Council Member Ulrich (photo: William Alatriste)
The City Council Committee on Veterans held a preliminary budget hearing Monday, hearing testimony from the Department of Veterans Services and advocates for military veterans in New York City.
Council members, led by committee Chair Eric Ulrich, heard from Loree Sutton, the commissioner of the Department of Veterans Services, and others in assessing the department’s budgetary needs for the upcoming 2018 fiscal year, which begins July 1.
Formerly the Mayor’s Office of Veteran’s Affairs, DVS was established as a stand-alone agency in 2015 to provide more support for the city’s military veteran community. This includes more staff and a bigger budget, as well as more oversight from the Council.
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $84.67 billion preliminary budget, unveiled January 24, surprised some veterans advocates with its $318,000 funding decrease for DVS from the current fiscal year’s adopted budget. As previously reported by Gotham Gazette, this proposal was initially met with outrage from members of the Council’s veterans committee and other elected officials, who joined veterans advocates to protest the proposed reduction outside City Hall last month.
A few days later, the mayor’s office announced it was adding money to the DVS budget for fiscal 2018 to keep one position that had been federally funded and was not slated to be kept and for other services.
Thus, outrage was largely absent from Monday’s hearing. Despite DVS receiving $3.84 million in the adopted budget for the current fiscal year, Commissioner Sutton and Council Member Ulrich seemed at peace with the $3.63 million (plus the to-be-seen additions) in proposed funding for DVS in fiscal year 2018. The city's November budget modification had the DVS budget at $3.95 million, but projected $3.63 million for the next fiscal year, and that is what de Blasio wound up budgeting. State and federal funding may also play a role in the next adopted DVS budget, though.
In her testimony, Sutton framed the decrease as a natural reduction for a second-year agency. Referring to DVS as “truly a ‘start-up’ entity,” Sutton explained that the budget decrease is due to one-time costs associated with forming a new agency that were included for the current year and are unnecessary next year. “Part of the inaugural agency budget was assigned to staffing, as well as certain non-recurring start-up costs such as the purchase of computers, office equipment, supplies, and furniture.”
Following Sutton’s testimony, Ulrich praised Sutton for keeping operational costs down. “Commissioner Sutton is probably one of the few agency heads who doesn’t come to the City Council saying ‘we need more money,’ so I’m very impressed with her level of austerity - she’s doing so much with the limited resources she has. If she needed more money I’m sure she would ask for it and the Council would be obliged to give it to [DVS].”
Sutton’s testimony also provided an overview of DVS operations. She outlined the progress made on housing, health services, and employment programs for the city’s 210,000 military veterans. According to Sutton, DVS “led the nation in its response to homelessness by connecting 1,600 homeless veterans with permanent, affordable housing this past year.” Sutton also reported that, in an effort to increase accessibility, DVS is establishing satellite offices in all five boroughs “to serve as a direct link between the community in each borough and DVS.”
A DVS spokesperson, Alexis Wichowski, had previously told Gotham Gazette that the agency had hired 33 of its 35-person budgeted staff. “We are almost at full capacity, that’s a huge milestone,” she said. “Getting people on board and getting them trained has been the focus for the last few months.”
Though neither Sutton nor Ulrich called the mayor’s preliminary budget lacking in DVS funding, that position was not unanimous Monday. The committee also heard from the NYC Veterans Alliance, represented by Kristen Rouse, who testified to the need for an increase in DVS funding, arguing that her organization is still overwhelmed with the number of requests it receives from veterans and their families.
“I would love for a day when we don’t get phone calls and emails from distressed people saying ‘we need help,’” Rouse said, before officially calling on the administration to increase DVS funding. “DVS was created because of the enormity of the need and the urgency of helping veterans and their families in New York City...Funding must go up, not be reduced,” Rouse told the committee.
