumbleton (Roman Catholic
Bishop), and others to be appointed by majority vote of the Commission members to bring the Commission up to as many as 15
members, and to fill any vacancies thereafter from nominees proposed by any member of the Commission. The Commission shall
have a duty to maintain the number of Commissioners at no less than nine and to fill vacancies promptly.
As you know, many people have concerns with Edgar Mitchell being on the Commission. Here's an example of why --
DVD – ‘The Quantum Hologram and ESP’
Starring: Quantum Hologram & ESP-Astronaut Dr Edgar Mitchell
“After decades of research and discovery on the cutting edge, Apollo 14 Astronaut, Dr. Edgar Mitchell presents an elegant scientific explanation for psychic phenomenon - The Quantum Hologram. Based on the latest research in quantum physics, this program brings to the general public information previously known by only a few research scientists in the world. Learn the details of a secret psychic experiment conducted by Mitchell on the Moon during his mission on Apollo 14. Watch as he candidly describes a personal experience of psychic and spiritual transformation that was triggered by his Moon landing aboard Apollo 14 and which led to the discoveries presented in this program. Dr. Edgar Mitchell became the sixth man to walk on the moon and later founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences to find answers to many of humanities great mysteries such as psychic phenomenon.”
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007TKNVU/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Do we need someone focused on "psychic" phenomenon -- ESP -- to determine if 9/11 was an inside job???
Mainly this will be a grenade waiting to sink the effort whenever the MSM decides.
Other former concerns are here.
Yeah... um... definitely don't want Dr. Mitchell as a co-chair
"...Aliens have contacted humans several times but governments have hidden the truth for 60 years, the sixth man to walk on the moon has claimed.
Apollo 14 astronaut Dr Edgar Mitchell, said he was aware of many UFO visits to Earth during his career with NASA but each one was covered up.
Dr Mitchell, 77, said during a radio interview that sources at the space agency who had had contact with aliens described the beings as 'little people who look strange to us.'
He said supposedly real-life ET's were similar to the traditional image of a small frame, large eyes and head...."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1037471/Apollo-14-astrona...
Great logo though. Truthers are great people, but we have a tendency to be graphics-challenged.
Experts Required As Commission Members
Professional investigators, architects, scientists, aviation experts, military researchers, foreign policy researchers.
These are the types of experts who would know where to steer an investigation.
Beware of the resistance that could be created by Council on Foreign Relations member and NYC mayor, Michael Bloomberg.
This...
Was addressed last night on the grassroots call. I suggest you contact Ted Walter, and see what he has to say about it.
Do these people deserve to know how and why their loved ones were murdered? Do we deserve to know how and why 9/11 happened?
Other concerns
Jon,
Can you post a brief summary of his response? Or is that something that can't be posted in public?
There are of course other concerns that have been expressed.
It seems that a small group of people are deciding for the entire movement who the Commissioners are to represent everyone else, and this would be an extremely public event covered in NYC newspapers, and potentially go on for years. Although family members and a lawyer are involved, these are the same family members and lawyer that have agreed to share a stage with Alfred Webre and to sit on a Commission with Edgar Mitchell. They are good people and have good intentions, but have been unaware of the relevance of mixing ESP, UFOs and 9/11 to mainstream media. That's a concern. Some of them were not unaware of who these people were and were asked not to participate in those events, yet they did. This is a concern for the credibility of the effort. I don't mean to go overboard with credibility issues, but the NYC group has a long history of problems in that area. I'm not sure that having Les not be involved will really create a firewall from the general problem of involving people who primarily will serve to set-up everyone else, and in turn, the public perception of the movement when the NYTimes runs a piece covering it. As someone on the TruthAction post said also, "we tried to get Bill Pepper to take away the 'leadership mantle' with regards to this initiative away from Les, and he ignored us." That's a red flag. I'm not sure why it took so long for that to change, but it's not a good sign.
Another concern is that the initiative appears to require that $100,000 annually be paid to each of the 9 specified commissioners. The petition FAQ says:
The Commission will be independently funded to guarantee that it remains completely independent from government influence. It is anticipated that thousands of people in New York City and across the country will contribute. Donors will exert no influence on the direction of the investigation. Those who contribute will do so because they believe in the need for an independent investigation that follows the evidence wherever it may lead.
These figures suggest a base annual budget of $900,000 to $1,500,000, while the 5 year budget itself is quoted as $50 million. Will thousands of people really contribute $50 million dollars? What happens if this amount is not acquired?
As John Albanese described in the TruthAction post:
"Les Jamieson started the ballot initiative along with Father Frank Morales at St Marks church in NYC. This is the same church and organization that denied TruthMove and Nicholas Levis a platform for speaking - yet allowed Nico Haupt to present a 'no-planes' lecture - and later (a few weeks ago) Paula Gloria."
