On Tuesday, May 8th, NYC Veterans Alliance joined with the NYC Campaign Finance Board and more than 100 advocates with the Vote Better NY Coalition to advocate for vital reforms to bring New York State's voting laws into the 21st century.

Five of our members served as team captains, leading meetings with NYS legislators and staff on a busy day in Albany. Our member Troy Olson spoke eloquently at our press conference in the Capitol's stairway:

The NYC Veterans Alliance encourages members of our veterans community--veterans, family members, and civilian supporters alike--to get active as civic leaders in neighborhoods across the five boroughs. Especially if you live in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, you have a unique opportunity this year to make democracy work better in your community by running to serve as a member of your political party's County Committee.

County Committees are the basic building block for political governance in NYC and were originally created so that New Yorkers can have a real say in their political parties. But they are only as effective as the energy and enthusiasm that we, the people, put into making them work for our communities.

Members of County Committees are elected officials--their names appear on a party's primary ballot, and County Committee members must win votes in their election district. But in too many cases these seats go vacant, or the elected County Committee member is inactive--causing the County Committee to not fully deliver on its responsibilities to its constituents. 

Are you ready to make democracy work better in your neighborhood? 

Thanks to all who participated in making our March to City Hall Week a great success! March to City Hall Week is the premier civic leadership event of the NYC Veterans Alliance, mobilizing our membership as speakers and advocates committed to making NYC the best city in the country for veterans and their families. Members and staff advocated for our 2018 Action Agenda, a detailed list of policy solutions we are pressing our NYC Council Members, NY State delegation, and Congressional delegation to take action on.