Though Ulrich could not commit to securing such an increase in the final budget - the deadline for which is June 30 - he did conclude the hearing by remarking that DVS represents a vast improvement to the city’s former veteran care and policy-making process. It was a push by Ulrich and groundswell in the Council that led to the creation of the department over the initial objections of de Blasio. “Prior to DVS...The budget [for veterans affairs] was whatever the Mayor wanted it to be and the Council really had no formal role it that process...I think it was incredibly important that people feel a sense of accountability. Now we have that and we’re very grateful for that.”
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by Luke Foley, Gotham Gazette
@GothamGazette
Note: this article has been updated with additional information.
New York City Hall
What to watch for this week in New York politics:
As the week begins, Governor Andrew Cuomo is in Israel on an "economic development and unity trip." Cuomo left Saturday and is due back on Monday.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has also been traveling -- the mayor was in Chicago on Friday for a fundraiser, a meeting with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and a speech at the City Club of Chicago; he then traveled over the weekend holding fundraisers in Florida and California. De Blasio is due back in New York City on Monday and has one public event scheduled: his weekly NY1 appearance.
Meanwhile...It’s budget season! The City Council began its weeks-long hearings on Mayor de Blasio’s preliminary budget on Thursday with a broad overview hearing on the spending plan. Those hearings continue this week on a Council committee and city agency basis. See below for all the details of this week’s hearings. A new city budget isn’t due until the July 1 start of the new fiscal year.
Hearings and negotiations continue in Albany this week, where state budget talks are still in their early phases, but a state budget is due by April 1 start of the new state fiscal year. Meanwhile, federal uncertainty around the first budget under President Donald Trump and a new Republican-controlled Congress is hanging over both state and city proceedings.
There’s a great deal happening beyond budget hearings, of course. See our day-by-day rundown below.
***Do you have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics?
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The run of the week in detail:
Monday
At the City Council on Monday, there will be preliminary budget hearings on:
On Monday, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito "will be in Columbus, Ohio meeting with OneID Columbus Leaders."
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Monday in Albany.
Also at the New York State Legislature on Monday: The Assembly Standing Committees on Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions; Consumer Affairs and Protection; Energy; and Environmental Conservation will meet jointly at 10 a.m. to “examine the Zero Emissions Credit Program and the subsidizing of nuclear power plants.”
At 8:30 a.m. Monday, the New York City Food Policy Center will host “Chefs Working to Improve the Food System,” featuring Liz Neumark, founder of the Sylvia Center; Lynn Loflin, chef of the teaching kitchen at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House; and Antoinette “Chef Toni” Willard, East Harlem chef and founder of Chef Toni’s Cooking Adventures.
At 6 p.m. Monday, the New York City Bar Association will host “Emergency Preparedness for Families Affected by the Executive Orders on Immigration.” Maureen Schad, pro bono counsel at Chadbourne & Parke, will moderate a panel consisting of Lee Wang, Staff Attorney at the Immigration Defense Project; Terry D. Lawson, Director of the Family and Immigration Unit of Legal Services NYC-Bronx; and Ellen Rosenberg, Law Project Director at Women’s Prison Association and Family Law Advisor at Incarcerated Mother’s Law Project. The panel will discuss parental directives for protection of children subject to the Trump Administration’s executive orders on immigration.
At 6:30 p.m. Monday, Comptroller Scott Stringer will attend the Local 372 quarterly membership meeting at DC 37.
Mayor de Blasio will make his weekly Monday evening appearance on NY1’s Road to City Hall with anchor Errol Louis, 7 and 10 p.m. hours.
Tuesday
At the City Council on Tuesday, there will be preliminary budget hearings on:
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Tuesday in Albany.
At 11 a.m. in the Capitol, "Hundreds of supporters, elected officials, impacted youth and members of the Raise the Age NY campaign #RaisetheAgeNY will hold a press conference on Tuesday, March 7th to call on State legislators to pass legislation raising the age of criminal responsibility in New York during final budget negotiations." IDC Leader Jeff Klein will be among those participating.
