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Players in 2009 Mayoral Control Fight Take Different Positions in 2016


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De Blasio testifies in Albany, May 4 (photo: Demetrius Freeman/Mayor's Office)


In 2009, then rank-and-file Assembly Member Carl Heastie was the lead sponsor of a bill designed to weaken then Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ability to determine education policy in New York City. Seven years later, Assembly Speaker Heastie is thought to be Mayor Bill de Blasio’s greatest ally in the fight to renew the system of mayoral control of city schools as is.

The 2009 bill, called the Better Schools Act, would have removed the mayor’s ability to name the majority of members of the Panel For Educational Policy, allowed the city’s Independent Budget Office to audit "financial investments and academic achievement," and provided training for parents and teachers to be more involved in the system.

The bill never came to a vote in the Assembly as then Speaker Sheldon Silver was a supporter of mayoral control. The bill died in the education committee two years in a row. It did, however, get a vote in the Senate in July 2009 where it was voted down. Bloomberg, in 2002 the first mayor given mayoral control of schools, won a six-year extension.

That extension came due mid-way through de Blasio’s second year in office last year and the mayor was given just one year more as his ongoing conflicts with Senate Republicans, who control that chamber, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, dominated policy-making in a turbulent Albany rocked by scandal.

Both Senate Republicans and Gov. Cuomo disagree with de Blasio on several aspects of education policy, like support for charter schools, while also having major political problems with the mayor.

Cuomo has proposed a three-year extension and stayed out of the public discussion, but the dynamics between de Blasio and Senate Republicans appear to have killed any chance at a nuanced debate as an extension is again being considered and de Blasio was asked to participate in two May hearings on mayoral control of the schools. He attended the first, in Albany, and sat for four hours of testimony, but declined to appear at the second, in New York City, letting his schools chancellor, Carmen Fariña appear. Senate Republicans, especially Majority Leader John Flanagan, were not happy.

The irony, which applies to many involved in this education debate, is that de Blasio’s belief in the concentrated system of power that mayoral control provides more closely aligns with his biggest critics, while de Blasio’s allies are forced to support a system they largely criticized under Bloomberg.

Education reform groups, largely funded by major donors to Senate Republicans, have staged protests of de Blasio’s policies, but continue to support mayoral control as a governing system. The city’s teachers union, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), was often at odds with Bloomberg and is very close with de Blasio, but has not been a vocal supporter of mayoral control. The UFT and Senate Republicans are often antagonists and the union declined to testify at either hearing this month.

Sen. Diane Savino, a member of the Independent Democratic Conference from Staten Island, was a cosponsor of the Better Schools Act and said it was obvious to her why the tune in Albany has changed. “Then it was Bloomberg and now it’s de Blasio. It’s just about who is mayor,” Savino told Gotham Gazette. “Quite frankly politics has taken over the issue in both houses. We should be talking about how to make the system better. The concerns everyone had in 2009 are still concerns today. If the PEP was a problem then, the PEP is a problem now. If parental involvement was a problem then, it’s a problem now.”

Heastie’s office did not return request for comment on his past support of the bill and whether he would be interested in voting on a bill that alters the current school governance system. A spokesperson for Senate Republicans declined to comment on Heastie’s support and whether Flanagan is considering changes to mayoral control. Flanagan has been critical of de Blasio on a number of fronts, including in a statement after the mayor’s Albany testimony in which Flanagan said de Blasio had not answered questions to his satisfaction.

The Better Schools Act would have expanded the PEP from 13 to 17 members serving two-year terms, with the mayor appointing eight members, each borough president one, one by the City Council, one by the Governor, and one by each head of the Assembly and Senate majorities.

Now, the panel’s 13 members include eight appointed by the mayor and one each by the five borough presidents.

“Bloomberg had gravitas and immense wealth; de Blasio has neither,” said Doug Muzzio, professor of political science at Baruch College, when asked what he saw as the major difference between the 2009 and 2016 battles for extending mayoral control.

