Every two weeks the New York City Council meets for its Stated Meeting to introduce and pass legislation. As a regular feature, Searchlight covers these meetings and posts a summary of the bills passed.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"The goal is to make sure that... lobbyists can't wine and dine their way into the hearts of elected officials, and therefore wine and dine their way into the budget or into the law books." - Speaker Christine Quinn on a package of lobbying reform bills.
MEETING SUMMARY:
WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE AND HYBRID TAXIS
The New York City Council passed a bill (Intro 339-A) that will put more wheelchair accessible and alternative fuel taxis on city streets.
Of the 308 taxi medallions that will be sold next month, the legislation approved by the council ensures that 54 of them will be for new handicap accessible taxis and 254 will be hybrid taxis.
In total, the city will increase the number of wheelchair accessible taxis to 231 from 27 and the number of alternative fuel taxis to 273 from 19.
The legislation also seeks an additional 150 wheelchair accessible vehicles in the next medallion sale.
"Taxis are symbols of New York City," said City Councilmember John Liu, chair of the transportation committee. "But they are also a symbol of inaccessibility for too many New Yorkers and a symbol of pollution for too many New Yorkers."
Advocates for the disabled, who have fought for more than a decade for the taxis, said the effort was an important step, but that more must be done to serve the 60,000 city residents who use a wheelchair or scooter everyday.
The measure passed by a vote of 49 to 0. The bill also has the support of the Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Taxi and Limousine Commission.
LOBBYING REFORM
The City Council also approved a set of regulations aimed at curtailing lobbyists' power at City Hall.
Intro 190-A will require that the City Clerk educate lobbyists on existing regulations and undertake random audits to ensure that lobbyists who also raise money for candidates or serve as political consultants are reporting their activities properly.
Intro 191-A will ban gifts from lobbyists to elected officials. Currently, officials are allowed to receive gifts valued at up to $50. Violators will be subject to a fine of up to $30,000. However, the bill was amended to allow exceptions for small gifts like pens, mugs and T-shirts.
Intro 192-A will change the city's campaign finance law so that contributions from registered lobbyists can no longer be matched with public funds. In the past, such contributions were matched $4 to $1.
The council also modified its own rules (Res 348) to limit access to the speaker's office, the private council lounge, and the floor of the council chambers when the body is voting.
"The goal is to make sure that... lobbyists can't wine and dine their way into the hearts of elected officials, and therefore wine and dine their way into the budget or into the law books," said Speaker Christine Quinn.
Some critics have said the council should have also prevented lobbyists from holding fundraisers for lawmakers and "bundling" donations that can still be matched by public funds.
Speaker Quinn said the effort was not the "final step on this matter" and that the council would continue to work to ensure that "scandals that have rocked other legislative bodies do not happen at City Hall."
The council also promised to make sure that the City Clerk enforces the new laws, something that has been lacking in the past.
"No City Clerk has ever fined a lobbyist ever," said Quinn.
The measure passed by a vote of 49 to 0 and has the support of Mayor Bloomberg.
LANDMARKS COMMISSION APPOINTMENT
The most divisive issue of the day was Mayor Bloomberg's appointment of Margery Perlmutter to the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Some preservation groups objected to the appointment of Perlmutter, who works for the law firm Bryan Cave where she has represented clients such as Con Edison and Viacom. Those who opposed the appointment said Perlmutter's work created a conflict of interest.
"We are approving the first registered lobbyist to the Landmarks Preservation Commission," said Councilmember Tony Avella. "You can't serve two masters."
In her testimony at the committee meeting prior to the vote, Perlmutter promised to recuse herself from any matters that would present a conflict of interest with her law firm or her husband's architecture firm. She also agreed to resign from community board 8 in Manhattan.
Some council members were also upset that Perlmutter, who lives in Manhattan, will replace a commission member from Queens.
"The Landmarks Commission has been too Manhattan-centric," said Councilmember Lew Fidler.
