From time to time I will do a site update letting you know my progress in building this website. I launched site officially on January 2, 2022, but I started actually working on it on December 24, 2021. The idea for this site was to catalog not only be a home for my current podcasts, writings, and media appearances, but also a repository for the past. I had no idea how much that would entail.
As of right now I have 547 different items now on this website. 3 of those posts are site update posts, including this one. The rest break down into three main categories:
Media 248 Posts: Features 25, Interviews 223
Podcasts 210 Posts: Commissioner in a Car 108, Zoom with Czarny 101
Writings 86 posts: Editorials 14, Testimony 16, Wonky Wednesdays 56
All of my Wonky Wednesday articles from my Tumblr blog & Zoom with Czarny podcasts are completely uploaded to the website.
It was in May of 2020 where I was religious about adding Facebook videos to my youtube channel but I did have a smattering of videos dating back to 2016 including my first commissioner in a cars, they are all up on the website
My progress in scrolling through my Facebook page now dates back to November 1, 2019. So Editorials, Features, Interviews, Testimony, & Commissioner in a Car episodes from before then are limited on the website. My official facebook page started in September 1, 2018. I am not sure how much stuff from before that date I will be able to capture from my personal facebook postings. When I get to that point though I will cross that bridge.
My hope is to continue to make progress on the old stuff as I add new content. I found a way to eliminate notifications from going to subscribers when I post old stuff but it involves taking the site off line, so I will try and do it a month at a time. It is interesting to revisit old moments in time.
Most recently going through all of 2020 and the fear and uncertainty of that time period was an experience to remember. As scary as the current wave of the pandemic is it pales in comparison to March 2020 and the months afterward. Thank god we have the vaccine now and a path out of this pandemic. That along with mitigation efforts like masking in public indoor spaces and therapeutic options we can learn to live with COVID as an endemic measure.
Elections changed in 2020 forever. We moved, cancelled, and rescheduled the Presidential primaries. We rescheduled and cancelled the special elections for SD 50. We mailed absentee ballot applications to every voter for the primary and developed online applications for the general election. We implemented absentee ballot cures and tracking systems. We learned how to hold in person voting with masks and sanitizing of equipment. We dealt with record participation and COVID outbreaks amongst BOE staffs. We rose to the challenge, even when we failed.
The importance of vote by mail in the pandemic allowed our Democracy function while keeping voters safe. The failure no fault absentee balloting proposition on the 2021 ballot is a blow to Vote by mail, but not the end. Already it looks as if New York may extend the pandemic excuse for 2021. Also the changes in how we canvass absentee ballots in 2022 will eliminate the ridiculous challenges we saw in 2020 that tried to prevent valid ballots from counting.
Expanded in person options with Early Voting will become a priority in 2022 mainly due to the long lines we saw in 2020. With New York being a mainly in person voting state until 2025 at least expanding Early Voting becomes a major priority. It took awhile but in 2022 Onondaga County will have 10 Early voting sites instead of 6 and sites will expand throughout New York State. Weekends will have 8 hour shifts instead of 5. We are still behind many other states but we are improving.
Thank you once again to all of those who have supported me throughout the years as well as the staff of the Onondaga County Board of Elections. I hope you find this new venture of mine informative. As always if you are new to the site you can subscribe below. I will never ask for outside money or have advertisements on this site. This is part of my voter outreach and supported 100 percent by my own efforts and money.
Dustin M. Czarny 