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First Executive Budget Hearing Sets Stage for Final Negotiations


jfc budget hearing exec one

Council Member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland (both photos: William Alatriste)


Following Mayor Bill de Blasio’s April 27 release of his $82.2 billion Executive Budget for fiscal year 2017, the City Council on Friday held the first of many hearings to look at the latest iteration of the city’s spending plan for the year beginning July 1. As the Council examines the executive budget through a series of agency-focused hearings, negotiations around key priorities and final adjustments will be taking place behind the scenes.

The executive budget increased overall spending by only about $100 million compared to the preliminary budget, but added a number of new initiatives paid for by $1.25 billion in additional savings, including an ambitious plan to overhaul the floundering municipal hospital system, New York City Health + Hospitals.

Leading Friday’s initial hearing, City Council Member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, chair of the finance committee, commended the mayor for funding a number of proposals outlined in the Council’s response to the preliminary budget. These included additional funding for 50 ambulance tours, increased staffing at the parks department, boosting the pay rate for contractual employees at the Department for the Aging, and additional education funding, among others.

“However, after reviewing the Executive Budget, it is clear that it is the Mayor’s budget,” said Ferreras-Copeland in her opening statement, “rather than a budget that reflects the collaborative budget process envisioned by the Charter to ensure that the shared priorities of both the Administration and the Council are included.”

Ferreras-Copeland stressed that despite nearly $2 billion in new spending since the 2016 adopted budget, a 6.2 percent increase, many of the Council’s top priorities had not been funded, including youth jobs programs, expanded after-school programs for elementary school children, restoring 34,000 slots to the summer programs for city youth, baselining case management services for seniors, and providing additional funding for cultural institutions.

In its preliminary budget response released April 4, the Council had identified about $790 million in proposals of which the executive budget only funded $61.9 million worth.

Ferreras-Copeland also highlighted continuing concerns over a lack of clarity in the Citywide Savings Program, pointing out that most savings were from spending re-estimates and delays in spending rather than programmatic savings in agencies. She recommended that savings be categorized under these fields and explained in detail to provide more transparency. The mayor said during his executive budget presentation that he expects additional agency savings to be identified by the time of the November update to this next budget deal, per instructions to his commissioners.

Ferreras-Copeland also noted Friday that although the mayor had added to the city’s existing reserves, bringing them to a total of about $7 billion, this number is essentially flat compared to last year and expenses have risen in the same time.

Facing Council questioning was Dean Fuleihan, director of the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget, who defended the “strategic investments” and “disciplined fiscal management” of the administration, pointing out that the $2.3 billion citywide savings program is the largest in five years with more to come in the November update. He also stressed the city’s substantial rainy day funds. Budget watchdogs and rating agencies do agree that this administration has been fiscally responsible in its spending but many have called on the city to boost these reserves to insulate against a widely forecasted economic downturn.   

fuleihan exec budget hearing oneFuleihan (pictured) reiterated this concern as well, and also spoke of the dangers of shaky global markets and the lack of support from the state and federal governments, as de Blasio had when he presented the executive budget earlier this month. Outlining the city’s new spending initiatives, including investments in public safety, education, anti-homelessness services, transportation, infrastructure and the Board of Elections, Fuleihan said the executive budget, “makes investments that address longstanding structural issues that affect all New Yorkers.”

Throughout the hearing, Fuleihan repeatedly emphasized the administration’s willingness to collaborate with the Council on its proposals. He said multiple times, “We’re happy to continue that conversation,” whether it was to Council Member Steven Matteo on his request to discuss property tax rebates or to Council Member Ben Kallos, who brought up issues of performance budgeting and contract overruns.

As evidenced by de Blasio’s latest budget outline and Friday’s hearing, one of the most important issues at play right now is the city’s plan for reforming and revitalizing NYC Health + Hospitals, which was laid out in a new report, One New York: Health Care for Our Neighborhoods.

The executive budget has $180 million in fiscal 2017 for the hospital system, with the ultimate aim of avoiding a $1.8 billion shortfall by fiscal 2020.

At Friday’s hearing, the Council was skeptical of the administration’s plan, with Ferreras-Copeland questioning whether it addressed long-term budgetary concerns from federal cuts under the Affordable Care Act and the system’s decline in revenue generation. These issues were also raised later by Council Member Corey Johnson, chair of the health committee.

“There’s I think...a lot of assumptions in the $1.8 billion plan, $700 million in expense savings, $1.1 billion in new revenue generation,” said Johnson, questioning Fuleihan on the risks of the plan.

“Of course there’s risks,” Fuleihan said, acknowledging that the city would have to work with federal and state authorities for reimbursements for health care costs and possible Medicaid waivers.

