Lerner.

It's election days like yesterday that Susan Lerner both lives for and dreads. The executive director of Common Cause left the house at 3:30 a.m. She spent the wee hours of the election morning printing out thousands of fliers alerting people to the voter hotline that the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) were manning along with Lerner and her associates in Common Cause to field  calls about voting problems. It has been a joint election protection effort of NYPIRG and Common Cause for more than 20 years, and a solo NYPIRG effort before that time.

By 9 a.m. she had 60 volunteers manning phones that never stopped ringing, not even for a second. 

"We just got a report from Ditmas Park; people are getting angry," Ms. Lerner told a volunteer poll monitor who called in from Park Slope. "People don't know about the affidavit ballots, they aren't even being told they exist. People are starting to hit each other."

Common Cause and NYPIRG are polling police of Election Day. Under normal circumstances, the team goes to locations to keep folks moving and answer questions about Assembly and election districts, for example.

Yesterday, there was barely a location that hadn't been getting complaints about broken scanners, long lines, untrained poll workers or a lack of affidavits.

"We urge people to not give up, to not leave without voting," Ms. Lerner said. "If they have flexible timing, we suggest a time to come back that might be better. The worst thing for this process if for people to get frustrated and leave without casting a ballot."

"Is that line very long, or is that line moving?" Christina, a  young volunteer with dreads was asking someone on her cellphone. "Okay, I'll pass that message along." The issue was 133 East 13th Street, a poll site short on poll workers and long on lines.

Another young man came in two seconds later: PS167, which had not received ballots this morning, had ballots. Now the location just needed machines.

"Get everyone to fill out affidavits," said NYPIRG Government Reform Coordinator, Neal Rosenstein. For a moment, we were confused as to whether he was speaking to the person in the room or the one on the phone cocked against his ear.

At 40 West 20th Street, a polling place at a public library was turning away "hundreds of people," according to one caller. Two minutes later, another complaint about that location came in. A decision was made to send a poll monitor to the location to assess the problem and reach out to the BOE, to which NYPIRG and the Common Cause have a direct line.

From Soho, a complaint came in and Mr. Rosenstein read it out loud: "It looks like a third-world country. Only two poll workers."

A short while later, a young man in a baseball hat rushed in, waving a complaint sheet. A woman had brought her 90-year-old parents with her to a "supersite" polling location. The parents, displaced by the storm, needed affidavit ballots. The woman asked if they could sit down, or jump the line. The poll workers were not only not accommodating, they berated the would-be voter and kept the parents standing in the three-hour-plus line. The woman wound up calling not just the hotline, but the NYPD as well.

"Where was this?" Ms. Lerner asked.

"M.S. 51." Everyone groaned. The Park Slope location had the most angry calls throughout the day. I.D. checks, Spanish translation issues, lines so long that people left instead of voting.

"The place is having a meltdown," Ms. Lerner said. Poll monitors had already been dispatched to the area, and the police had responded by showing up as well. Mr. Rosenstein left our small room to host a volunteer training session. As he headed out, someone's big black dog went poking around his backpack.

"Who brought a dog into the center?" Ms. Lerner asked, more amused than annoyed.

Maybe it's a watchdog, we suggested.

Another urgent phone call. From the Soho location on Broome Street. And a rash of calls from  from Suffolk County, where people have been turned away from affidavit voting. And so on. It was 1:30—and still more than seven hours to go.

At a Friday morning press conference that felt like a torch-passing, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney very publicly cheered the legislative efforts of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who announced that the Senate would be holding its first-ever hearing on the James Zadroga 9/11 Health Legislation bill at the end of the month.

"This is a crucial step in the legislative process," Gillibrand said of the hearing, which is scheduled for June 29. "We have an undeniable, moral obligation. ... We are still losing heroes today."

The move would seem to end a tumultous year for the relationship between the two women. Last June, Maloney was criticizing the senator's character and her record, in advance of a possible primary challenge, which eventually fizzled out late in the summer. Now, a year later, Maloney is imparting some of her considerable cachet on the congresswoman's signature issue.

"Senator Gillibrand: We are now working for you!" said John Feal from the FealGood Foundation, one of several 9/11 advocacy groups that came to cheer Gillibrand's effort in the Senate.

After the Senator's speech, there was some question about who should speak next—Congresswoman Maloney, or Congressman Anthony Weiner, who was also there. "It's your bill," said Weiner, who ceded the podium and cited Maloney's "seniority."

"We need to get it through the process and on the president's desk by 9/11," Maloney said with trademark authority. She demanded that the legislation pass before the upcoming ninth anniversary of the attacks. "Washington's response to 9/11 has been incomplete."

The bill—which was recently voted favorably out of the House Judiciary and Energy and Commerce committees—would provide comprehensive health care and compensation for first responders of the Sept. 11 attacks.

After waiting patiently for his turn to speak, Weiner complimented Gillibrand, saying that none of this could have happened "were it not for Senator Kirsten Gillibrand every single day bringing this cause to every corner of the United States Senate, including when the president of the United States came and visited the Senate and was set up for a bunch of softballs."

"Kirsten Gillibrand said, 'No way, We're gonna put him on the spot and make sure he understands we haven't forgotten,'" Weiner said.

After the speeches, Gillibrand told reporters that the main obstacle is financial. "The only opposition is money," she said.

"I would also say that some of the opposition came from the prior administration," Maloney chimed in.

"This is an important bill not only for 9/11 workers here, but I think it's an important precedent that we take care of the veterans of the war against terror," said the congresswoman, who sent an email earlier this week, referencing the bill and calling for action to protect workers cleaning up the BP oil spill.

"I'd say nothing brings people more easily together than a joint commitment to a common cause. And we have a common cause," Maloney told The Observer of her relationship with Senator Gillibrand. "It's important to New York State. We've worked on a lot of issues together that are important to New York State. That's our job."

