Former Mayor Svante Myrick’s People For The American Way (PFAW) hosted an informational booth during this weekend’s Ithaca Festival, manifesting as the quasi-grassroots organization ‘Ithacans For Reimagining Public Safety (IFRPS.)’ Myrick is now Executive Director of PFAW.
PFAW/IFRPS’s latest lobbying effort comes only days before the first meeting of the Tompkins County Ethics Board inquiry into the Reimagining Public Safety (RPS) process, on Tuesday June 6th at 11 AM. The complaint to the Ethics Board was initiated by Ithaca Common Councilperson Cynthia Brock. Myrick has called the probe “a bullshit distraction.”
PFAW Spokesperson & IFRPS representative Alana Byrd recently gave a radio interview where she did not disclose ties between the organizations. IFRPS also published an editorial in the form of an unattributed ‘Letter to the Editor’ in the May 25th edition of the Ithaca Times, again failing to disclose ties between PFAW & IFRPS.
Senior Advisor for People For The American Way Stacey Dimas authored an editorial in April where she was credited as Senior Advisor for ‘Ithacans For Reimagining Public Safety.’
An IFRPS representative confirmed that Myrick’s PFAW is involved in promoting adoption of RPS. “They’re helping provide the infrastructure for the campaign.” When asked about the County Ethics investigation, the IFRPS representative said “It’s something more to distract you. There really isn’t any wrongdoing.”
IFRPS is recruiting volunteers to lobby their Common Council representatives to vote in favor of Councilperson Nguyen’s proposed referendum to create a civilian Commissioner of Public Safety. This proposal is based on Recommendation #1 from the Reimagining Public Safety Working Group report. The report has yet to be accepted or rejected by the Common Council.
A special meeting of Common Council to finalize wording of the proposed referendum is being planned for this week. The proposal must be finished and aged in advance of a vote at the July Common Council to make the deadline for inclusion as a ballot initiative in November.
“I’m concerned that the public isn’t getting the full story,” Councilperson & RPS Working Group member George McGonigal said as he expressed concerns surrounding the adoption of the Civilian Commissioner at the June Common Council meeting. “I think we can Reimagine not necessarily making this the centerpiece.”