In 2009 Senate Republicans were Bloomberg’s greatest ally. The mayor was seen by many as the conference’s financier, but for the first time in decades they were technically no longer in control of the chamber. That is until then Senator Dean Skelos teamed with rogue Democratic Senators Pedro Espada and Hiram Monserrate to stage a coup, suddenly casting a leadership vote that other Democrats protested. The following legal and political battles saw the chamber sit empty for months. State government was crippled and mayoral control expired. Technically, the system reverted back to the old Board of Educaiton set-up with more decentralized power, something many have called inefficient, ineffective, and rife with nepotism and corruption.

When Democrats regained control of the chamber in 2009 then Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson insisted on making a number of changes to mayoral control to increase parental involvement, angering Bloomberg. Sampson and other Democrats continued to hold a grudge against Bloomberg for his generous financial support of Senate Republicans.

Despite their general support for Bloomberg, a number of city-based Republicans at the time also advocated changes to increase parental participation in education decision making.

Some of the major players against mayoral control included Sampson, Espada and Senators Carl Kruger and Shirley Huntley. All of them have since been convicted on corruption charges (as has Skelos).

Leonie Haimson, executive director of Class Size Matters, a group that is opposed to mayoral control, said she recalls being disillusioned after having a much-anticipated meeting with Assembly Speaker Silver (also since convicted on corruption charges). “He just shrugged and blew us off. We made no headway with him whatsoever,” said Haimson. “We didn't have a chance in hell getting anything through because Shelly Silver wouldn't do anything and we knew Senate Republicans were going to do anything Bloomberg wanted, that was very clear.”

Eventually Bloomberg abandoned negotiating with Senate Democrats and invoked Neville Chamberlain in a an interview. Senate Democrats were outraged saying Bloomberg had compared them to Nazis. Asked by a reporter whether he meant to compare Democratic state senators to Nazis, Bloomberg replied: “I certainly did. What part of that did they not understand? This is ridiculous." The mayor’s team later walked things back, saying he hadn’t heard the question.

The New York Post, meanwhile, ran a month-long series of pieces highlighting the benefits of mayoral control, titled “City Schools, City Rules.” The Post later celebrated its own coverage, running an August 2009 story with collected quotes from public officials, including Bloomberg, praising its reporting on the subject and taking some credit for the deal that was reached. Post front pages that spring had been unsparing, salacious attacks on the dysfunction in Albany - the paper even sent a clown and had her pose for pictures with legislators. Those pictures later became even more salacious covers.

The deal that was struck gave Bloomberg a six-year extension, but included new checks and balances: the IBO with more oversight over education spending, required hearings over the potential closure of underperforming schools, and Panel for Education Policy approval of Department of Education contracts worth more than $1 million.

Last year, as mayoral control was heading toward sunset, the Legislature was rocked by the indictments of its legislative leaders - Silver and Skelos. The Legislature was finding its footing under the new leadership of Assembly Speaker Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Flanagan as the mayoral control deadline approached. Bloomberg was no longer mayor, his large donations to Senate Republicans had ceased. Heastie, a Bronx Democrat, and de Blasio were developing a strong alliance.

De Blasio not only wasn’t donating to Republican candidates - quite the opposite - he was finding creative ways to donate to swing-district Democratic candidates in their bids to unseat Republicans and win back control of the chamber. Flanagan balked at proposals to renew mayoral control by the six years it been extended under Bloomberg or even the three proposed by Gov. Cuomo and others. De Blasio was calling for it to be made permanent. When the legislative session’s “big ugly” hodgepodge of legislation was unveiled, de Blasio was left with a somewhat shocking one-year extension.

The mayor knew Senate Republicans were behind the minimal renewal, but he also blamed Cuomo for not going to bat for him - part of why de Blasio unleashed a very public tirade against Cuomo on June 30.