But most council members said they felt that Perlmutter was "highly qualified" for the job.
"There wasn't debate about her resume or qualifications," said Councilmember Jessica Lappin, who voted in favor of the appointment. "The Municipal Art Society did a great deal of work examining her record and testified that her decisions were `within the mainstream.'"
Perlmutter's appointment was approved by a vote of 39 to 10; Tony Avella, Charles Barron, Gale Brewer, Helen Foster, Vincent Gentile, Eric Gioia, Tish James, Annabel Palma, Melissa Mark Viverito, and David Yassky voted "no."
COMMITTEE CHANGES
The council also made changes to the membership of its committees.
On the Contracts Committee, Michael Nelson will replace Al Vann.
On the Economic Development Committee, Michael McMahon will replace Peter Vallone, Jr.
And Carmen Arroyo and Dennis Gallagher were added to the Sanitation and Solid Waste Management Committee.
The next Stated Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 13, 2006.
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At the most recent meeting on May 10, 2006, members of the New York City Council introduced 27 new bills, most of which will never be passed into a law. Still individual council members hope their bills will at least generate public discussion - and result in some action - on the issues that concern them.
Here is a look at a few of the new bills that the council will consider in the coming weeks and months.
HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE TAXIS
Next month, the city is scheduled to sell more than 300 new taxi medallions, but some City Council members are threatening to stop the sale unless the Taxi and Limousine Commission agrees to make more of the cabs accessible to people in wheelchairs.
Only 27 of the 13,000 yellow cabs on the road are currently handicap accessible, even though an estimated 60,000 New Yorkers use wheelchairs. A bill (Intro 340) drafted by City Councilmembers John Liu and Oliver Koppell would require that 154 of the 308 taxi medallions sold next month be set aside for wheelchair accessible cabs.
"We must begin providing taxis that will give individuals with disabilities and senior citizens a greater choice in terms of transportation and make sure that no one is left stranded," said Koppell.
It would also require that 154 new cabs be environmentally friendly, hybrid cars.
STREET VENDORS
For the past 20 years, the city has limited the number of street vendor licenses that can be given out each year: 853 licenses to sell general merchandise and 3,000 licenses to sell food are distributed annually.
City Councilmember Charles Barron argues that street vending is one of the few occupations in which low-skilled New Yorkers can find work and that there should be no restriction on the number of licenses. Barron's bill (Intro 324) would remove the cap.
"If you're not going to supply jobs for people, and they have the where-with-all to create jobs for themselves, well don't limit them and say we're going to put a cap on how many food vendors can get a license," said Barron.
Supporters say it would benefit both workers and the city, which would collect as much as $27 million a year in taxes and fees. But opponents worry about more vendors clogging sidewalks.
UPGRADING 311
By many measures, the 311-call line that Mayor Michael Bloomberg instituted in 2003 has been a success. New Yorkers are able to dial one number and be connected with the city agency that can best address a complaint. 311 receives more than 1 million calls each month, and three quarters of the calls are answered in 30 seconds or less.
However, the City Council and other elected officials have criticized the mayor for failing to share 311 data with the public.
A bill (Intro 325) introduced by Gale Brewer would require the Bloomberg administration to make 311 call data available on the official city of New York Web site in a searchable format.
The bill would also enable New Yorkers to send complaints to the 311-call center by e-mail or online interactive technology.
REGULATING PEDICABS
The Bloomberg administration and the City Council are looking to regulate pedicabs, for-hire bicycle taxis that for years have had few rules governing their operation on city streets.
At the request of the mayor's office, City Councilmember Leroy Comrie has introduced a bill (Intro 331) that would require pedicab owners and drivers to obtain licenses from the city and to carry insurance in case of accidents.
(Read an article by a pedicab driver on the issue.)
DEMOLITION PERMITS
Some local officials complain that buildings in their neighborhoods - some that are in perfectly good shape or contain affordable apartments - are being torn down without their knowledge, so that developers can build new more expensive apartment buildings.