I have concerns about the role of Frank Morales if this is true. He appears to be another person who does not understand about credibility or disinformation and had no qualms, apparently, about working with Les. Here's a poster's experience at a ballot initiative meeting last year in May, that he posted on TruthAction:
"With a basic grasp of the background info, I went to the 9/11 Ballot Initiative meeting at St Marks last month to witness first hand the dynamic. It was strange. There were only about 70 people (attendees/organizers), and mostly very old. Several people spoke, but the actual plan was never discussed. Two older women helping were both German, maybe irrelevant, but interesting. Paula Gloria and Webfairy were there. Paula got kicked out after bothering William Rodriguez while both were in the audience (asking him to be on her show). There was a big commotion about that lasting nearly 10 minutes. It almost seemed staged, but that's probably disinfo paranoia affecting my perspective. It's just that the doorman could have handled it better, it seemed like he was being louder than needed and not taking it outside right away."
I realize people are excited to do something new, but it's best if everyone knows what the history has been, to not repeat it all over again.
Thanks, Jon
I encourage anyone who has questions and wants answers to email us at info@nyccan.org. The Executive Council and I will do our best to respond immediately. We want to address all concerns so that everyone worldwide who believes in the need for a new investigation will get behind NYC CAN and help the voters of NYC have the power to mandate this new investigation.
FAQ's are addressed on the website, and in a short time NYC CAN will post answers to the most pressing questions. So again, we encourage everyone to email us at info@nyccan.org so that we can address your questions in our forthcoming statement. If your question relates directly to the selection of Commission members, you can send it to nominate@nyccan.org.
Thank you everyone for the overwhelming support that has been shown since our press release yesterday. When we stand as one, we make history.
Ted Walter
Executive Director, NYC CAN
FAQs
Ted, can you tell us a little about yourself? How did you get involved in 9/11 truth issues?
Thanks.
Hmm???
"Do we need someone focused on "psychic" phenomenon -- ESP -- to determine if 9/11 was an inside job???"
I dunno? Part of me says, "yes" -- the same part of me that says that the 9/11 truth movement, itself, is a psychic phenomenon.
If one wanted to, one could question the credibility of an actor who once played Lou Grant on the Mary Tyler Moore Show -- maybe they'll ask us why we didn't get Perry Mason, instead. If this starts to succeed and they want to take us down, there's all sorts of ways to do it.
If Dr. Mitchell sees that his scientific curiosities start to jeopardize the effort, he should step down. If he is a real truther, he will.
I'm not worried. This initiative looks like it has a solid footing.
Good questions about the consistency with the last ballot initiative, though.
Ballot Initiative for Referendum in NYC
Thank you, Michael, for making us aware of this. I just made my contribution to this essential effort.
Now that we have the "loaded gun" thermite evidence, the tide is turning toward the truth. It has been a joy beyond imagining to get the word out to everyone I know about the peer-reviewed study and independent confirmation. It is absurd that NIST did not study the evidence for explosives on the grounds that there was no reason to do so.
I think we have them now, at least in the court of scientific evidence!
If I say anyone is on a bandwagon I get handed my hat.
First here's another place where one can find critical commentary.
http://www.truthmove.org/forum/topic/871?replies=66
And now my latest concern.
"If every person who reads this letter acts now to become a Member of NYC CAN by donating just $25, we will move that much closer to our goal of 1 Million Members worldwide and quickly surpass the $100,000 required to fund the final phase of the petitioning effort. With minimal overhead, your contribution will provide well-trained, professional petitioners along with all the marketing, advertising and collateral materials necessary to help New Yorkers realize their wish for an independent and impartial investigation into the events of 9/11."
They collected the first 30,000 signatures in just a few months without "professional petitioners" and without anything close to $100,000. So what's the money for? Does anyone actually know what that money would be used for? And if there's extra, where does that go? And once again, why are the commissioners to be paid $100,000 a year for part time work for which they don't need to be present in NYC? And there aren't even a million people in this movement. How are we going to get people to donate money to something like this in a recession. Total fantasy.
For all the many other problems I have with this, the issue that most frustrates me is the total pie in the sky optimism.
"7. The Commission shall have a budget not to exceed $10,000,000 per year for the conduct of its investigation and related activities. Financing shall be entirely drawn from private contributions. No public funds shall be requested or accepted. ... The work of the Commission will commence upon the expected realization of the full funds specified in our anticipated budget."
So who actually thinks there is any way that they can raise that kind of money. We have not the slightest reason to think so and no precedent. And if not, according the initiative, they won't do anything.
I don't have any reason to be trashing this effort other than thinking it's very poorly executed and might as a result have a negative impact and cause a lot of people to feel let down. People try to paint criticism of this effort as biased toward a person or sour grapes.
I have serious strategic concerns and it troubles me that others seem to think that uncritical support is a good thing.