This year, de Blasio’s position is even weaker and Albany only slightly less chaotic. The year started with the convictions of both Skelos and Silver and then news of federal investigations into de Blasio’s fund-raising and Cuomo’s economic development programs. Senate Republicans are now on edge as they lost the seat Skelos held for decades to Democrat Todd Kaminsky and they face the prospects of a number of aging and retiring members. But the de Blasio scandal has given them hope as the probe into his 2014 fundraising for those state Senate races has led investigators to a number of districts with races that could determine control of the chamber. Democrats are sure to continue to dominate the Assembly. Carl Heastie remains de Blasio’s most important Albany ally.

Flanagan has held hearings on mayoral control over de Blasio’s head. The first hearing, on May 4, went smoothly by most accounts, with Democrats and Republicans praising the mayor’s responses and saying they expected a renewal. But Flanagan later issued a statement criticizing the mayor’s testimony, saying, “Too often, the mayor showed a disturbing lack of personal knowledge about the city schools. In addition, he has left too many unanswered questions and failed to provide specifics on many of the issues raised by my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Until that occurs, I will not entrust this mayor with the awesome responsibility of operating the New York City school system.”

De Blasio then decided not to testify at the second hearing last week, further angering Flanagan.

"I am extremely disappointed the Mayor doesn't believe this hearing is significant enough to attend," he said. "With the future of mayoral control at stake, Mayor de Blasio has left too many unanswered questions about his stewardship of the New York City school system."

During both hearings this year, Democratic Senators have repeatedly mentioned that they favor renewing mayoral control for de Blasio but are concerned about how another mayor might run the system. The issues of oversight and parental involvement have been raised yet again by people on both sides of the aisle. De Blasio and many others - including the 100-plus business leaders who announced their endorsement of an immediate extension - have argued that the discussion is not about a particular mayor’s policies, but about the mayoral control system as a governance structure.

“Politics seems to be major factor in people's positions now, and politics should not decide the governance of the education system for the largest city in the country,” said Haimson. “Whether you are for or against a particular mayor shouldn't come into it. It is supposed to be about whether the system works.”

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by David King, Albany editor, Gotham Gazette
     

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Senate Holds Second Mayoral Control Hearing, Without the Mayor


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De Blasio at City Hall on Wednesday (photo: Demetrius Freeman/Mayor's Office)


Just one day after Mayor Bill de Blasio appeared at City Hall with a bevy of business leaders to push for extending mayoral control of New York City schools, the state Senate education committee held its second hearing on the issue right across the street. Administration officials, education professionals and advocates testified to make their case for and against mayoral control (mostly for) as state Senators demanded answers on a wide range of educational policies, while repeatedly noting the conspicuous absence of the mayor himself.

The debate around mayoral control has reignited as the June 30 deadline for extending it fast approaches. The Democrat-controlled Assembly gave the mayor a three-year extension on Tuesday and the ball is now in the Senate’s court, where Republicans who have control of the chamber have been reluctant to extend it beyond one year, if at all. The mayor has spent the last few weeks pushing his administration’s accomplishments to make his case for extending mayoral control for seven years. Having spent four hours at the first hearing in Albany on May 4 arguing for a seven-year extension, de Blasio declined to testify on Thursday. His absence was not taken lightly.

“We are missing the mayor, and he’s the chief player and he’s the person in charge and we would like him to have been here,” said Senator Carl Marcellino, chair of the education committee, in his opening remarks. Without giving examples, he stressed that many questions from the May 4 hearing had been left unanswered and the mayor should have been there to answer them.

Instead, the administration was represented by schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña, who had testified by the mayor’s side in Albany. Throughout her testimony, Fariña sought to establish the gains from mayoral control - increased graduation rates, fewer dropouts, the implementation of universal pre-kindergarten, increased arts education investment, the success of the Renewal Schools program, to name a few.