On Tuesday at noon Public Advocate Letitia James is "announcing a plan regarding the border wall, specifically to let businesses know that New York City will not support any business that supports the border wall." She'll lead a rally at Foley Square.
At 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Crain’s New York Business will hold will hold a breakfast forum featuring Daniel A. Nigro, the Commissioner of the New York City Fire Department. Nigro “will discuss the FDNY’s new strategies and technology, the city’s historic drop in fire fatalities and the struggle to diversify the nation’s largest fire department."
On Tuesday at 11:15 a.m., "Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner James O’Neill will visit the JCC of Staten Island to meet with Jewish community leaders and discuss the increase in anti-Semitic incidents in New York City. This meeting is closed press. Immediately following the meeting, the Mayor will deliver brief remarks and take on-topic questions."
At 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, the New York City Board of Elections will hold a Commissioners’ Meeting.
At 4 p.m. Tuesday, City Council members led by Council Member Rafael Salamance, advocates, and others including Public Advocate Letitia James will hold a press conference calling for universal air conditioning in schools, outside City Hall.
At 6 p.m. Tuesday, the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce will launch its new event series, “B2B Tech Solutions.”
Wednesday
At the City Council on Wednesday, there will be preliminary budget hearings on:
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Wednesday in Albany.
At 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, City Council Member Mark Levine will host the “Washington Heights Small Business Summit” at Boricua College.
On Wednesday in Austin, Texas, schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña and Department of Education COO Ursulina Ramirez will present at South by Southwest Education, on "The Big Apple's Big Bet: Equity & Excellence 4 All."
"The New York City Council Women’s Caucus, the 12-member body, led by Co-Chairs Laurie A. Cumbo and Helen Rosenthal, will join women across the country in observing “A Day Without A Woman” on the steps of City Hall from 12 to 2pm, Wednesday, March 8th. Elected officials, advocates, and everyday New Yorkers are marking the national “A Day Without A Woman” by highlighting the profound economic and societal value of “women’s work,” whether it is paid or unpaid; and some of the professional fields historically dominated by women."
Wednesday at 6 p.m. is the Bronx Republican Party Chairman's Dinner, featuring remarks by Assemblymember Ron Castorina. "The Republican Mayoral hopefuls (Paul Massey, Mike Faulkner and John Catsimatidis) will also be speaking."
At 6 p.m. Wednesday, the New York Women’s Foundation will host a panel discussion centered on the release of “Women InJustice: Gender and the Pathway to Jail in New York City,” a report by John Jay College of Criminal Justice Prisoner Reentry Institute. Alison Wilkey, Director of Public Policy at the Prisoner Reentry Institute, will present the findings. The panel includes Judy Kluger, Executive Director of Sanctuary for Families; Jonathan Lippman, chair of the Independent Commission on NYC Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform; Vivian Nixon, Executive Director of the College and Community Fellowship; and Diana Ortiz, Project Director at the Women’s Community Justice Project.
At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, the Civilian Complaint Review Board will hold a board meeting at the Robert Ross Johnson Family Life Center in Queens.
Thursday
At the City Council on Thursday:
At the City Council on Thursday, there will be preliminary budget hearings on:
At 8 a.m. Thursday, the Center for an Urban Future will host “Preparing NYC’s Economy and Workforce for the Next Wave of Automation,” discussing policy initiatives and steps “that policymakers, business leaders, and educational leaders in New York should be taking now to prepare for the oncoming wave of automation.” Speakers include Nell Abernathy, Lauren Andersen, Rebecca Greenfield, Chris Hughes, Stanley S. Litow, and Serkan Piantino.
At 8 a.m. Thursday, City & State NY will host "On Technology," where New York leaders on technology policy will discuss “tackl[ing] the most important issues affecting the future of digital government.” The forum “will bring together over 250 industry professionals from across the state to engage in these important conversations.”
At 10 a.m. Thursday, the New York City Campaign Finance Board will hold a public meeting.
