February 12, 2012 · www.gothamgazette.com

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Cuomo Threatened Rent Emergency
June 17th, 2011

In an apparent effort to jumpstart negotiations on rent regulation, Gov. Andrew Cuomo reportedly threatened to essentially return the power to control rents to the New York City Council, David King reports from Albany.

Sources tell King that the decision by many Senate Democrats to vote against a temporary extension yesterday apparently spurred the governor to act. He responded by contacting the two key real estate industry groups — the Rent Stabilization Association and the Real Estate Board of New York — and threatened that, without an extension, he would declare an emergency that would put rent regulation into the hands of the pro rent control council.

That, sources say, would have paved the way for repeal of the Urstadt law, the 1971 measure that bars New York City from adopting its own, more stringent rent regulations. Tenant groups have long sought repeal of the law with no success.

The move has reportedly prompted the two powerful associations to realize they might have to make concessions. And pro-tenant Democrats, now seemingly confident substantive negations will actually take place, seem likely to support a temporary extension.

By Gail Robinson on June 17, 2011, 5:22 pm
In category: Gotham City | 1 Comment »

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Tapping a Labor Fund
June 14th, 2011

Talks are continuing over whether the city labor unions would give the city money from a rainy day healthcare fund to go avert layoffs of 4,100 teachers and other city workers, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said today. Any money might also go to save some fire companies and seniors centers now slated to be shut.

At a press conference before todays scheduled council meeting, Quinn made it clear the idea of using money from the fund had come from the Municipal Labor Committee and its chairman, Harry Nespoli.

“I want to be vey clear how very grateful I am to Harry Nespoli and the Labor Council that they are even entertaining” helping the city government in this way, Quinn said.

She said the idea came up after “I said to Harry, ‘we need help,’… Harry said, “‘yes, let me see what we can do,’ and they got back to me.”

Currently, Quinn said, the labor group is considering what its specific proposal might be. Once they do, discussions can proceed from there, she said.

Nespoli and the committee are reportedly planning to discuss the idea tomorrow.
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By Gail Robinson on June 14, 2011, 5:56 pm
In category: City Hall, Education, Gotham City, Public Finance, Work and Labor | No Comments »

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Ethics Bill Passes Both Houses
June 13th, 2011

The Senate and Assembly passed the “Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011″ today. The Senate passed the measure 61-0, while the initial vote by the Assembly is 99-1.

Meanwhile there is more movement on gay marriage. Senate Republicans are reportedly going to the Governor’s Mansion to speak to Gov. Andrew Cuomo about the gay marriage legislation. Meanwhile Republican Sen. Jim Alesi emerged from a meeting with Cuomo earlier today to announce that he will vote for the bill. Earlier today, three Democrats who previously voted against the bill announced they will vote for it. That means there are 30 of the 32 needed yes votes in the Senate. Same-sex marriage advocates told Cuomo today that they want him to bring the bill to a vote and Cuomo’s office has indicated it could happen this week. There are only 5 days remaining in session.

By David King on June 13, 2011, 6:02 pm
In category: Eye on Albany, Gotham City | 1 Comment »

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Klein Cashes in on Race to the Top
June 9th, 2011

The Daily News’ Rachel Monahan has an eye-opening story today that the state is about to award a chunk of its federal Race to the Top funds to the company now run buy former New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein. It’s hard to imagine a tale more rife with seeming conflicts of interest.

First the news, according to Monahan: The state Department of Education is about to award a $27 million no-bid contract to Wireless Generation to develop software to track student test scores, achievement and so on. The system would be similar to the Achievement Reporting and Innovation System, or ARIS, developed for the city schools when Klein ran them.

The state, according to the News, said the no-bid contract is justified because ARIS already cover a third of the state (i.e. the city) and the system has received national recognition.

Recognition, yes, — but not all of it positive.
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By Gail Robinson on June 9, 2011, 5:09 pm
In category: Albany, Education, Gotham City, Tech | 1 Comment »

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Barriers to Cleaner Boilers
June 8th, 2011

Zachary Bergson filed this post.

Manhattan borough President Scott Stringer released a report this week criticizing the New York City Department of Environmental Protection’s plan to phase out boilers that consume highly polluting No. 4 and No. 6 oil.