“Mayoral control also allows us to plan more fully and with more confidence for the future,” Fariña said. “Without mayoral control it would be nearly impossible for a mayor to lay out a long-term detailed vision for our schools such as Equity and Excellence.”

Marcellino, while insisting that Fariña’s testimony was “fantastic,” bookended it with another call out to the mayor. “This would’ve been a better situation if the mayor was here to defend his, and I don’t mean defend in a negative way, but to defend his running of the city schools,” Marcellino said. Other Senators made similar remarks throughout the hearing, including Senators Jose Peralta of Queens and Simcha Felder of Brooklyn.

While the stated agenda of the hearing was mayoral control, it was quickly apparent that it would not be limited solely to the system as a governing structure for education policy-making. Over the course of four-and-a-half hours, the hearing touched on numerous aspects of education policy and planning in the city - overcrowding, school closures, school safety, the number of psychologists per student, the Panel for Educational Policy, and the ever-touchy subject of charters schools.

As he often does, Senator Bill Perkins of Manhattan in particular railed against charter schools, stressing that they are an outcropping of the “dictatorial” mayoral control system. At one point during the hearing, Marcellino seemed to rebuke Perkins for deviating from the issue at hand and even offered to hold a separate hearing on charters. A similar scene had unfolded at the May 4 hearing. In this case, Farina was forced to carefully answer charter school-related questions that the de Blasio administration would rather avoid. After battles with charter school, the administration has moved toward a peaceful coexistence model, especially after new state laws forced their hand.

About 20 advocates, education professionals, and experts testified and most were in favor of mayoral control, albeit often with caveats. Some proposed shorter extensions while others proposed reforms to the system at various levels. Some emphasized that their support of mayoral control did not necessarily imply support for all of de Blasio’s policies, or even some. Indeed, the current situation creates an often dissonant reality where some of those who were the strongest proponents of mayoral control under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who first won the power in 2002, are now twisting in knots as they criticize de Blasio’s policies but do not go so far as to call for the end of mayoral control.

Others who testified did oppose mayoral control even while suggesting reforms if it is extended. “Any system of governance must have checks and balances,” said Teresa Arboleda, chair of the Education Council Consortium’s legislative committee, insisting on more local control and parent input in educational policy. “We cannot have a new school system every time there is a new mayor.”

Some of the reforms proposed included:

  • Changes in composition to the Panel for Educational Policy to allow it more independence and insulate it against ‘rubber-stamping’ the mayor’s decisions
  • Reforms in how Community Education Councils are constituted, making CECs more transparent and giving them increased authority
  • Expanding the Citywide Council on Special Education
  • Mandatory experience and qualifications for the schools chancellor
  • More clearly defined discipline policies
  • Equal treatment of charter schools as compared to district schools
  • More transparency in Department of Education contract procurement and policy making

Jacob Mnookin, founder and executive director of Coney Island Preparatory Charter School, supports an extension of the system, he said, but insisted that the mayor should stop letting his political agenda interfere with student education. The mayor has been a very vocal opponent of the charter school movement in the city. “All public school students deserve to be treated equally no matter what politics are at play,” said Mnookin. “The mayor must address these inequalities present in the public school system of New York City.”

The two most important people were not at Thursday's hearing, though: Mayor de Blasio and Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan. Flanagan, formerly chair of the education committee and a critic of de Blasio, had chastised the mayor's refusal to appear before the committee a second time in a Wednesday statement. Though he was not there, Flanagan had also criticized de Blasio after the May 4 hearing in Albany, saying he had not answered many of the questions posed to him in a satisfactory fashion, which surprised many who had witnessed it. Flanagan will negotiate extension of mayoral control with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a de Blasio ally, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is in a long-standing feud with the mayor. Cuomo did call for a three-year extension of mayoral control in his January budget.

