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New York City Council STATED MEETING - October 24, 2003


New York City Council Stated Meeting Report

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.

STATED MEETING - October 24, 2003

Quote of the Day:

"No one here would argue that St. John the Divine hasn't been a landmark in New York City history... but landmark designation should preserve and protect an area from future development. This only protects the church structure, not the land around it." - Councilmember Melinda Katz, chair of the land use committee, urging a "no" vote on a measure to make the Cathedral of St. John the Divine a landmark.

Meeting Summary:

On October 24, the New York City Council unanimously rejected landmark status for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the world's largest Gothic cathedral located on the Upper West Side.

It was only the third time since the Landmark Preservation Commission was created in 1965 that the council has overturned a landmark status recommendation. (Read more about landmark preservation in New York City.)

The issue was not whether the 111-year-old cathedral should be preserved; in fact the commission has been trying to give the church a landmark designation for the last 37 years. The problem, council members contended, was that the action applied only the church structure itself. The 11-acre ground surrounding the church was not included.

St. John the Divine has plans to develop the area around the church and lease it to Columbia University. Current regulations would allow two buildings as tall as 20 stories to be built on the property.

Church officials said that they need the money from the lease to keep the institution running. They estimated that the church currently needs $20 million in repairs and said operating expenses have consumed their endowment. They also emphasized that much of their budget goes to social programs, like after-school programs, homeless services, and soup kitchens.

"What is at stake is clear: the financial security and existence of this beloved religious and public institution," said Reverend James Kowalski, the dean of St. John the Divine.

But council members questioned the integrity of the process, criticized the commission for letting financial concerns become part of their consideration, and raised doubts about whether the planned development would be appropriate for the cathedral and the neighborhood."This is not the way to do it, not at the expense of the integrity of the landmarking process," said Harlem Councilmember Bill Perkins, who represents the area.

The council voted 44 to 0 to reject the landmark commission's recommendation; six council members were absent. The council's action will not stop development of the land around the cathedral. The members urged the landmarks commission to start their process again.

The City Council also unanimously approved a bill (Intro 539) that allows more senior citizens to qualify for rent increase exemptions. Rent increase exemptions are available to New Yorkers over the age of 62, who pay a least a third of their income toward rent, and live in rent controlled or rent stabilized apartments.

Under the old law, a household had to earn less than $20,000 a year to qualify; the new bill raises the annual income level to $24,000.

The Independent Budget Office estimates that the bill will allow 2,575 more households to participate in the program at a cost of $1.8 million to the city.

The next Stated Meeting is scheduled for November 6.

For an archive of past meetings and council votes, visit Gotham Gazette's Searchlight.

 

The Business of Government: The Charter Commission's Proposal to Revise the City's System of $9 Billion in Annual Purchases


New York City spent $9 billion of its nearly $44 billion budget in FY 2003 to purchase, or procure, goods and deliver essential services through contracts. Despite the volume of business that the city processes through its contracting system, the Commission found this system to be antiquated and inflexible. Effective and efficient government service delivery must be supported by a purchasing system that embraces both modern demands and technological advances. Mayor Bloomberg has long recognized this reality and, when he took office, he committed to reforming the system. Although the Administration has already implemented a number of procurement reforms, the Mayor asked that the Charter Revision Commission also study the issue and make recommendations for formal Charter change. On November 4th, the public will have the opportunity to vote on these proposed reforms (Ballot Question 4: City Purchasing) which are abstracted in the Voter Guide and detailed fully in the Commission's final report: "Enhancing Access, Opportunity & Competition: A Blueprint for Reform".

In its report, the Commission detailed the objectives it sought to achieve through Charter change: prevention of fraud, favoritism and corruption; promotion of efficiency, effectiveness and accountability; and promotion of fairness and enhanced access for vendors. Accordingly, the Commission proposals would alter provisions that currently hamstring both the city and its potential contractors, preventing the city's procurement system from adapting as needs change over time. As the Commission recognized, such inflexibility actually impedes the achievement of important public goals.

ENCOURAGING THE EXERCISE OF FLEXIBILITY

The Commission found that the Procurement Policy Board (PPB), composed of Mayoral and Comptroller appointees, would be better suited to provide the needed flexibility, through its public rulemaking process, and ensure appropriate policy governance and oversight. The central element of the city purchasing proposal is the empowerment of the PPB to set the terms and conditions for the various alternative methods of procurement which State law allows the city to use - thereby repealing much of the inflexible detail concerning such methods that now appears in the Charter. That current inflexibility limits the kinds of determinations that the Mayor can delegate to his Commissioners.

To enhance flexibility, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services ("DCAS"), the city's centralized purchasing agency, would be permitted to delegate to the agencies that use certain kinds of unique goods - such as sewage treatment chemicals or bomb-detecting robots - the authority to purchase such items on their own. Currently, while the user agency's expertise is essential to solicit and complete the purchase, the procurement also must move through DCAS to be accomplished - creating significant duplication of effort.

The reality of City purchasing in a post-9/11 world is reflected in another proposed revision that would permit the Mayor to determine when particular procurements raised sensitive security-related concerns, such that full public disclosures would put the security of the city and its citizens at risk. In those cases, exemptions from the Charter's notice and hearing provisions would be allowed. Although the public would not be given the details of sensitive government projects, oversight to ensure integrity in such contracts would be still be provided through the city's Department of Investigation, Comptroller, Law Department and Office of Management and Budget.

The proposal also would allow the Mayor to designate agencies - typically smaller ones that have only limited amounts of purchasing each year - to have their purchases done or assisted centrally through DCAS.

ENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY AND TIMELINESS

Another aspect of the proposal is designed to ensure accountability and to put an end to late contracting patterns. The revision would mandate a comprehensive annual Mayoral procurement report that would include a specific focus on timeliness. It would also require that the city's human services agencies develop and publish annual contract plans for client services on a schedule linked to the budget adoption cycle, so that their vendors can plan their programs and services appropriately.

PROTECTING INTEGRITY EFFECTIVELY

The proposal revises the city's vendor integrity process. the city currently uses a computerized vendor integrity data system, known as "VENDEX," to help agencies make responsibility determinations concerning potential contractors and subcontractors. This system was created in the early 1990s in response to several procurement-related scandals and contains detailed requirements for what information must be submitted, the timing of the submission, the consequences for failure to submit information, and the limited circumstances under which exceptions may be available. Over time, this "one-size-fits-all" system has proven exceedingly burdensome to vendors without necessarily providing City agencies with the most relevant information in a readily accessible format. The proposed change would require that the Mayor and the Comptroller determine jointly - with the aid of conforming legislation brought before the city Council - what information to require vendors to submit. With current technology, it is intended that the city be able to design a much more sophisticated system that will permit different reporting requirements for different kinds of procurements, depending on such variables as the value of the contract, type of procurement, and the nature of the market or industry involved.

EXPANDING THE UNIVERSE OF VENDORS

Finally, the proposed revisions are designed to promote equal opportunities for diverse vendors to do business with the city. They incorporate a specific legal mandate for the Mayor to require citywide agency coordination in the pursuit of expanded vendor opportunities particularly for businesses that are women and/or minority owned, locally-based businesses and other small businesses, to participate as vendors to the city, increasing their economic viability and engagement with the city, and furthering competition in procurement. Because many of these businesses are small, they also would benefit greatly from the reductions proposed for the system by which City contractors report on their employment practices to the Department of Small Business Services. That system, now very burdensome, would be streamlined and improved while at the same time allowing the city still to capture the data necessary to ensure continued contracting and workforce opportunities, including for women and/or minorities.

The Commission's reports, and transcripts of public meetings and hearings, can be found at www.nyc.gov/charter, or by calling the Charter Revision Commission at 212-676-2060.

Anthony Crowell is Chief Counsel to the Charter Revision Commission.

# # #

Related Articles

Vote No on 4: Making Contracts Work by Robert Jackson
Guide to New York City's 2003 Ballot Proposals

Guide to New York City's 2003 Ballot Proposals


 

The Six Questions

1. Paying for Sewage Systems
2. Paying for Schools in Small Cities
3. Non-Partisan Elections
4. City Purchasing
5. Government Administration
6. Class Size

Related Links

New York City Campaign Finance Board - Voter's guide provides information on ballot proposals and candidates.

New York City Board of Elections

New York City Charter Commission

Click here for 2005 ballot proposals

In the days leading up the November 4 election, New Yorkers will likely hear little about candidates running for office.

Most of the races for City Council and judicial seats were effectively decided in the September primary. In New York City, incumbents rarely lose. And many candidates do not even have an opponent.

Most of the debate, campaign flyers, and advertising will focus on six ballot questions.

This fall, voters will be asked to consider issues like sewers, class size, and measures to overhaul city government and contracting. The most contentious question: Should New York City institute nonpartisan elections?

The problem is few voters will have an idea exactly what they are voting for. A State Supreme Court Judge recently described New York's ballot questions as "lengthy and inherently confusing." (Text of the questions as they will appear on the ballot.)

But if voters need a reason to pay attention, they can look to California, where dozens of ballot proposals in recent years have radically altered politics, including the recent recall election that turned the erstwhile Conan the Barbarian into Governor Schwarzenegger.

Some say that New Yorkers should vote "no" on all of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposals on principle.

"Before you know it, New York could end up just like California, with countless ballot initiatives," said City Council Speaker Gifford Miller.

The mayor contends that his ballot initiatives, especially his plan to bring nonpartisan elections to the city, will increase voter turnout, create better choices for voters, and limit the corruption of party politics.

And when it comes to the other questions about running city government - some of which are so detailed that lawmakers cannot even agree on what exactly will happen if they are approved - the mayor believes voters will be able to make informed decisions.

"People understand that they have to keep their households in order," said Anthony Crowell of the mayor's commission. "That is what many of these proposals are doing for city government."

WHY ALL THE QUESTIONS?

Charter commissions are supposed to provide a way to gather ideas and insight from experts who can recommend changes in the charter (the constitution of the city) in order to improve it and make government more effective.

Increasingly, critics argue, ballot proposals have become political tools.

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was famous for his charter commissions. He appointed many of his close friends to commissions and then had them consider issues like whether a new Yankee Stadium should be built or whether Public Advocate Mark Green should be banned from becoming mayor if Giuliani left his seat.

Last year, Mayor Bloomberg tried to get his charter commission to consider nonpartisan elections, but they declined. This year, he put it on the agenda again and they agreed to present a proposal for voters.

But not all of the questions on the November 4 ballot were put there by the mayor.

The first two questions voters will see are amendments to the New York State Constitution and the law requires that the measures must be passed by the State Legislature twice before going directly to voters.

And the last question on the November ballot - number six - would form a commission to study class size limits for New York City public schools. The United Federation of Teachers and other education advocates, who collected 115,000 signatures and took the city to court, put it on the ballot.

UPDATE: October 26, 2003

Question number six will not appear on the November ballot. The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court ruled against it and the court rejected any further appeal by the teachers union.

The Six Questions

1. Paying for Sewage Systems
2. Paying for Schools in Small Cities
3. Non-Partisan Elections
4. City Purchasing
5. Government Administration
6. Class Size


 



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