Multiple Council members also addressed what they see as underinvestment in city youth, particularly the Summer Youth Employment Program and afterschool programs under School's Out New York City (SONYC), key issues the Council had highlighted in its preliminary budget response. “This is a major and serious issue for us that 34,000 young people will not have an opportunity to have a summer program, a summer camp experience that they experienced last year and we have heard no viable solution,” said Council Member Laurie Cumbo.

Although questioning moved on before Fuleihan could answer, it was brought up again by Council Member Vanessa Gibson. This time, Fuleihan said, “We understand these are important programs, what we did in the executive budget was address priorities that the mayor established and we were able to address many of the Council priorities.” He said the city has doubled the number of middle school children in afterschool programs under SONYC, which was “the focus of the program. That’s where we put our attention.”

Council Member Helen Rosenthal asked about the city’s bond ratings, which Fuleihan said have been strong and stable. Rosenthal also called for fully funding nonprofit human services contractors. The issue was the subject of an oversight hearing chaired by Rosenthal in April.

Council Member Matteo, the Republican minority leader, called for increased funding to emergency rooms in Staten Island hospitals and for the city’s district attorneys. Council Member Vanessa Gibson made a similar request for additional DA funding.

Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer asked for more funding for cultural institutions, echoed by Council Member Cumbo, who pointed out that arts funding has been flat for a decade and the discounted memberships under the IDNYC program posed significant costs for cultural institutions.

Fuleihan again said the administration would take these issues into consideration. “That's the point of the adopted budget,” he said. “I understand.”

The Council’s executive budget hearings will continue for the next few weeks, looking at individual city agencies, with the last hearing scheduled for May 24 where the public will be invited to comment. Following that, the Council, led by Ferreras-Copeland and Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, will negotiate behind closed doors with the administration before coming to an agreement by the June 30 deadline.

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by Samar Khurshid, senior reporter, Gotham Gazette
     

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Legislation Aimed at Holding City Accountable for Rezoning Commitments


city hall rotunda during announcement

Announcement at City Hall (photo: Demetrius Freeman/Mayor's Office)


With the recent passage of the East New York rezoning and community development plan, the city committed to revitalizing the neglected Brooklyn neighborhood by creating affordable housing, investing in community infrastructure, and promoting economic development. The first among 15 neighborhood rezonings planned by Mayor Bill de Blasio, East New York ushers in a new era of planned change and city promises.

As these rezoning and development plans progress, a parallel effort is moving through the City Council to ensure that the city is held to its word in making commitments to communities when modifying land-use rules and upzoning neighborhoods for development.

Last month, a bill was introduced in the City Council -- sponsored by Public Advocate Letitia James, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and Council Members Rafael Espinal and Deborah Rose -- that would create a publicly accessible database of commitments made by the administration in any city-sponsored Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) application. The database and an accompanying annual report would allow elected officials and, perhaps more importantly, the general public to track the promises to communities made by the Mayor and city agencies.

The database and reports would provide regular updates on the progress of initiated projects and track projects left unfulfilled. Following the final passage of any city-sponsored land-use application, the commitments would be recorded on the database within 30 days.

“It will not only record commitments,” said Public Advocate James, “It’s an ongoing reminder of the commitment made by the city to the general public.”

James recognizes the need to push this bill at a time when the city is gearing up to rezone and redevelop those 15 neighborhoods across the city, starting with East New York, as part of an ambitious plan by Mayor Bill de Blasio to harness gentrification and create affordable housing in neighborhoods under strain from market forces.

The public advocate, formerly a Brooklyn City Council member, says she has seen a pattern in similar neighborhood rezonings in the past where guarantees made by the city routinely fell through the cracks. She cited Downtown Brooklyn, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint as a few areas where the city reneged on its pledges to provide ample community benefits while allowing real estate development. “I see all of these luxury condos that have gone up and no public benefits and amenities,” James said.

James’ vocal opposition to the Atlantic Yards redevelopment in Brooklyn was in part because of the city’s failure to ensure adequate community benefits particularly affordable housing.

“The bill is a transparency and accountability effort ensuring that promised benefits are delivered,” she added. James said the bill would be prospective and would not apply retroactively to any land use deals.

City Council Member Brad Lander is a “big fan of planning” and he gives the administration credit for the broad community development plan created for East New York. “There’s a lot of important parts to getting planning right,” he said.

One of those important parts, he believes, is tracking community commitments and the public advocate’s bill would make those commitments “visible, public, and online, and ensure regular tracking and reporting,” Lander said in support.

Of course, tracking does not necessarily mean that promises will definitely be kept, he said. “It’s very hard to mandate keeping of promises,” he said, pointing out that the Council can only make budget decisions for a one-year period and cannot control decisions made in later years by new elected officials. But he added that it provides people with a strong tool to hold the city publicly accountable.

