09.07.29 Show Cause

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK

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Christopher Burke, Ciaran Canavan, Jean Canavan, Anthony Badillo, and Sharron Clemons, individually and on behalf of the approximately 52,000 signers of a Petition Filed Pursuant t o Sections 37 and 24 of the New York State Municipal Home Rule Law,

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New York County Index No. Part

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ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR THE Plaintiffs, INDEPENDENT RE-VALIDATION OF CITIZENS PETITION SIGNATURES GATHERED UNDER SEC, 37 OF THE

MICHAEL McSWEENEY, as City Clerk of the City of New York and Clerk of the City Council of New York, and the BOARD of ELECTIONS in the City of New York

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upon reaarng rne annexea Hrriaavit OT Lnrisropner m r K e swurrt

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with the exhibits thereto, LET Michael McSweeney, City Clerk of the City of New York, and the Board of Elections in the City of New York, show cause before this Court at Part thereof, to be held a t the Courthouse located a t 60 Centre Street on August 7, 2009, at 9:30AM, or as soon thereafter as the parties can be heard, why an Order should not be made appointing a Special Referee, as an officer of the Court for the purpose of examining and validating or rejecting, and reporting said findings to the Court, regarding the 52,000 signatures delivered to the Clerk of the City Council of the City of New York on June 24,2009, in accordance with Sections 37 and 24 of the MHRL, and subsequent t o the receipt of said report from the Special Referee, scheduling a Hearing, so that Plaintiffs and Counsel may be heard on other outstanding issues of Law, since Plaintiffs are convinced that a significant legally determinative number of the Petitions were illegally rejected and are valid in accordance with the relevant Sections 37 and 24 of the MHRL Accordingly, Plaintiffs also request such other and further relief as this Court

may deem just and proper.

Dated: New York, New York March 29,2009 1

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Ciaran Canavan 75 Margaret Street, Staten Island, NY 10308 (917) 882-9360

Sharron Clemons 218 Broad Street, Apt. 50, Staten Island, NY 10304

BY: Christopher Burke 50-15 3SfhSt. Apt. 3F Long Island City, NY 11101

34 Crown Street, Staten Island, NY, 10312 7183442716

Jean Canavan 75 Margaret Street, Staten Island, NY 10308 (917) 882-9360

Plaintiffs pro se

TO: MICHAEL A. CARD020 Corporation Counsel of the City of New York 100 Church Street New York, New York 10007 (212) 788 0952

Attorney for Defendant

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SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK ***rrf___l_f_____l"fffflr_______________-------------------------------_-

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New York County Index No. Part

Christopher Burke, Cieran Canavan, Jean Canavan, Anthony Badillo, and Sharron Clemons, individually and on behalf of the approximately 52,000 signers of a Petition Filed Pursuant to Sections 37 and 24 of the New York State Municipal Home Rule Law, Plaintiffs

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-againstMICHAEL McSWEENEY as City Clerk of the City of New York and Clerk of the City Council of New York and the BOARD OF ELECTIONS in the City of New York Defendants

STATE OF NEW YORK

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COUNTY OF NEW YORK

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AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF THE ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF A SPECIAL REFEREE TO CONDUCT AN I NDEPENDENT RE-VALIDATION OF CITIZENS PETITION SIGNATURES GATHERED UNDER SEC. 37 OF THE NEW YORK STATE MUNICIPAL HOME QULE LAW

CHRISTOPHER BURKE, being duly sworn, deposes and says: "i,.

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My brother, Thomas Daniel Burke, lost his life on September 11, 2001.

He was working for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 105'h floor of the North Tower, 2. 1World Trade Center, when the American Airlines jetliner struck the building a

few floors below.