To address the issue, City Councilmember Letitia James introduced a bill (Intro 338) that would require the Department of Buildings, the agency that issues demolition permits, to notify the local council member and the community board if a building that is less than 75 years old is going to be torn down.
Councilmember Rosie Mendez has introduced a bill (Intro 340) that would institute additional requirements for the demolition of buildings that contain rent-regulated apartments.
DANGEROUS BASEBALL BATS
For several years, Staten Island Councilmember James Oddo has been on a crusade to ban aluminum baseball bats from the city's little leagues. Baseballs can travel up to 120 mph when hit off of a metal bat, compared to about 90 mph when hit off of a wooden bat. Teenagers across the nation have been seriously injured and even killed by baseballs hit off of metal bats.
Oddo's bill (Intro 341), which was first introduced in 2002, would restrict the use of metal bats from competitive games for students high-school age and younger.
TAXPAYER FUNDED GREETINGS
Some elected officials in the city like to take out advertisements in their local newspapers to wish their constituents a happy holiday, to announce the anniversary of some long-time friend, or to congratulate a local civic organization on their latest event. The problem with this practice, according to City Councilmember Tony Avella, is that taxpayers are paying for what is effectively an advertisement promoting the politician.
Avella introduced a bill (Intro 323) that would make it illegal for public officials to buy such newspaper ads with taxpayer money.
Every two weeks the New York City Council meets for its Stated Meeting to introduce and pass legislation. As a regular feature, Searchlight covers these meetings and posts a summary of the bills passed.
MEETING SUMMARY:
EMERGING BUSINESS ENTERPRISE BILL
Last year, the New York City Council created the Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprise Program, which requires each city agency to establish a plan to encourage minority and women-owned businesses to compete for city contracts under $1 million.
In the process of creating that program, however, some members of the City Council felt that other business owners who may not fit the specific categories still need additional assistance in competing for city contracts.
In response, the City Council passed Intro 180-A, known as the Emerging Business Enterprise bill, which creates a new category for business owners who have been "socially and economically disenfranchised."
"There is a need for legislation that addresses issues not attributed to gender and race," said Councilmember Diana Reyna, who authored the bill.
The bill sets a goal of giving six percent of all city contracts under $1 million to this new category of business owner.
Council members admitted that they are still working out the details of exactly who can qualify, but they said that ideally it would include people with disabilities or other kinds of minority groups.
The Department of Small Businesses will administer the program and review applicants on a case-by-case basis.
"We know from anecdotal evidence that there are others who do not yet have fair opportunities to compete for contracts," said Councilmember Yvette Clark.
The measure passed by a vote of 46 to 4; Republicans James Oddo, Andrew Lanza, and Dennis Gallagher and Democrat Simcha Felder voted "no."
NEW OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CENTER
The deployment center for the Office of Emergency Management's search and rescue team will soon have a new home in Brooklyn.
The current headquarters for the agency's team, which is trained to respond to catastrophic events, is located on Pier 36 in Manhattan. However, the pier is slated to become a park, and the agency has been looking for a new location that has easy access to all five boroughs.
At the suggestion of the Bloomberg administration, the council approved a new location for the Emergency Management center on Flushing Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
Councilmember Diana Reyna, who represents the district where the new center will be located, had proposed other development plans for the area, but agreed to the new center if the agency considers it only a temporary location.
Under the lease agreement, the Office of Emergency Management will have to find a new location after seven years.
The measure passed by a vote of 50 to 0.
NEW STREET NAMES
The council also passed legislation to rename 58 streets across the city, many for people who died in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
However, the council also gave some other famous people - including former City Councilmember Herb Berman, Special Olympics coach Joann Young, and singer Al Jolson - their own street signs. Even Bob Marley now has his own avenue in Brooklyn; a portion of Church Avenue will be renamed for the reggae singer.
The next Stated Meeting is scheduled for May 24, 2006.
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