At the end of the day, this is about us and what we need, not Trump’s obsession with trade wars against international partners.  If Trump and his administration were actually concerned with generating revenue for the government, they would focus on ending tax breaks for billionaires, not tearing apart government agencies and raising costs on goods for everyday Americans. Simply put: We will all pay more for everything, from gas, to groceries, to cars and electricity. While billionaires will continue to get their tax breaks and incentives that the Trump administration provide by stealing from the rest of us.  Trump claims he’s “rescuing the economy”, but his tariffs are just going to drive up costs for everyday Americans, costing the average family thousands of dollars. This is a complete betrayal of working and middle-class families everywhere in the United States.   Image Source: Daybreak/Getty Images

Recess is a time for members of Congress to return to their home states. They should be using this week to meet with their constituents, give space for their concerns, and take that back to D.C. Instead, House Republican leaders are now reportedly telling their offices to avoid holding public events when they are home for March recess. Tim Burchett had scheduled a town hall for March 16, but canceled it citing concerns about "professional instigators" (The Hill). This is the opposite of the directions Democrats are receiving—with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraging all members to connect directly with constituents to talk about the Republican-backed attacks on key services like Social Security and Medicaid embodied by Elon Musk's actions and the Republican budget.  Tim Burchett was elected to represent us—he should not be hiding from his constituents. Period.  Add your name to the petition to demand that Tim Burchett host a town hall or public office hours during the congressional recess! 

Town halls are ways for constituents to provide feedback directly to their elected officials to make sure that their concerns and expectations are heard.  When Republicans returned to their districts in February, they were met with the full force of their constituents’ frustrations. They should be taking in that feedback and returning to D.C. to do their job addressing the needs, concerns, and demands of the people they were elected to represent. But instead, they're planning on hiding from their constituents in the upcoming recess, while they continue to ram through Trump and Musk’s wildly unpopular and disastrous plans, slashing services and funding that everyday people need, and giving tax breaks to their billionaire friends. Not on our watch.  We need to remind members of Congress who they answer to.  Not Trump.  Not Musk.  Not just a few billionaires.  Earlier this month more than 75+ MoveOn members from Iowa District 1 urged local representatives to host town halls. But we have to keep up the pressure. Sign the petition to make it clear to Congress that come recess, we expect them to host town halls and office hours, because they answer to the people.

Nevada citizens want to know where their money went. We demand to know. Sign now to demand that there is an internal investigation into where the money went and why it was given to Uprise before any work was completed. 

While republicans may be receiving "marching orders" to avoid town halls, it is up to us, the people, to demand them and to ensure members of congress who support the current administration answer to their actions and the impact it will have on individuals and community alike.

Privatizing Social Security will kill the guaranteed returns and only benefits corporations. Slashing staffing without planning ensures a debacle of epic proportions, risking the reliability of monthly checks most recipients rely upon. If you touch SS, you will literally kill some Americans and throw undue hardship on others.  You also will owe each of us what we have paid in for the program, plus accrued interest—large sums of money that you would have to pay out. Or you will have a class action suit with tens of millions of people on our side.

We must shine a light on these bullying and strong-arm tactics and demand change. Our hospital, schools, transit and local attractions should be considered priorities by the Restaino administration. The fact that employees from these entities are afraid of retribution if they speak to the press, speaks volumes as to how Mayor Restaino conducts business.  WHY withhold funds from our schools in a time of economic crisis? WHY withhold funds from the only hospital located in our city? WHY withhold funds from the Underground Railroad Museum, which attracts thousands of tourists every year? The train station is already operating at a $130,000 annual deficit because the city has failed to properly utilize event space adjacent to the museum. WHY withhold funds from the NFTA when many of us rely on public transportation to get from home to work and back? Mayor Restaino's actions only make sense when viewed through the eyes of a greedy miser.

