Speaker Johnson and former Speaker Mark-Viverito (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)
The Manhattan Democratic County Committee is dropping a lawsuit against the New York City Council over a nomination for a commissioner to the Board of Elections.
In December, the Manhattan Democratic Party, led by Chair Keith Wright, filed a legal challenge against then-Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s attempt to confirm her preferred candidate to a Manhattan BOE commissioner seat over the county party’s choice. A lawyer for the Manhattan Democrats told Gotham Gazette on Friday that Wright and new Council Speaker Corey Johnson had come to an agreement and that Wright had instructed the lawyer to drop the suit.
The BOE has ten commissioners, one Democrat and one Republic from each of the five boroughs, who serve two-year terms and are selected through the political party machinery. Current Manhattan Democratic commissioner Alan Schulkin’s term ended in December 2016 but he has continued to serve on the board since the City Council has yet to choose his replacement.
In late 2016, the Manhattan Democrats nominated Jeanine Johnson, an aide to Wright, to fill Schulkin's seat. But the Council did not act on the nomination, after which state law allowed the Council's Democratic conference to choose their own nominee. In November 2017, the Manhattan Democrats chose another nominee, lawyer Sylvia DiPietro. But Mark-Viverito chose instead to advance her own candidate, environmental lawyer Andrew Praschak, over the wishes of the county, leading to the lawsuit. Mark-Viverito and Wright are known to not get along, and the Manhattan Democratic Party is known as particularly lacking in cohesion compared to other boroughs.
The City Council has traditionally toed the county line on nominations to the BOE and the entire body usually votes along with the county's choice. Praschak's nomination was far more complicated. Council Members from Manhattan at first refused to vote on Praschak, insisting on interviewing him and other candidates. After interviews with both DiPietro and Praschak, the latter emerged as the preferred nominee. But a second attempt to vote on Praschak’s nomination also failed when most Democratic Council Members from other boroughs did not show up, meaning the conference could not get a necessary quorum. To some, this indicated that other county leaders were pulling weight to help Wright.
The Manhattan Democrats’ lawsuit was filed December 4, soon after the failed vote attempts to install Praschak. On December 19, the Manhattan Democrats won a preliminary injunction in their suit against the Council, which was lifted after the Council appealed. But the lawsuit was successful in forestalling a vote till the Council’s term ended and Mark-Viverito’s tenure with it. A resolution fell to the new class of the Council under new Speaker Corey Johnson, who, unlike Mark-Viverito, ascended to the speakership with support of the major county party leaders in the Bronx and Queens.
Arthur Schwartz, the lawyer for the Manhattan Democrats in the lawsuit, told Gotham Gazette that Chair Wright and Speaker Johnson had decided to move forward without a lawsuit hanging over the process. “[Keith Wright] said they’re sorting it out but he wanted me to discontinue the lawsuit,” Schwartz said in a phone interview on Friday afternoon.
Schwartz said he would be sending a “stipulation of discontinuance” later that afternoon to the Corporation Counsel’s office, which is representing the City Council in the lawsuit.
Reached by phone, Wright said, “I’m not ready to comment on anything at this time.”
Robin Levine, a spokesperson for Speaker Johnson, said in an email that she “can't comment on pending litigation.” Mark-Viverito did not respond to a request for comment.
It’s unclear if the nomination of DiPietro will go forward as Wright and Johnson continue to negotiate. “That’s up to them,” Schwartz said. “It’s something Keith’s gotta work out with the Speaker.”
“It’s a friendly relationship,” he said of the two, contrasting it with Mark-Viverito’s dynamic with Wright. “I wouldn’t say that was friendly at all.”
Manhattan Council Member Ben Kallos, who supported Praschak’s nomination after hearing DiPietro voice “misplaced” concerns about voter fraud, said he is hoping to see a reformer on the board. The current commissioner, Schulkin, has also faced criticism in the past for expressing similar unfounded sentiments about voter fraud in the city and the need for voter identification.
Kallos, former chair and current member of the Council’s governmental operations committee, which has some oversight of the Board of Elections, is concerned with election administration in the city, which falls under the 10 BOE commissioners as well as the executive director, Michael Ryan, and staff. The notoriously dysfunctional BOE is governed by state law, and there have been perpetual calls for modernization and professionalization of the board, including removing party politics from the commissioner appointment process. Johnson is opposed to such a reform, but has said he wants to see election administration improved.
“I look forward to working with the new Manhattan delegation chairs and the speaker on getting somebody committed to reform on the BOE,” Kallos said in a phone interview. “Whether its Sylvia DiPietro or another nominee, I hope they’re more concerned with not having lines on Election Day and with a smooth voting process rather than non-existent voter fraud.”
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by Samar Khurshid, senior reporter, Gotham Gazette
@samarkhurshid @GothamGazette
De Blasio and Stringer, right (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayor's Office)
Comptroller Scott Stringer on Friday released his analysis of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s preliminary budget for fiscal year 2019, which begins July 1. Stringer said that the administration does not have enough of a “budget cushion” to rely on as economic prospects look gloomier going forward, urged de Blasio to reduce wasteful spending in what is an $88.67 billion budget plan, and unveiled his first “agency watch list,” initially including three city departments “of most concern when it comes to budgeting.”
For roughly 20 minutes in a conference room in the Dinkins Municipal Building, home to the comptroller’s offices, Stringer praised de Blasio’s budget for closing Rikers Island, expanding early childhood education, and funneling resources toward deficient heating systems in public housing, but also argued that various city agencies have not been sufficiently transparent or effective. The comptroller also warned about the city’s growing projected budget gaps for years to come, which are part of the outlook for next fiscal year, where a balanced budget is planned, as mandated by law.