At 6 p.m. Thursday, the Department of Parks and Recreation will host author Peter Kageyama for its “Parks Without Borders” discussion series. Kageyama will speak with Department Commissioner Mitchell Silver about how “emotionally connecting with parks and public space can make communities stronger, healthier, and happier.”
At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny, will host “Countdown to Tyranny: How Trump's Attacks on the Press Could Change the World” at the New York Society for Ethical Culture.
At 7 p.m. Thursday, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, along with the MTA, DOT, and other Manhattan elected officials, will host two public workshops concerning the L train shutdown to gather input from those affected for mitigating the shutdown’s effects on small businesses, residents in the 14th St area, and people with disabilities.
At 7 p.m. Thursday, the Citizens Budget Commission will hold its annual dinner. CBC will honor Senator Chuck Schumer with the CBC Medal for High Civic Service; Schumer will deliver the keynote address. CBC will also present the inaugural Felix G. Rohaytn Award to Felix Rohaytn, “the iconic leader during the City’s fiscal crisis of the 1970s.”
At 8 p.m. Thursday, multiple groups are hosting a GOP mayoral forum at Columbia University, featuring four declared or potential Republican candidates for Mayor of New York: City Council Member Eric Ulrich, Paul Massey, Darren Aquino, and Michel Faulkner.
Friday and the weekend
At 10 a.m. Friday, the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee will host a workshop in Downtown Brooklyn for politically engaged Democratic women.
On Friday, State Senator Leroy Comrie will hold a “Town Hall Against Hate” at the Jamaica Muslim Center in Queens. The town hall will “focus on the legal regime in NYC to protect minority communities and immigrants from discrimination.” The event will feature a panel consisting of the Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit, the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, the New York City Commission on Human Rights, the Queens District Attorney, and the New York Immigration Coalition.
At 2 p.m. Sunday, Neighbors to Save Rivington House will hold “What’s Next for Rivington House: Creating New Ideas for Community Care” at University Settlement’s Speyer Hall.
At 3 p.m. Sunday, City Council Member Andy King will deliver his 2017 State of the District speech at North Bronx Seventh Day Adventist Church.
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Have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics? E-mail Gotham Gazette executive editor Ben Max any time: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (please use "For Week Ahead" as email subject).
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by Ben Brachfeld and Ben Max
@GothamGazette
Paul Massey (photo: Samar Khurshid/Gotham Gazette)
Mayoral candidate Paul Massey, a real estate executive running for the Republican nomination, has promised to not accept financial campaign contributions from people who do business with the city. But, that pledge does not apply to his current campaign, which has already received about two dozen donations from people with city business.
While Massey has made the promise on the trail, when presented with Gotham Gazette’s analysis of his contributors, Massey’s campaign clarified Friday that the candidate meant it prospectively -- he won’t accept contributions from those on the city’s “doing business” list if he is elected mayor, meaning for a potential re-election bid.
Massey has so far based his early campaign on criticizing Mayor Bill de Blasio, a first term Democrat, and has offered little in the way of concrete policy proposals. He has called the mayor “corrupt” based on the numerous state and federal investigations into his administration, and for purportedly awarding city business to campaign donors, which Massey pledged he wouldn’t do if he became mayor.
At his first news conference on February 21 at City Hall, Massey said the city needs a leader who could govern with “independence and integrity” and wasn’t beholden to special interests or any group “that either has business before the city or could influence his decisions in an irrational way.”
Massey repeated his pledge at a Wednesday event for mayoral candidates hosted by the Brooklyn Republican Party. “I’m living to the letter of the law with the election giving limits,” he said, according to Politico New York. “I think that, given the strict limits of the election law, no one will have influence on us…I will take no money, zero dollars, from anyone doing business with the city.”