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I respectfully make this affidavit in support of the Plaintiffs Order t o Show

Cause for the appointment of a Referee to conduct an impartial re-validation of the 52,000 signatures gathered by the New York City Coalition for Accountability, (now” NYC CAN”) as well as for the scheduling of a Hearing to consider the issues of Law raised by the letter from the Defendant herein, dated July 24, 2009, and attached hereto as Exhibit A. I respectfully emphasize to this Honorable Court that each one of the Plaintiffs is a registered and qualified voter in the City of New York. 4. I make this affidavit on behalf of many other family members who, like me, lost relatives on that fateful day and note that three of them have joined with me to be Plaintiffs in making this request. I know they share my sense of urgency due t o the strict timelines imposed upon such Petition efforts and the fact that the Defendant served his rejection letter on the last day thereby allowing us only five days t o bring this matter before this Honorable Court. 5.

I further declare that I am making this affidavit in support on behalf of

many First Responders who wholeheartedly support the Petition but many of whom are municipal employees with concerns for the security of their positions as public employees. These First Responders volunteered to assist during the

tragedy and many have been permanently injured or fallen victim themselves to a wide range of disease as a result of the inhalation of toxic substances. 6.

I further declare that I am making this affidavit in support on behalf of

many survivors who witnessed firsthand the horrors of that day and note that one of them has joined with me to be a Plaintiff in making this request. These survivors will carry with them forever agonizing memories of that day and many of them continue to suffer psychological and physical traumas as a result of their

experiences. 7.

Finally, I make this affidavit in support on behalf of the 52,000 citizens of

the City of New York who signed the Petition (at this writing, the number has risen to over 72,000) put forward by NYC CAN in quest of giving the citizens of the city an opportunity to decide by referendum, whether or not a new 2

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investigation of the horrific events of that day should be conducted by a new independent Commission. 8.

I know that all of the aforementioned families and individuals share my

view that there has been no serious investigation of these assaults, and, in fact, the co-chairmen of the official investigation have publicly stated that their work was obstructed from the outset. I know that the family members who submitted hundreds of unanswered questions to the official Commission have been, and are, frustrated and angry a t the unwillingness of our government to adequately and openly address these questions. 9.

I have personally been impressed that though the Plaintiffs in these

proceedings are all New York City residents, and registered and qualified New York City voters, support for this Petition has come from thousands of concerned citizens in every section of this great nation and indeed from all over the world. I respectfully remind this Honorable Court that citizens from more than 80 nations lost their lives in the events of September 11. I know from the report issued by the Defendants that some 24,664 signatures, that we believe were legally obtained, subject to NYC CAN quality

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control inspection, and consequently, are legally valid signatures of registered and qualified New York City voters, were somehow declared invalid. In addition there appear to be another 1,333 that do not seem to have been considered a t all. In light of the provisions of Sections 24 and 37 of the Municipal Home Rule Law, (attached hereto as Exhibit B) and the consequent authority of this Court, I

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respectfully hope that the process of re-validation, which is the purpose of the Order to Show Cause before this Honorable Court, would provide answers to these and other questions raised by the Defendants’ rejection of the signatures

and the Petition. (A true and exact copy the Petition is attached hereto as Exhibit

C).

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I am personally familiar with the other Plaintiffs in this action. For the further information of this Honorable Court, they are:

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Ciaran and Jean Canavan, brother and sister-in-law, respectively, of Sean Canavan, who was working as a union carpenter on the 98thfloor of the South Tower when it was hit; Sharron Clemons, a survivor, working in the area, who suffered compressed vertebrae in the middle of her back and injuries to tendons and ligaments in her neck, as well as a broken leg, fractured ankle and crushed foot. Today, she suffers from a great deal of pain as well depression, anxiety and post traumatic

stress; Anthony Badillo, nephew of Thomas Joseph Sgroi, who worked for Marsh and McLennan on the 92ndfloor of the South Tower; 13.

In light of all of the foregoing and in the interests of Justice, I respectfully

request that this Honorable Court grant the relief sought by the Plaintiffs in the Order t o Show Cause as well as such other further relief that the Court deems just and proper. A

Christopher Burke

Sworn before me this

2gthday of July, 2009

M.Jossph Cum Notrary Pylslic, state of New York No. 01CU6196713 Qualified in New York County Commission Ewpires November 17.20,

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