If there’s any elected official now facing this, it’s Espinal, the Council member who represents a majority of the East New York area under the new rezoning plan. He was front and center in the negotiations with the de Blasio administration and managed to secure $267 million in capital funds for East New York under the plan (plus other investments through school and sewer construction that comes from other funding sources).

Ensuring that the capital projects outlined in the East New York deal are carried out is “one of the most important parts of the plan,” Espinal told Gotham Gazette shortly after it was voted through by the Council land use committee. “We want to make sure that the commitments that are made by the administration are kept, that the community residents are able to track this easily online so that we won’t be kept guessing on when these projects will start and when they’ll be completed.”

Espinal is hoping, and trying to see, that the bill passes before the East New York commitments are set in stone -- which he said would be 30 days after the full Council vote of April 20.

“We’re currently working with the administration in creating the template of what that (database) will look like so the bill is actually being worked on and it’s something that we hope to pass very soon,” Espinal said. “It’s gonna happen within a month or so.”

In a letter that listed the various capital commitments in the East New York plan, Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen said her office was working with the Mayor’s Office of Operations and city agencies to “develop a tool that will track the progress made against each commitment and make this information available online for the public.” These commitments, the letter states, will be posted on the city’s website within 30 days of the council’s full vote. MOO will also post an annual progress report online.

“Our goal from the beginning of the process has been to ensure that we create a clear set of commitments, which can be tracked by the community and the Council Member to ensure that we are honoring our commitments made as a part of rezoning,” the letter reads.

These efforts would become mandatory if James and the Speaker’s bill passes. Currently, there is no hearing set for the bill, which would go before the land use committee, but a spokesperson for Speaker Mark-Viverito said they expect to find a date soon. The bill will require one committee hearing to garner feedback from the de Blasio administration and the public, followed by another committee meeting for a vote and then a vote through the full Council.

“Obviously my interest would be to put this in place as quickly as possible,” Mark-Viverito told Gotham Gazette after a recent news conference at City Hall. “We want to be able to track whatever commitments are made on any new development deals or land use deals.”

Both James and Mark-Viverito said that they were having conversations with the administration on the bill. An aide for the speaker said there was a “a normal back and forth that the administration’s generally supported.”

And it appears the de Blasio administration is onboard. "We look forward to working closely with the City Council and Public Advocate on this important transparency measure," said Austin Finan, spokesperson for the mayor, in an email.

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by Samar Khurshid, senior reporter, Gotham Gazette
     

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In Albany, De Blasio Argues for Mayoral Control Extension


de blasio testimony senate

De Blasio testifies in Albany (photo via @KellyCummings)


Mayor Bill de Blasio received a generally friendly welcome from Senate Republicans throughout several hours of testimony in Albany on Wednesday during a hearing on mayoral control of city schools. De Blasio was peppered with questions regarding issues such as special education, charter school co-locations, mental health services, and school space, but the issue of mayoral control as a governance structure was addressed head on only in limited doses.

For his part, de Blasio touted gains in graduation rates and test scores, he spoke of the growth of universal pre-kindergarten and community schools and explained new goals around literacy rates and computer science courses. He even pointed to the number of weak teachers let go during his administration. The mayor was flanked by his schools chancellor, Carmen Farina, who often added specifics to bolster the mayor’s argument or answer questions from legislators.

The hearing could have come at a better time for the mayor - Senate Republicans have recently seized on news of investigations facing de Blasio around his involvement in 2014 efforts to win the chamber for Democrats. De Blasio has been plagued by a series of investigations by federal, state, and city authorities into his fundraising practices.

Sen. Terrence Murphy was the only Senate Republican to bring up the matter during the hearing. "Why I should vote for mayoral control with all the allegations that are going on in your office?" Murphy asked de Blasio.

De Blasio asked Murphy to consider facts such as a 70 percent graduation rate and other successes, adding, “We don't literally know of any other alternative.” De Blasio addressed the allegations saying, "In a democracy, we don't judge by allegations, we judge by facts." Murphy countered that “trust” was still an issue.

De Blasio has served as an electoral boogeyman for Senate Republicans across the state for the last two years, but tensions have heightened in the wake of the investigations and the results of a special election on Long Island where Democrats won the seat that was long held by former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. Bad feelings, largely emanating from de Blasio’s involvement in the 2014 election cycle, resulted in a one-year extension of mayoral control last year. De Blasio cried foul pointing out his predecessor, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, was granted a seven-year extension.

This year, Republican Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan insisted mayoral control not be addressed as part of the state budget, an agreement on which was reached March 31, and invited de Blasio to testify at two public hearings. The second will be May 19 in New York City.