We are not experts about exactly what has gone wrong here, but what we can tell you is that Rochdale Village is currently controlled by an unaccountable and potentially corrupt management company named Summit Management, which has had a stranglehold on pretty much all decision-making of importance here and has for many decades, under one name or another. We believe that their terrible financial decision-making on numerous occasions and their overall mismanagement have led directly to the crisis we are all now facing. Every time Cooperative residents ask Summit Management representatives why we are in such a financial mess, we get a different answer. They keep pointing to new causes without any accountability for their own actions or inaction. Below are just some of the reasons they have given: ● Summit Management, over many decades, without keeping residents fully informed or consulted, has arranged a crushing debt burden through a $195 million mortgage loan with Wells Fargo bank, which is a predatory balloon mortgage deal. Rochdale Village now has a huge multi-million dollar liability on this predatory high interest loan. In the January 2025 issue of the Rochdale Village Bulletin, the Cooperative's newspaper, they reported that Rochdale Village has a $31,626,760 liability in payments on their Wells Fargo loan, in part because a portion of their payments were deferred for 6 months between May and October 2020. After giving this temporary deferral, Wells Fargo, then massively and without warning, raised Rochdale Village's monthly loan payments by nearly 25%. ● Summit Management Company also has racked up a $13 million debt to the NYC Water Board on their water bills with large fines for late payment and non-payment. This large water bill is also obviously greatly increased by corrupt NYC Mayor Eric Adams' decision to push through a $1.4 billion hidden tax on the NYC Water Board which was then passed on to us in the form of the the highest water board rate hike in 14 years in early July 2024. ● At the most recent Board of Directors meeting, we also learned that Summit Management had negotiated a sweetheart rent deal that allowed Chase Bank, one of the largest banks in the world, allowing them to benefit from a lease deal that guarantees only an 8.3% rent increase over the next 5 years, or just a 1.6% increase per year. All of these generous terms are being offered to Chase behind our backs while Cooperative residents are at the same time being told that there is no alternative to forcing us to accept an historic Carrying charge rate increase of 22.3%-35% in just 1 year!!! ● We have also learned that Chase Bank is not the only sweetheart rent deal Summit Management has negotiated recently. Apparently, other commercial tenants like Key Food supermarket and others have signed similarly generous rental leases. ● On top of the lack of fair market income coming from these commercial tenants, Rochdale Village owns vacant property that has been vacant for many years and even worse has sold property that was converted into other forms of housing nearby that Summit Management claims they don't even have the sale paperwork for!  We are not aware of any other business would have the ability to survive if they conducted business this in this way. And Summit Management's complete lack of accountability and transparency obviously raises many ethical and legal concerns as well. ● Summit has also claimed that there is a crisis of residents in arrears on their Carrying charges going back to the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest numbers given claim a loss of $6 million in arrears on Carrying Charges as of June 2024. Personally, we believe that NY's elected officials at all levels must also take responsibility for and provide relief and aid for those in arrears due to COVID-19 and other economic or health issues, because without such an intervention, these residents will eventually become unhoused and will very likely need much more expensive aid and services from both NY City and NY State. Obviously, these economic problems and their causes are not unique to Rochdale Village. But, we believe that our elected officials must do whatever they can to support our community members and work with us towards a solution to this crisis that does not place the financial burden of all of these crises on the overwhelming majority of our shareholders, who played no role at all in the decision-making that led to these crises in the first place.  We also believe that increased oversight by elected officials of the ways in which Summit Management Company is running Rochdale Village is URGENTLY NECESSARY to prevent future financial mismanagement and crisis. Their complete lack of accountability and effective stranglehold of all decision-making power is completely unacceptable and undermines the very mission of the NYS Mitchell-Lama program, which was founded on the "Rochdale’s Principles" to build Cooperative and truly democratically run communities in which community members have equal voting rights and participate in all decisions. We ask for your leadership in ensuring that Rochdale Village remains an affordable housing option for those who need it most. We appreciate your time and consideration and look forward to your response on how your office plans to address these urgent issues. We prefer that you respond via email, as it is not feasible for our entire community to participate in a single phone call. Furthermore, we believe an in-person meeting is warranted to discuss these matters openly. Such a meeting would allow for full transparency, ensuring that the truth is clearly presented and that the current status of Rochdale Village’s business practices and financial management can be properly reviewed. We seek swift and thorough investigative action on our behalf to ensure that this community not only survives but thrives.

Meeting with constituents is a crucial part of every elected official's responsibilities. Face to face discussion is indispensable to real communication with our representatives.

Missouri is a reliably red state. Nearly all of our leaders in Congress are Republicans so why do they need to do town halls if they know they'll have your vote no matter what? America is under attack. This is not a left vs right or liberal vs conservative. This is farmers, doctors, nurses,  police officers, teachers, retail workers, veterans,  disabled citizens, every Missouri resident vs those gutting our institutions with no concern. This is corrupt. This is fascistic. This is the rich stealing from right under our noses so we need to have town halls to tell Josh Hawley, Eric Schmitt, and our Representatives in Congress how we feel about what they're allowing to happen. How they're standing aside and giving trillions of dollars in tax cuts that WE, the normal people,  will get to pay for. They do what's in their political interests and not their constituents because they know they have your no matter what. Sign this petition. Make them talk to us. Make them answer for what they are and are not doing. They work for Missouri,  not Musk.

The 2022-2024 assessment conducted by Cayuga County and Auburn Community Hospital identified several health challenges within the community, including: ●     Obesity: 33.9% of adults in Cayuga County have obesity, compared to 29.1% in New York State.   ●     Physical Inactivity: 26.4% of adults in Cayuga County do not participate in leisure-time physical activity, compared to 22.4% in New York State.   ●     Smoking: 18.3% of adults in Cayuga County smoke cigarettes, compared to 15.9% in New York State.   ●     Opioid Prescriptions: The opioid analgesic prescription rate in Cayuga County is 384.9 per 1,000 population, exceeding the New York State rate of 343.6.   ●     Mental Distress: 10.9% of adults in Cayuga County experience frequent mental distress, compared to 10.7% in New York State.   ●     Poverty: 11.6% of the population in Cayuga County lives in poverty. These health challenges highlight the need for Medicaid services in the community. Medicaid is a government-funded health insurance program that provides coverage to low-income individuals and families. Medicaid services can help address the health challenges identified in the assessment by providing access to preventive care, chronic disease management, mental health services, and substance abuse treatment.

 Our parks are critical in the fight against the ongoing climate crisis. Without the necessary funding to maintain and expand public lands, we jeopardize our ability to fight the climate crisis through economic stewardship and to protect our natural resources for future generations.     National parks and forests are home to countless species of plants and animals, many of which are endangered. Insufficient funding leaves them vulnerable to invasive species, habitat destruction, and climate change impacts. The park rangers that protect these parks are essential not only for maintaining park landscapes but also for ensuring public safety and education. Without proper staffing,  fewer rangers are available to educate visitors about conservation and safety, and there are fewer resources to protect our lands from damage and misuse.    These are funding cuts that will impact communities across the country. National parks and forests are an important part of the local economy, supporting tourism, jobs, and small businesses. Substantial cuts to these programs will harm communities that depend on parks for income and tourism. National parks are also one of the few spaces left that are usually free or inexpensive and open to the public.    We must reverse course: Our parks and forests, and all the rangers who keep them safe and taken care of, need us now more than ever. Sign the petition to demand that Congress push back against these cuts and ensure that park rangers have the resources they need to protect our natural heritage and fight climate change.