Although there emerged plenty of ideas about how to change the system on Thursday, and ample criticism of its weaknesses, most people did not want to see a reversion to the old school board system. Not many could even articulate what would happen if mayoral control did indeed lapse. The final speaker of the day, Dennis Walcott, president and CEO of the Queens Library system, perhaps had the most informed perspective on that issue. Walcott served as Schools Chancellor before Farina and deputy mayor of education under Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

He stressed that the old Board of Education system was chaotic and plagued by “patronage, waste, dysfunction” and that mayoral control reversed that. “Mayoral control is about making the mayor, elected by the people of New York City, take responsibility for the education of our city and effectuate the best education possible for our children,” he said.

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by Samar Khurshid, senior reporter, Gotham Gazette
     

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Citing Cronyism, Tenant Members Resign from Westchester Rent Board


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The Westchester Rent Guidelines Board is undergoing a shakeup as the two tenant representatives on the nine-member board have tendered their resignations over an appointment they say inappropriately benefits landlords and reeks of cronyism.

Like its counterparts in New York City and other jurisdictions, the Westchester RGB sets increases in rents for affordable housing in the region just north of the Bronx. Board members are nominated by the Westchester Board of Legislators and appointed by the New York Department of Homes and Community Renewal (DHCR), a state agency. The board consists of two tenant-friendly members, two landlord-friendly members, and five public members including the chair.

On Friday, the two tenant members of the Westchester RGB resigned their positions in letters to DHCR Chair James Rubin and Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Both cited DHCR’s appointment of Michael Rosenblatt to a public seat on the RGB as the impetus for their resignations. Rosenblatt is a former DHCR counsel and currently works for one of the city's largest real estate focused law firms, Rosenberg & Estis.

Tenant member Genevieve Roche resigned effective Friday, May 13, writing, “I cannot in good conscience continue to serve on a Board to which the DHCR has appointed as a public member its former deputy counsel who currently works as counsel to the largest landlord real estate law firm in New York.”

Rev. Emma Jean Loftin-Woods’ resignation is effective December 31,2016, after the board concludes its work for the year. “Unfortunately the composition of the current Board and the disregard for providing an open and fair forum for consideration of the issues hasrendered our advocacy for tenants voiceless,” she wrote in her resignation letter.

Roche and other tenant advocates say that Rosenblatt’s appointment was not only inappropriate because he is employed by Rosenberg & Estis, a firm that bills itself as “Comprehensive Real Estate Representation,” but because his name was put forward by current DHCR counsel Charles Lesnick and appears to them to be a case of cronyism.

Rosenblatt was approved by the Board of Legislators last May over one other candidate in the running. He was then certified and appointed by DHCR despite protests from some legislators and tenant advocates.

“I love them both,” Rosenblatt told Gotham Gazette of Roche and Loften-Woods. “They’re great advocates for the cause. I will miss them both.” Rosenblatt added that he worked prosecuting landlords for DHCR and his current firm also represents tenants.

“I want to stress again, regardless of what Genevieve thinks about the propriety of DHCR appointing me to the position, I don’t feel I’m another landlord member of the board,” Rosenblatt said. “I’ll vote my conscience and my work doesn’t come into it.”

The Westchester RGB functions much like New York City’s: both are made up of nine members and the two-two-five breakdown. The RGB debates and decides rent increases for regulated units subject to the Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 1974 each June - more than 25,000 units of affordable housing across Westchester County in cities including Yonkers and White Plains.

Westchester is known for its wealth, but affordable housing has been a major point of contention there for decades. Gov. Andrew Cuomo resides in the county where his former gubernatorial rival Rob Astorino is county executive. Tenant advocates say they feel the influence of both men in their struggle to keep rents affordable. A spokesman for Astorino declined to comment on the RGB resignations citing the fact that the board is not overseen by the county executive.