On the other hand, if you don't yet have reason to be critical, I'm not saying you are stupid. Please take the time to examine the details. Think about how this is going down. Consider what you don't know about it without assuming that just because people care about the issue that they are good at this sort of thing.
Please.
As far as I understand
The signatures they collected last year were because they had funding. By paying petitioners they collected about 20,000 of their signatures and the other 10,000 came from volunteers. So they were professional petitioners. And as far as I know they had something like $60,000. So if they collected 30,000 signatures with 60,000 it makes sense they would need 100,000 for 45,000 more signatures, especially if money is going into advertising. Why think low? Do we actually think success is going to come on a shoestring budget? This thing seems to be for real.
Correct.
When the petitioners were volunteers, it was less than 10,000, if I am remembering correctly. In December of 2007, Pepper and others held fundraisers and received one major donation which enabled the hiring of petitioners. This is when the numbers went up dramatically in the course of a few months, from about Jan/Feb 2008 until August/Sept 2008. It could have been a tighter span of time that that.
NYC CAN bring peace and justice together..
The New York City Coalition for Accountability Now
Donna Marsh O’Connor
Bob McIlvaine
Jean Canavan
Bill Doyle
Janette MacKinlay
William Rodriguez
Ted Walter
Frank Morales
Such a collaboration will help get the unanswered questions answered. And the world will hear it.. A city referendum for a fair investigation will utilize the work of all the researchers, of all those that gave testimony to the 9/11 Commission, and had that testimony denied in the report..
Thank you all for working together on this..
Flyby News is sending a modest check in the mail,
and with renewed hope for peace and justice.
I hope many in this community get to NYC this 9/11 and help gain the votes we need for a fair investigation.
thank you.
jonathan
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Question
On the website of NYCCAN there's a point of confusion and I'd like to have it cleared up. On the one hand, in the FAQs we are told that every possible category of investigation will be examined and the trail of evidence will be followed wherever it leads. This is heartening. But we're also told that the 270 unanswered questions of the Family Steering Committee will be the "road map" for the investigation. This worries me. It's not that I object to the 270 questions, most of which are sharp and well formulated. But these questions don't go nearly far enough, and in some cases they open the door to limited hangouts and red herrings. We need many more questions, for example, that deal with collapse of the WTC buildings--our knowledge of these things has grown hugely since the initial list. I hope someone can reassure me that the 270 questions will just be a start and will not in any way limit the investigation.
assurances
sometimes we sometimes limit our concerns so narrowly that we lose sight of what the bigger picture of this endeavor that we are undertaking.
we can be assured that to date there has been no investigation, only a cover-up, except for independent researchers, activists, whistleblowers, patriots, etc.. but no 'official' investigation..
Such is the purpose with NYC CAN
and of course questions can lead to more questions and areas of research and investigation. And no way will the first investigation find out everything.. but what is most important is to highlight what really happened on what caused the building collapses, testimony of cover-up, and of the crimes.
Anyway.. this action is by we, the people, not perfect, possibly there will people you don't like or trust for the Commissioners; but on the whole, this organization and campaign is in good faith.. and a blessing to all.
Think of it.. how else do you overcome a corrupt political-justice system with a controlled mainstream media? a referendum vote can overcome such obstacles.. and the people can gain a real 'official' investigation.
I hope Willie Nelson and other celebrities join in this campaign.. peace can only exist with truth and justice..
jonathan
www.nyccan.org
www.FlybyNews.com
...
I would expect strong, subtle, and inventive efforts to disrupt this effort, or make it go astray somehow. I would expect these to crop up unexpectedly. Success or the appearance of success, and momentum, will probably bring this out, prior to the vote -- assuming it gets on the ballot.
But truth, and the search for truth, is much stronger than fiction. And so, ultimately, the truth will surface at least more than it has so far.
I hope for the best here, and wish you, and all the others doing this, the best.
miss and disinformation
most certainly.. that is why a grassroots educational campaign is so critical..
we got to let nyc voters know that NYC will not be responsible for paying for the investigation;.
this will be taken care by all throughout the world wanting to reveal the truth about what happened..
taking a stand to empower our own investigation..
will likely be supported by nyc voters.. hopefuly
this year 2009 election in nyc may carry more consequence than last year's national prez election
it is worthy of all our efforts.. and though les jamieson has let go as a facilitator,
now folks can realize that his effort counted a lot, and his intentions are obvious by his actions..
i plan to go to nyc this 9/11 to help with education campaign for a win vote..
but first things first.. we need to gain the signatures to get a new investigation on the ballot..
no matter what the city council members say.
jonathan
www.FlybyNews.com
William Pepper Writes in Support of NYC CAN
http://911blogger.com/node/19880
"..Let us join our brothers and sisters in New York City and from the very belly of the beast, seek truth and justice."