The Democratic-controlled Assembly has advocated a seven-year extension, while Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed three. At the end of his opening testimony, during which he highlighted his long support for mayoral control of city schools and the bipartisan nature of overall support, de Blasio asked for a seven-year extension.

Wednesday’s hearing was more dominated by specific concerns from Democrats about schools in their districts than any hostility from Senate Republicans. Education committee chair Sen. Carl Marcellino led the hearing with little fanfare, asking substantive questions and attempting to keep things focused and moving.

In his preparation for renewal this year de Blasio has referenced his predecessors and support from business groups in an attempt to paint the issue as non-partisan. It was a note he repeatedly hit during Wednesday’s hearing.

“We are in lockstep on mayoral control,” de Blasio said referring to Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg. “It's a system that is superior to what we had before and there is no third way.”

Marcellino, a Long Island Republican like Flanagan, who was his predecessor as education chair, began the hearing by bluntly asking de Blasio about his previous stance on mayoral control. “There was point in time you didn't think highly of mayoral control, why did you change your mind?”

De Blasio quickly countered that his voting record demonstrates his support of the system, but said that he had been concerned in the past about parental involvement.

With that out of the way de Blasio delivered prepared testimony where he touted a familiar list of achievements including the city reaching 70 percent graduation rates for first time in its history; the enrollment of 68,000 students in pre-K, and a commitment to new goals and standards. De Blasio repeatedly thanked legislators for their support, specifically pointing to their approval of funding for pre-K.

There were a few moments of drama.

Sen. Simcha Felder of Brooklyn, who is elected as a Democrat but caucuses with Republicans, complained of being ignored by the administration and demanded de Blasio promise to ease the process by which parents of students with special needs are ensured of an appropriate learning environment for their children by the beginning of the next school year. De Blasio commiserated with Felder on the importance of the issue, but declined to make such a broad promise. He did, however, commit to providing Felder with a letter describing what progress the city does intend to make. Felder appeared satisfied by the end of the exchange.

A number of Democrats including Sen. Velmanette Montgomery, a Brooklyn Democrat, appeared to urge de Blasio to distance himself from Bloomberg’s legacy on mayoral control but de Blasio declined, saying that he felt there had been “undeniable” progress made under Bloomberg, though he did note he thought recent improvements had been made to parental involvement.

De Blasio spoke carefully on the subject of charter schools, even while being offered several chances to criticize them by Senator Bill Perkins, a Manhattan Democrat who asked a series of charter-related questions. The mayor repeated his recent public opinions on charters by saying that they must enroll a student body representative of their surrounding areas and retain challenging students while also saying that the administration is working well with many charter schools.

Marcellino reminded Perkins that it was a hearing on mayoral control, not charter schools and Perkins explained that charters are a key piece of education policy, having noted that under Mayor Bloomberg charters began to proliferate in his district.

Gov. Cuomo and Senate Republicans have been very supportive of charter schools in the past, while de Blasio has often battled with the most high-profile charter network, Success Academy.

The individuals testifying immediately following de Blasio and Farina were tied to charter schools in various ways. They complained of the mayor’s treatment of the schools and expressed support for limiting the renewal of mayoral control. They noted that charter schools are subject to renewal after lengths of terms varying from five, two, or even one year. Testimony was by invitation only. A number of Democratic Senators said they had heard from parent groups that had requested to testify but were denied.

In one of the only direct questions regarding the city’s school governance system, Sen. Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat, asked de Blasio what it would mean to have mayoral control renewed on a one-year basis.

“It creates instability,” said de Blasio, who added that it impacts larger initiatives to improve schools over a span of years. “It is a disservice to our children if we don't even know what our governance will be in a year. It doesn't allow us to achieve what we need to achieve.”

De Blasio and Farina both returned to a theme over their three hours of testimony that they haven’t been presented with an actual alternative to mayoral control. “To what end,” de Blasio asked of frequent debates over the system. “If there was an alternative on the table that is better I would debate it any day.”

Krueger suggested that perhaps the Legislature shouldn’t meddle in city school issues given that a lot of the issues discussed during the hearings including co-location and school space required hyper-local knowledge. “There are certain roles for the state Legislature that are important, there are others that we have to leave alone,” said Krueger.

De Blasio appeared to distance himself from that assertion. “We should be in regular dialogue,” he said. “There should be a partnership. We honor that fact and we want to be in regular communication about how we do things together.”

The mayor took a firm, but collaborative and deferential tone for most of the hearing, appearing to understand his audience and its power. He also surely knows, though, that Gov. Cuomo will have a lot of influence over the fate of mayoral control when the governor and legislative leaders negotiate any policy between now and the end of the session in June.

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by David King, Albany editor, Gotham Gazette
     

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