Ken Jenkins, a Democrat representing Yonkers on the 17-member Board of Legislators, and his colleagues voted down a motion to move Rosenblatt’s name to consideration by the entire chamber during a committee meeting last year, but the nomination advanced after Joe Montalto, another candidate, removed his name from consideration. Jenkins said he suspects landlord interests and Republican legislators were motivated to put Rosenblatt’s name into contention. The Board of Legislators is ruled by a bipartisan coalition.

“For too many years the public members [of the Westchester RGB] have tended to be mortgage banker types who do not appreciate the fact that the rent laws are there to protect tenants and keep housing affordable,” said Michael McKee of Tenants PAC. “Joe Montalto is exactly the kind of thoughtful, fair-minded person needed for the five public member positions. For the Cuomo administration to appoint a landlord lawyer as a public member is outrageous.

Roche attempted to explain her opposition to Rosenblatt’s appointment last year at a board meeting but was shouted down by a number of representatives. She eventually submitted her concerns as a written statement. “My main problem is that DHCR recommended its own former deputy counsel who otherwise spent his entire career working for law firms that work in the interest of landlords,” Roche told Gotham Gazette. “DHCR reviewed its own conduct in making the recommendation and appointment and found that it had acted appropriately.”

Jenkins wrote then-DHCR Commissioner Darryl Towns on May 12, 2015, asking him not to approve Rosenblatt’s appointment. Jenkins wrote that Lesnick, of DHCR, had confirmed “interference with the county board’s recommendation.” He continued, “any candidate suggested by Mr. Lesnick should be rejected at this time.” Jenkins went on to say that Rosenblatt testified during an interview that he had never suggested names of potential candidates for the board when he served in the same position.

Roche and other tenant advocates say it is unprecedented for DHCR to put forward candidates while Lesnick indicated to Gotham Gazette that it was fairly standard procedure. Lesnick declined to comment on the record, as did a spokesperson for DHCR.

Gotham Gazette obtained an email from Lesnick to an employee of the Westchester Board of Legislators from March 17, 2015, that appears to show when Lesnick put Rosenblatt’s name forward. In the exchange, subject: “re: WRGB Members expiration date,” Lesnick writes: “With respect to the additional public member position I have spoken to two people who would be qualified.” He first puts forward Rosenblatt, noting that he “needs no training” because he “served the board for 14 years.” He then puts forward another name, Diana Browne-Temple, and says he has asked both candidates to contact their local legislators. Browne-Temple is president of the Yonkers NAACP.

Rosenblatt said he was relatively uninvolved in the appointment process. “I got a phone call from someone on the Board of Legislators about my interest in the position,” he said. “I saw it as an extension of my public service. I ran it by people at my firm and they said ‘go ahead, keep us up to date.’ Next thing I know I’m appointed. I don’t know what was said behind my back or during the process.”

Roche, who has resigned from the RGB, has been seen as an especially effective tenant advocate, putting together sophisticated presentations opposing rent increases using economic arguments and accounting practices. In 2011 the board approved a rent freeze. In January of this year the board decided to limit the amount of time both tenant and landlord members have to make presentations and instead of giving a chance for rebuttals at later meetings, decided to have an immediate vote on agreed upon rent increases unless members want more time.

These changes concern both Roche and Loftin-Woods. Roche, an accountant and attorney, said she thinks they were designed to lessen the impact of her presentations and to expedite compromise so that rent freezes can be avoided all together. “I can't contribute to a board that does not allow for discussion. I can’t lend my credibility to a board that is not open,” she said.

Jenkins said he is frustrated by the resignations. He notes that the board will go ahead in June short one tenant representative. “I heard about the concerns they had and I suggested we would find mechanisms to raise concerns about the appointment,” Jenkins said. “I’m not quite sure how resigning helps tenants rights to protection. I feel Genevieve [Roche] is trying to bring attention to the issue, but I’m not sure it is the mechanism to make a change. We won’t be able to replace her before the new guidelines come out. This is a challenging situation.”

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by David King, Albany editor, Gotham Gazette
     

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