In the report, Stringer said the department’s plan to phase out dirty boilers that burn the two dirty oils did not go far enough and failed to consider the financial burdens boiler conversions will place on residents of rent-regulated buildings.
The city has estimated that boilers burning the polluting oil account for over 3,000 deaths and 6,000 asthma related emergency department visits every year. Although only 1 percent of buildings use this oil, it is blamed for 86 percent of soot pollution from buildings.

According to Stringer’s report, approximately 63 percent of the 8,912 buildings that use dirty boilers contain one or more rent regulated units. In the Bronx, rent regulated buildings accounted for over 80 percent of dirty boiler buildings, the highest concentration in the city.

As part of the update to his environmental program — PlaNYC2030, Mayor Michael Bloomberg in April announced that the city would phase out boilers that burn the heaviest — and so most polluting — No. 6 oil by 2015 an No. 4 by 2030. But Stringer’s report said thousands of residents of rent-regulated buildings would continue to be at risk because of financial loopholes that would allow owners to delay boiler conversions.
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By Gail Robinson on June 8, 2011, 12:02 pm
In category: Gotham City | 2 Comments »

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Weiner's Millions
June 7th, 2011

However low his political stock may have fallen this week, Anthony Weiner’s campaign bank account balance remains high, leaving the Tweeting representative from Brooklyn and Queens with lots of cash and perhaps no place to spend it.

According to city Campaign Finance Board records, Weiner has collected $5.1 million for a likely mayoral run in 2013, most of it raised in 2007 and 2008. That was back in the days when Weiner — single and perhaps not yet on Twitter — was coming off a strong showing in the 2005 Democratic mayoral primary and Mayor Michael Bloomberg still dreamed of the White House, not a third term in Gracie Mansion. Weiner backed out of the 2009 race — reportedly much to Bloomberg’s relief — after the mayor extended term limits and decided to run for re-election. Records show Weiner has not raised any money since 2008 — although he has returned some contributions during that period.

As he is allowed to do under city campaign law, Weiner rolled the money over into a new account for 2013. And he has made some modest expenditures.

That leaves him with somewhere around about $4 million as of the last filing deadline: January 2011. (For a summary of Weiner’s raising and spending go here.)

Weiner has a substantial fundraising edge over his closest rival — Christine Quinn who has raised about $3.2 million and spent a little less than $500,00 of it — and dwarfs the amounts raised by other possible mayor contenders Scott Stringer (a little les than $1.1 million raised), John Liu ($513,472) and Bill de Blasio ($392,576).

As they say, though, money isn’t everything. And however much Weiner might like to use funds to say escape to a dessert island where no one Tweets (assuming there is such a place), he is fairly constrained about how he can use the money, according to Eric Friedman, director of external affairs for the Campaign Finance Board.

More on what he can and can’t do after the jump.
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By Gail Robinson on June 7, 2011, 5:24 pm
In category: City Hall, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Governing | No Comments »

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Quinn, Recchia Offer More Budget Brainstorms
June 6th, 2011

The City Council leadership continues the drumbeat against the city’s burgeoning contract budget. In a release issued today, Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Finance Committee Chair Domenic Recchia contend that cutting 5 percent of the contract budget in four areas — unspecific general contractual services, data process equipment and commuter consultants, legal services and other professional services — would free up money to save all 20 fire companies slated for the ax.

The contract budget has surfaced as a key point of contention this year, fueled by scandals over CityTime and various education department technology deals — and by its sheer size. The contract budget has grown by more than 70 percent since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office and is slated to top $10.3 billion next fiscal year. (For more on the dispute over city contracts and consultants, see Officials Call for Holding the Line on Contracts.

Recchia and Quinn also target some particular programs, raising them as alternatives to some areas the mayor has called for cutting. Under the council, the city’s sustainability play — PlanNYC would take a big hit — losing $4.4 million for a parks plan and$2.6 million for an air quality study. Other proposed savings of a million or more would defer or cut evaluation in the Center for Economic Opportunity ($2.2 million), reduce parking meter collection staff ($2.3 million), reduce the subsidy to the Central Park Conservancy ($1 million); reduce the strategic planning group division ($1.1 million) and the research and policy unit ($1.1 million) in the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and eliminate the sanitation department’s public information budget ($2 million).
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By Gail Robinson on June 6, 2011, 1:59 pm
In category: City Hall, Crime & Safety, Gotham City, Public Finance | No Comments »

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Finding Money to Save Teachers
June 1st, 2011

The fight over the Bloomberg administration’s plan to eliminate some 6,100 teaching positions moved to the next stage today, with the City Council reiterating its opposition and Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott refusing to backs down from the plan to lay off more than 4,000 teachers, which, he conceded, would boost class size by an average of two students and lay off 4,000 teachers.