And, in case there was any question, the congresswoman subsequently emailed a statement saying: "Senator Gillibrand has been a true leader on this issue and together, we will pass the Zadroga Act."

"Given the fiscal and governmental crisis enveloping our state, we at Common Cause/New York have come to the reluctant conclusion that it would be in the best interest of the people of the State of New York for Governor Paterson to step aside as governor," said Executive Director Susan Lerner, in a statement.

"As events have unfolded over the last several weeks, the allegations of abuse of power and criminal conduct by the governor have become the sole focus in Albany, at a time when the undivided attention and full creativity of the state's leaders must be devoted to addressing the state's very grave fiscal crisis."

Common Cause says he should take the "pragmatic, self-sacrificing action" of handing the reins to Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch.

"My understanding is we're actually looking at a new bill that has elements from all of the different passages that have actually been presented and as I said before I think that is a positive development," said Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause. "Both houses have this problem, and both houses have to step forward jointly. No more one-house bills."

The Assembly has passed a "turn back the clock" bill that would blow up the Commission on Public Integrity and diffuse enforcement responsibilities across multiple agencies. Democrats controlling the State Senate considered the same bill as well as some further-reaching chapter amendments in September, but down a member, they laid it aside when it was clear Republicans would not provide any votes for the amendments. They opted to have no loaf instead of half.

No matter. A Senate source familiar with the negotiations said a new bill drafted in that chamber--and the threat of its introduction--prompted negotiations to start again with the Assembly and David Paterson.

"We hope the kumbaya moment happens soon," said Blair Horner, the legislative director for NYPIRG. He and Lerner joined Dick Dadey of Citizens Union which found in a new report, not surprisingly, that the number of legislators leaving office for ethical misconduct is increasing. The bill is not on the agenda for this special session, however, though the good-government groups hope a vote will happen as quickly as possible. Legislators are actually feeling incentivized to do something about ethics, as recent elections showed a strong anti-incumbent sentiment and polls show they are perceived by voters as a giant morass of dysfunctionality.

Horner said the current enforcement provisions--the Legislative Ethics Commission, controlled by legislators, is responsible for policing other legislators and does nothing--is inadequate.

"It's sort of Lake Wobegon-like enforcement where everyone is above average," Horner said.

And with that unprecedented call for voters to go to the polls, a critic of Michael Bloomberg says the mayor has "highly compromised" himself on that issue, because he maneuvered to have the City Council, and not the public, vote on extending term limits. 

"I think he's highly compromised as an advocate for encouraging people to vote," Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause-New York said in a telephone interview. " 'Vote on everything except whether I have a third term?' He's not in a strong position," she said.

Term limits were created and upheld in two public referenda in the 1990s. Lerner and her supporters say only the public should change the law, since they created it. Bloomberg said there simply is no time before the 2009 city elections. 

The ideas suggested by Citizens Union, Common Cause and other groups are fairly granular for the most part, but they could, if actually enacted, amount to a significant change in the way things work on Election Day. The proposals include:

1. Increase the number of quality of poll workers by offering comp time for city employees working the polls. “Since most city workers already get Election Day Off, the city should provide comp time for non-essential employees on Primary Day in exchange for their working at the polls.”

2. Increase Rewards for poll workers who attend training. (Which means there are poll workers who don’t attend training.)

3. Enforce policies against poll workers who miss or fail training. “The Board shouldn’t hire them and the city should make it clear they won’t pay for them.”

4. Better enforce the Motor Voter Law, which requires the dissemination of voter registration forms at city and state agencies.

5. Use affidavit ballots to create and update voter registration records. “The information on affidavit ballots could easily be used to correct voter registration errors, update records and begin the process of new registrations.”

6. Put sample ballots on the Board of Election web site.

7. Email election dates and relevant information.

8. Track the performance of the Board of Elections in the mayor’s annual management report.

9. Webcast meetings of the Board of Elections, Campaign Finance Board and the Voter Assistance Commission.

The ten proposals, presented at a press conference by Blair Horner of NYPIRG and Rachel Leon of Common Cause, include creating an independent ethics commission, ending "pay to play" and restricting the personal use of campaign contributions.

Unlike the executive orders for state employees Spitzer signed yesterday, these reforms would apply to legislators -- and would require their approval.

How would the new governor get that? Precedent would suggest the precise sort of three men in a room-style of compromise building that has characterized Albany lawmaking for years.

Still, Horner said, if that's what it took to get ethics changes, it wouldn't be so bad.

The list of ten proposals is after the jump.

-- Azi Paybarah

Good Government Groups Recommendations for Spitzer

Create and Independent Ethics Commission.

End pay to play.

Strengthen New York's gift ban to lawmakers and state employees.

Ban speaking fees for public officials.

Restrict personal use of campaign funds.

Prohibit party officials from immediately lobbying officials.

Improve financial disclosure of lawmakers.

Require ethics training for lobbyists, lawmakers and others.

Audit member items.

Restrict business relationships between lawmakers and those with business before the state.

Funding for the 2,675 projects ranged from $500 to $4,912,000, with the average being $19,501.

The Southern Teir Senior Center explained why they got funding from the state by simply writing the word "piano," CC noted.

A cursory (and randomly conducted) skim also revealed that the The Sunset Park Business Improvement District got $3,000 to "provide entertainment for the 15-block street festival event," the Sandy Creek Historical Society received $3,000 to "update office equipment" and the American Legion Post 731 in Schaghticoke got $6,000 to buy "kitchen equipment." (Insert "pork" joke here.)

The Assembly's report came out on September 13th, from which time there is 30 days for the public -- and gubernatorial candidates, theoretically -- to comment.

-- Azi Paybarah