Campaign finance records show that Massey is not yet following that pledge -- he has accepted about two dozen contributions totaling $8,200 from donors who are also on the city’s Doing Business Database. Under the city’s campaign finance law, people with city business can give a maximum of $400 to a mayoral candidate. Most of the doing-business contributions to Massey come from people in the real estate industry, and a few were bundled by an employee of Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate company that bought Massey’s $2 billion brokerage firm, Massey Knakal Real Estate Services, in 2014.
Those contributions are no great sum, particularly given Massey has raised about $1.6 million, personally loaned his campaign another $1.2 million, and spent $1.96 million, largely on consultants. But certain, additional contributions also came amid larger ones connected with the doing-business donors. For instance, Stephen Katzman, president at S. Katzman Produce, gave $400 to the campaign -- Katzman is on the doing business list as his company is a wholesaler at the Hunts Point Terminal Market, which is leased from the city. But six employees of the company, three of whom appear to be relatives of Katzman, donated $25,250 all together. Five of them gave $4,950 each, the maximum permissible contribution to a mayoral candidate for those not on the doing-business list.
James Donaghy could only give $400, as he owns a construction company with city contracts, but he also acted as an intermediary and bundled $13,350 for Massey’s campaign. Mitchell Steir, another bundler, pulled together $12,400 for Massey, while giving $400 himself since he is also on the list.
Six other donors who are listed in the city’s Doing Business Database contributed more than the legal limit and their contributions were refunded, according to Massey’s campaign (Four of the refunds were not reflected on current campaign finance filings but the campaign said they would be noted in the next filing). Only one, Robert Von Ancken, subsequently gave the allowable max of $400 to the campaign.
Fullington, the spokesperson for Massey’s campaign, doesn’t believe there is a contradiction in the candidate’s pledge. “Paul Massey has been very clear that he will not take contributions from anyone doing business with the City once he is Mayor,” she said, in an email. “His friends and business associates are allowed to give money to him to support his campaign.”
Asked if 2017 campaign contributors may be barred from ever doing business with the city if Massey is elected mayor, Fullington said, “Anyone who has done business with Paul knows he has a record of integrity and he has been very clear to his campaign supporters that there will not be special deals once he is elected Mayor.”
That argument is similar to what de Blasio has said in defending himself amid allegations of a pay-to-play culture at City Hall related to the mayor raising hundreds of thousands of dollars from entities with city business for his now defunct political nonprofit, The Campaign for One New York. De Blasio continues to insist that all decisions he and his deputies make are “based on the merits,” not any donation.
The Massey campaign has so far been focused on attacking de Blasio, while portraying Massey in contrast to the incumbent as a strong manager, smart executive, and hard worker who is above reproach ethically.
Massey has also criticized the mayor for participating in the city campaign finance system’s public matching funds program. An email blast sent out by the campaign on Thursday read, “Bill de Blasio has a rampant history of corruption and can't be trusted with taxpayer money — or City Hall for that matter — but he is using taxpayer money to fund his campaign anyway.”
While Massey is required by city law to file disclosures with the city Campaign Finance Board, he is opting out of the public-matching system, which awards money to candidates based on donations up to $175. De Blasio is participating, as he did in 2013, and in prior campaigns for his previous elected offices.
Massey’s position is at odds with the general sentiment about the program, which is held up as a national model and tends to level the playing field for those candidates who don’t have access to significant wealth or a donor base of moneyed interests. “Paul is not taking matching funds, and would much rather taxpayer dollars go to the critical programs that make this City great, which serve our children, seniors and veterans,” Fullington said.
When Gotham Gazette emailed de Blasio’s campaign for comment on the doing-business contributions to Massey’s campaign and his promise to not accept them as mayor, spokesperson Dan Levitan simply responded, “That is amazing!”
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by Samar Khurshid and Felipe De La Hoz
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by Samar Khurshid, senior reporter, Gotham Gazette
@samarkhurshid @GothamGazette
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by Felipe De La Hoz, Gotham Gazette
@FelipeDLH @GothamGazette