At the same time, the Independent Budget Office entered the fray saying the administration is overstating the need for layoffs.

As Walcott testified before City Council, Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Finance Committee chair Domenic Recchia issued a proposal they said would pare $75 million from the Department of Education’s $19 billion plus budget, a proposal they said in their statement would eliminate the need for teacher layoffs.
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By Gail Robinson on June 1, 2011, 3:10 pm
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CityTime Manager Fudges Timesheets
May 25th, 2011

In an impromptu press conference, Comptroller John Liu revealed even the project manager of the Bloomberg administration’s plagued time keeping project couldn’t keep his own time.

According to a letter Liu received today, Science Application International Corp., the prime contractor on the project, put Gerard Denault on administrative leave in December after the project manager fudged his own time sheets. As a result, the company will refund the city $2.5 million.

“The very company entrusted by our city to build a time keeping system for New York City employees has grossly mismanaged their own time keeping and in the process overcharged the city taxpayers for sums of money still to be determined,” Liu said. “This is a sad day for New York City taxpayers.”

Liu said today he would ask the adminsitration to work with him on this issue. He also called for the administration to freeze all payments to SAIC and force the Department of Investigation to conduct a comprehensive review of other possible violations.

In response, Bloomberg spokesperson Marc LaVorgna sent over the following statement:

We will withhold any and all payments until the completion of the Department of Investigations ongoing review, which includes a forensic accountant we added last year. The project is essentially fully online and operational and SAICs contract with the city expires on June 30th. We already had stated we were not renewing the contract. SAIC is owed $32 million for the completion of the project; no payments will be made until the review is completed.

CityTime has been the bane of Bloomberg’s third term. Mired by delay and cost overruns, the debacle culminated in December when federal authorities indicted six employees for using shell companies to divert city money into their own pockets. Originally the project was supposed to cost about $60 million. Its price tag now is more than $700 million.

By Courtney Gross on May 25, 2011, 5:41 pm
In category: City Hall, Economy, Electoral Politics, Eye Opener, Gotham City, Governing, Measuring UP, Public Finance, Work and Labor, nextNY | No Comments »

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Walcott Fires Back
May 18th, 2011

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott sharply criticized the United Federation of Teachers and the NAACP for their latest effort to block city school shut-downs, calling it “unacceptable.

Earlier today the union, the civil rights group and other individuals and groups announced they had filed suit to block the Department of Education’s plan to close or phase out 22 schools it considers to be failing. (See below.)

Walcott charged that, y trying to block the closures, along with18 so-called co-locations of charter schools and traditional public schools, the suit was “trying to perpetuate once again the status quo” that harms students and protect adults.”

He expressed particular irritation that the UFT et al had gone to court so late in the year when most eighth graders have already selected high schools for next years and some — he did not say how many — had opted for the new schools slated to go into space now occupied by the schools facing closure .

“This lawsuit will hold hostage these individuals,” he said indicating there would be a ripple effect throughout the system.

Last year the groups filed their successful suit against the school closing on Feb. 1. Since that time, the city has introduced new procedures for school closings, holding public hearings and releasing information to comply with state education law. The union and the NAACP, though, argue it is still in violation of the law and its own agreements.

By Gail Robinson on May 18, 2011, 4:34 pm
In category: Education, Gotham City, Law | 1 Comment »

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Back to Court on School Closings
May 18th, 2011

A year after they successfully sued to stop school closings, the United Federation of Teachers and the NAACP have returned to court to try to stop the latest round of school phase outs and shut-downs. This year’s action also seeks to halt 18 so-called co-locations of charter schools with traditional public school buildings in Department of Education buildings.

In the action, the UFT and the NAACP, joined by individuals and community groups, charge that the city ignored agreements it had reached last year to help the school its was then trying to close. Fifteen of the schools named in today’s legal action had won a temporary reprieve from last year’s suit. The city announced in December it would try again to close them. Four schools cited last year, though, are not longer slated for shutdown.

In addition, the plaintiffs charge the city did not seek approval from the state education commissioner for the closing, something the suit says it must do.