In making his case for the need for the city needing additional savings, Stringer said that though the New York City economy is strong, growth will slow next fiscal year and beyond. He also pointed to federal factors that he said would adversely affect New Yorkers. “With President Trump’s proposed budget cuts going after the most vulnerable New Yorkers and his tax bill targeting our economy, it’s critical that New York City prepares for whatever comes tomorrow,” he said. “That means spending our limited resources in a way that achieves maximum impact.”
To that end, he introduced the “agency watch list,” which he described as a list of agencies “where we appear to be spending more without measurable results.” The list includes the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), the Department of Education (DOE) and the Department of Corrections (DOC).
“I am calling on the Mayor to undertake real evaluations of this spending,” Stringer continued. “What are the goals of the programs? Are they being met? Are we measuring the outcomes?”
He added, “It’s time to start taking a hard, data-driven, quantified look at what these agencies are doing.”
Repeating questions he has raised in the past regarding DHS, Stringer said that while the city must allocate significant resources to help homeless people, it had not gotten the bang for its buck. He explained that spending on homeless services has soared, nearly doubling since 2013, while the homeless population in shelters has increased over the last five years by over 10,000 individuals.
“As the person who exposed this crisis with our sweeping audit of shelters in 2015, I support taking every measure we can to reduce homelessness,” he explained. “But if we’re going to solve this problem, we have to know: is our spending leading to results?”
Meanwhile, DOC has also seen its spending rise in recent years while the city’s jail population has declined by north of 30 percent in the last decade. During the same timeframe, the cost per year of housing each detainee has ballooned from $117,000 in 2008 to $270,000 in 2017.
Education spending has been mismanaged, Stringer said, also repeating past criticisms in citing “rampant waste and a lack of accountability at DOE.” According to Stringer, the DOE spends too much on bureaucracy and not enough in classrooms. He cited the large jump in employment at DOE headquarters. “Since 2012, DOE has added over 400 new central administrative staff,” he said. “That’s growth of 24 percent. But the number of teaching staff has only grown by half that rate, 12 percent.”
The comptroller also noted $1 billion of spending on broadband that has provided unsatisfactory Internet services, according to a survey of New York City public school teachers. What’s more, the city could not account for much of its investment in technological equipment. “In an audit my office did in 2014, DOE was unable to account for one-third of its computer monitors, laptops, and tablets,” he said.
More broadly, Stringer said the city should set aside more room in its budget to “help the city weather unexpected events.” The comptroller insists that the ideal range for the city’s “budget cushion” is between 12 and 18 percent of its yearly spending. De Blasio, for his part, maintains that the current 9 percent of spending is adequate, brushing aside Stringer’s recommendation.
“We are in uncertain times,” Stringer said Friday. “Economic growth is slowing down, especially when we look ahead to 2020,” Stringer said. “We need to do more to prepare.”
In a statement to Gotham Gazette Friday afternoon, de Blasio spokesperson Freddi Goldstein turned the comptroller’s analysis around. “The Mayor’s made dramatic investments in homeless outreach, our schools, and our corrections system,” she stated. “They have helped lead the city to records in job creation, test scores, and crime prevention. We appreciate the comptroller highlighting these gains.”
Beyond the proposed expense budget that de Blasio has put forward, Stringer also critiqued the other city spending plan that runs concurrently with the budget. “There is simply no accountability in the capital budget,” Stringer said. “And that means agencies simply do what they want, which may not be what the city needs.”
“Right now,” Stringer said, “we have huge pots of money appropriated, for only the most vaguely defined purposes.” As examples of the city’s mismanagement, Stringer cited a $33.5 million “acquisition fund” for the Economic Development Corporation (EDC), which, according to Stringer, has not been spent, a fire and rescue facility in Brooklyn that was $20 million over budget, as well as recent Brooklyn Bridge repairs that cost $140 million more than expected.
Stringer’s analysis of the capital budget is likely to resonate at the City Council. New Speaker Corey Johnson created a new subcommittee on the capital budget, and a capital budget hearing will be part of the upcoming weeks of hearings the Council will hold on the preliminary budget.
“Our capital planning and budgeting process is a disaster,” Stringer said Friday, “and it’s been allowed to continue for far too long.”
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by Sam Raskin
@samraskinz @GothamGazette
Ben Max, left, of Gotham Gazette, and Jarrett Murphy, right, of City Limits
February 22, 2018 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Lieutenant Governor Candidate Jumaane Williams
City Council Member Jumaane Williams recently announced his candidacy for Lieutenant Governor, opening a Democratic primary challenge to incumbent Kathy Hochul, Governor Andrew Cuomo's chosen second-in-command and running mate. Cuomo and Hochul are expected to run for reelection this year, but the two positions are elected separately in the party primaries. So, Williams is trying to take Hochul's place alongside Cuomo, assuming the governor makes it through his own primary.
Williams says he's running to become "the people's" lieutenant governor and to push a more progressive agenda than Cuomo and Hochul have. He joined the podcast to explain his motivation for the run and the campaign ahead.
Listen to the full conversation and let us know what you think -- we're on Twitter @TweetBenMax and @JarrettMurphy, with guest @JumaaneWilliams. You can listen to the episode through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever you get your podcasts.
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by Ben Max, Gotham Gazette
@tweetBenMax @GothamGazette