News Clips

“Early voting in New York will be a game changer for millions of New Yorkers, but only if it’s set up correctly. Suffolk County needs more voting sites and centers in places that are easily accessible for voters — not just those that have access to a car. The clock is ticking, Suffolk County BOE, time to get it right,” said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause/NY.

“At a minimum, it creates the appearance of impropriety and illegality,” said Susan Lerner, the head of good government group Common Cause. “The mayor keeps setting up situations that beg for a pay-to-play interpretation.”

"He's a walking ethical disaster, constantly looking for loopholes and ways to skirt the intent of our city's campaign finance laws, and now he's lifting the same strategies up to the federal level," Susan Lerner, executive director of good-government group Common Cause New York

Susan Lerner, executive director of grassroots watchdog group Common Cause NY, said the Queens Democratic Party’s nomination of Wyatt Gibbons for state Supreme Court highlighted that the “system of judicial election is pretty much a sham.”

Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, said the good-government group “has long maintained that these kind of entities undermine the spirit of the city's campaign finance laws.”

It’s no secret that New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio has gone a few rounds with the press over stories about shady connections and questionable fundraising practices. Coming off the Democratic presidential primary debates last week, de Blasio was greeted with headlines back home on Sunday and Monday calling his leadership into question. While the reports do not demonstrate – or even suggest – legal wrongdoing, government watchdogs still see cause for concern. “Mayor de Blasio is a walking ethical disaster. This should not be the example we set for national politics,” Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, told City & State via a spokeswoman.