On the co-locations, the suit charges the plans give students in charter school better access to school facilities than those of the traditional public schools with which it shares space. For example the suit alleges, the department’s plan for the PS114 building would allow PS114 students to use of the gym for three and a half hours every day, while Explore Charter School, with far fewer students, would get the space for almost three hours. The charter students also would have use of the playground for more time.

Following last year’s suit, the Department of Education implemented new procedures for school closings and co-locations, including more public hearings and distributing additional information on the proposed closing or collocation. Under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the city has shut more than 90 school and opened 335 schools, many small, both conventional schools and charters.

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott is scheduled to respond to the suit later today.

By Gail Robinson on May 18, 2011, 2:08 pm
In category: Education, Gotham City, Law | No Comments »

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Teacher Layoffs? REALLY?
May 12th, 2011

In a well-coordinated rally and march from City Hall to the financial district, hundreds of teachers protested Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to lay off thousands of teachers. A number of City Council members and possible 2012 mayoral candidate also attended the event

The speakers, the placards and the chant all sounded themes that no doubt will become increasingly familiar to New Yorkers in the weeks between now and July 1, when the city must approve its budget for fiscal year 2012: The cuts are not necessary, the rich need to pay more in taxes, and children should not bear the burnt of the city’s fiscal woes. That assumes, of course — an not everyone does — that the city has real fiscal woes.

“New York is not Wisconsin but we have to fight like it is,” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. “We have a $3.2 billion surplus. There should not even be a discussion about cuts.”

Rev. A; Sharpton agreed, telling the crowd, “If we’ve got a surplus, why are we laying off teachers?”

(The mayor, of course, disputes this saying he is using what other consider a surplus to pay down the deficit confronting the city for 2013.)

The crowd then moved down Broadway to press it demand that the wealthy needed to pay more. “We want our money back,” they chanted, along with “Who are we? UFT.”

Despite the seriousness of their message the crowd was largely good-natured, a sentiment reflected in the black UFT tee-shirts many wore. With a bow to Seth Meyers and Amy Pohler, it read”

The education mayor?

REALLY?

By Gail Robinson on May 12, 2011, 10:46 pm
In category: City Hall, Education, Gotham City, Work and Labor | No Comments »

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Living Wage Gets Its Hearing
May 12th, 2011

Labor and city leadership collided this afternoon at a packed and feisty hearing on legislation to require city subsidized developers pay a living wage.

Under a bill introduced nearly a year ago, recipients of more than $100,000 in financial assistance would have to pay all of their employees either $11.50 or $10 an hour plus benefits. The controversial bill has garnered 30 sponsors at the council, but it does not have the Bloomberg administration’s support. Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who controls the council’s agenda, has yet to take a position on the measure.

At today’s hearing, the chief of staff to the deputy mayor for economic development, Tokumbo Shobowale, endured two and half hours of back and forth with council members — the vast majority of those in attendance support the proposal. Shobowale attempted to convince the council that the adminsitration agrees with the premise of raising the standard of living for the working poor. It questions, Shobowale argued, whether a wage mandate is the way to do it.

“It’s not a philosophical difference,” Shobowale said. “It’s looking at the data.”

The hearing followed the release of a study on Monday by the Economic Development Corp., which argued the living wage proposal would result in between 33,000 and 100,000 job losses for the city. The study’s methodology and findings drew ire from supporters of the bill today.

“The administration is so full of it, you might want to consider a high-fiber diet,” said Councilmember Jumaane Williams. “It might help with that situation.”

The hearing amounted to a clash of academics and methodology — with supporters citing studies that supported living wage mandates, and the adminsitration calling its recently released analysis solid, current and comprehensive.

Just this morning, supporters of the bill released a counter analysis of the city’s living wage study, which argued its modeling did not rule out other factors that could affect job growth (like an economic downturn). Supporters also claim the city-sponsored study examines the wrong population of projects — it includes an as-of-right subsidy for industrial and commercial properties the bill is not meant to capture.
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By Courtney Gross on May 12, 2011, 6:37 pm
In category: Albany, City Hall, Community Development, Economy, Electoral Politics, Eye Opener, Gotham City, Governing, Law, Measuring UP, Public Finance, Work and Labor, nextNY | 1 Comment »

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School Elections to Resume
May 12th, 2011

The incredibly attenuated, disrupted and confusing elections for the virtually powerless Citywide And Community Education Councils continue. The Department of Education has just announced the voting period for parents will be May 18 to May 25.

In the announcement, Chancellor Dennis Walcott said any votes cast from May 1 to May 7 –when the election came to a halt — will not be valid.

The parents vote is only advisory. Officials of school parents associations can consider those recommendation when they cast their votes — the ones that count — for members of 32 community education Councils, the Citywide Council on High Schools, the Citywide Council on English Language Learners, the Citywide Council on Special Education and the District 75 Council. That round will take place May 27 to June 3, and the new members will be seated by July 1.

By Gail Robinson on May 12, 2011, 4:38 pm
In category: Education, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Governing | No Comments »

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Protesting Cuts to Child Care
May 11th, 2011

Alshawn Rushing wrote this post.

Thousands of daycare workers, parents and children rallied near City Hall today to protest the mayor’s proposed cuts to childcare and education in the city budget.

“New York City’s child care programs are part of the solution — affordable professional child care enables women to work, without it many would not have that option,” said Lee Saunders, secretary-treasurer of the Association of State, County and Municipal Employees. “We need politicians to make a choice we can be proud of and not take the path of least resistance, balancing the budgets on the backs of children and women.”

The protest comes days after Mayor Michael Bloomberg released his executive budget, which called for layoffs of thousands of teachers and an array of other cuts. The administration also announced that Bloomberg had decided to save 16,000 of the childcare slots that were originally slated to be eliminated. According to protestors and their political allies, though, the budget only restores $40 million of the original $90 million that has been cut. AFSCME maintains that only 9,000 of the original slots slated to be cut has been restored.

Child care is an essential job support for low income families, said AFSCME Council 1707 Executive Director Raglan George. “As goes childcare so goes the neighborhood. We are beginning to see some economic recovery; it is not time to limit essential services.”
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By Gail Robinson on May 11, 2011, 4:40 pm
In category: City Hall, Education, Gotham City, Public Finance, Social Services | 1 Comment »

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Koppell Would Consider Motion to Discharge for Living Wage
May 11th, 2011

Councilmember Oliver Koppell told Gotham Gazette today he would consider triggering a rare council rule to bring his living wage bill to the floor should Council Speaker Christine Quinn choose to oppose it.

“I would consider it, yes,” said Koppell at the Emigrant Savings Bank. “I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that. I’m hoping to convince the speaker to support this or some version of this.”

Typically legislation does not move at the City Council unless it has earned the support of the speaker. Quinn refused to say this afternoon whether she would bring the legislation to the floor or when she would decide whether or not to support it.

The bill, which has strong backing from many of the city’s unions, would require city subsidized developers pay a living wage. The Bloomberg adminsitration does not support the measure. On Monday, the city Economic Development Corp. released a study claiming a wage mandate would stall development and reduce jobs in the five boroughs.

Koppell said today, “The assumptions of the mayor are more than questionable.”

Koppell’s bill has been stalled in committee for nearly a year, despite the fact it has garnered 30 sponsors.

At the beginning of Quinn’s tenure — and in the name of transparency — Quinn revised the council rules to make it easier to bring a bill to the floor if it was stalled in committee. A council member must get seven members to sign a memo to bring the bill to the floor. The full council then determines whether the legislation should have a formal vote.

This procedure is rarely ever used and is considered an affront to the speaker’s leadership.

By Courtney Gross on May 11, 2011, 3:51 pm
In category: City Hall, Electoral Politics, Eye Opener, Gotham City, Governing, Land Use, Law, Measuring UP, Public Finance, Work and Labor, nextNY | No Comments »

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Quinn Mum on Living Wage Decision
May 11th, 2011

Council Speaker Christine Quinn refused to take a position on legislation to require a living wage this afternoon, but instead said she would review a recently released study and forthcoming testimony on the matter.

The Economic Development Corp. released a study Monday which found requiring a living wage mandate at city subsidized developments would result in job losses. Legislation to require such wage mandates has been pending at the council for more than a year.

The bill will get its first hearing tomorrow, and both opponents and supporters are scheduled to make a strong showing. Quinn said today she would not attend the hearing.

“We are looking forward to a robust hearing,” Quinn said. “I’m looking forward to seeing the testimony from both the proponents and the opponents. Having the portions of the EDC report that are out there will make the hearing a more informed and interesting hearing.”

When asked if she knew when she would make a decision on whether to bring the bill to a vote, Quinn said: “When I have one.”

Quinn would not say whether the bill would eventually get to the floor.

Already 30 council members have signed on to the legislation. The lead sponsors of the bill, council members Oliver Koppell and Annabal Palma, could file a motion to discharge — which would send the bill to the floor if it had enough support outside of the speaker’s office. The move has only occurred once during Quinn’s tenure.

By Courtney Gross on May 11, 2011, 2:42 pm
In category: Albany, City Hall, Electoral Politics, Eye Opener, Gotham City, Governing, Land Use, Law, Measuring UP, Work and Labor, nextNY | 2 Comments »

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Case Management Back on the Chopping Block
May 10th, 2011

Back in March, the city’s Department for the Aging was prepared to close more than 100 senior centers thanks to a cut in the state budget.

Those centers were eventually given a reprieve from the State Legislature.

Some expected senior centers, a frequent target in the Bloomberg administration’s recent budget cuts, to make it back on the chopping block last week. But it was the opposite.

The city will open about 10 new “innovative” senior centers in the next fiscal year, said a spokesperson at the department. Some will be completely new centers, others will be expansions of existing facilities. One of the centers will be exclusively for LGBT elderly.

“Innovative senior centers will have bigger budgets, have focus on health and wellness and still provide meals, information and referrals,” said Christopher Miller, a spokesperson for the Department for the Aging.

The news has not quelled opposition from advocates for the elderly, who still say the mayor’s executive budget proposal hurts senior services.

Bobbie Sackman, the director of public policy at the Council of Senior Centers and Services, pointed to the largest cut in the department — a $6.6 million decrease for case management services. The same cut was proposed by the Bloomberg adminsitration last year, but the City Council reversed it.

This time around the department plans to cut about 30 percent from its case management contracts, which now link 18,000 seniors to services.

“Some of them are just going to drop through the cracks,” said Sackman. “There is only so much you can do when you lose a third of your work force.”

Sackman and other advocates will rally at City Hall tomorrow to draw attention to the cuts.

With so many other cuts under consideration, including thousands of teacher layoffs, it’s unclear whether this will become a priority at the City Council.

In response to the criticism, Miller said, “The Department for the Aging will work with its case management provider agencies to consider alternate ways to restructure the service to minimize the impact on the citys most fragile and isolated seniors.”

By Courtney Gross on May 10, 2011, 5:44 pm
In category: Albany, City Hall, Electoral Politics, Eye Opener, Gotham City, Governing, Law, Measuring UP, Public Finance, Social Services, nextNY | No Comments »

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Update on Ed Council Elections
May 10th, 2011

A press release just out from Advocates for Justice says the elections for Citywide and Community Education Councils are on hold for the time being.

(For the runup to this, see below.)

In a statement the group’s president, Arthur Z. Schwartz, said advotes, representing the New York City Parents Union, met with lawyers for this city and the Department of Education today. “All parties agreed that the discussion and negotiations pertaining to this matter will be kept confidential at this time. However, we did agree … that the election processes for the [councils] are on hold. Any information to the contrary is inaccurate,” Schwartz’s statement said,

By Gail Robinson on May 10, 2011, 4:39 pm
In category: Education, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Governing | No Comments »

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Elections and Education
May 10th, 2011

Whatever one think of the city Department of Education’s ability to run schools, it does not seem to know how to manage elections. This year’s election process for the Community and Citywide Education Councils — the ultra-weak replacement for the city’s old Community School Boards — has been fraught with problems and roiled by criticism.

First only 500 people expressed interest in the 325 slots. Since some panels — the Citywide Council on High Schools for one — attracted lots of candidates, other community boards did not have enough candidates to fill the available slots — let alone hold a competitive election.

The department also reportedly provided inaccurate information about who could run and put material about the candidates on a password protected website many could not access. On woman who currently serves on a told WNYC that she was informed she was not eligible — odd since, she said, she already serves as co-chair of a council.

In the wake of widespread criticism, the city decided to delay the elections, originally set for May 7, until next week.

In announcing the postponement in a statement, Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said, “After reviewing concerns raised by parents and public officials about this years Citywide and Community Education Council elections, I have concluded that the process could and should have been handled better.’

But today, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio said this was not sufficient. They want an investigation of the election woes and Stringer, along with some parents, also asked the city to convene a task force to consider whether permanent oversight of the various education councils “should be transferred to an independent entity.”
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By Gail Robinson on May 10, 2011, 3:44 pm
In category: Education, Electoral Politics, Gotham City | No Comments »

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