The New York City Charter Revision Commission has issued its schedule of public hearings for April, 2010. One hearing is scheduled in each borough.
The first hearing will be held on Tuesday, April 6, at the CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, in the Proshansky Auditorium. This hearing, like all the others except for a 4 p.m. hearing in Brooklyn on April 20th, is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
The full public hearing calendar can be found here.
Francis Barry, Charter Commission Executive Director Candidate. Photo courtesy Staten Island Advance
Once again, the Staten Island Advance provides early coverage of events at the NYC Charter Revision Commission. This time, it’s who is likely to be appointed to direct the commission’s staff: Francis S. Barry, a close mayoral aide.
As we’ve commented before, the commission’s executive director is the key person in shaping the commission’s agenda, triaging what information gets in to the 15 part-time commission members, and, perhaps most crucially, determining what information gets out from the commission to the press and the public. Continue reading
Posted in 2010 NYC Charter Revision
Tagged 2010 charter revision, 2010 NY charter, Anthony Crowell, bloomberg charter, charter revision, Francis. S. Barry, Mayor Bloomberg, Michael Bloomberg, Michael R. Bloomberg, New York City Charter, New York City government, NY charter commission, NYC charter, Rick Schaffer, Staten Island Advance
To most Manhattanites, Staten Island may as well be New Jersey (geographers and Staten Islanders feel the same way). Once you step off the ferry at St. George Terminal, you’re in a different world: a revolutionary war fort, mile after mile of low-rise garden apartments, Victorian frame houses on winding streets, and wooded hillsides studded with stone and brick mansions.
New Yorkers who view Staten Island only from the S.I. Expressway and the West Shore Expressway don’t see the island’s vast industrial tracts on one shore, its beautiful public beach on another, the endless strip mall that is Hylan Boulevard, and the island’s golf courses, forests, and pre-Verrazano enclaves, which still hint at their rural origins. It just ain’t the same city as high-rise Manhattan.
That’s the message that Tom Wrobleski, political editor for the Staten Island Advance, sends to the 2010 NYC Charter Revision Commission. With just one Islander on the 15-member commission, Wrobelski doubts that Staten Island’s small-town distinctiveness can be adequately considered when the commission revises NYC’s government this year. To Wrobleski, the city’s rules in Manhattan and Staten Island need to be different. And many community leaders from Brooklyn and Queens feel the same way about their own boroughs. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 2010 charter revision, 2010 NY charter, Anthony Crowell, bloomberg charter, Borough Presidents, charter revision, City Planning Commission, Conflicts of Interest Board, Mayor Bloomberg, Michael Bloomberg, New York City Charter, New York City government, NY charter commission, NY charter revision, NYC charter, NYC Government, Procurement Policy, Staten Island, Staten Island Advance, tax commission, Tom Wrobleski
First came the cheesecake: Brooklyn BP Marty Markowitz greeted the 2010 NYC Charter Revision Commission members at their first public meeting, at the NYC College of Technology in downtown Brooklyn, and gifted each one with Junior’s cheesecake.
Then commission chair Matthew Goldstein explained the purpose of the meeting to an audience of about 75, and invited his colleagues to introduce themselves. When the intros progressed across the crowded stage to commission member Carlo Scissura, Scissura leaned back and deferred to colleague Hope Cohen, who had been forced to sit behind him when the dais got too crowded for all 15 commission members. Goldstein, a mathematician by training, joked about this as being an example of “a packing problem.” It was not his last mathematical allusion. Our take: The commission’s March 3rd appointment date didn’t leave enough time to hire the staff members who could prepare for a public meeting scheduled only two weeks later. Continue reading
Posted in 2010 NYC Charter Revision
Tagged 2010 charter revision, 2010 NY charter, Anthony Crowell, bloomberg charter, charter revision, Marty Markowitz, Matthew Goldstein, Mayor Bloomberg, Michael Bloomberg, Michael R. Bloomberg, New York City Charter, New York City government, non-partisan elections, NY charter commission, NY charter revision, NYC charter, NYC Government, NYC Independence Party, Rick Schaffer
Stephen Fiala. Photo from the SI Advance
On the morning of the 2010 NYC Charter Revision Commission’s first public meeting, Tom Wrobleski’s coverage is ahead of the game. Wrobleski, writing for the Staten Island Advance, says that commission member Stephen Fiala, Richmond County Clerk, intends to explore the possibility of giving more power to the borough presidents.
Although Fiala is skeptical of his prospects for success, we think an opportunity for greater BP power exists. As we commented to Wrobleski, power comes when one elected official needs the support of another to get his initiatives through. Continue reading
Posted in 2010 NYC Charter Revision
Tagged 2010 charter revision, 2010 NY charter, bloomberg charter, Borough Presidents, charter revision, City Planning Commission, COIB, Mayor Bloomberg, Michael Bloomberg, Michael R. Bloomberg, NY charter commission, NY charter revision, NYC charter, Staten Island, Stephen Fiala
Mayor Bloomberg’s 2010 charter revision commission has announced its first public meeting, to be held on Thursday, March 18 at the NYC College of Technology in Brooklyn.
The meeting announcement is posted on the charter commission’s web site. It specifically states that the meeting will not be a public hearing. No public hearing dates are yet available on the web site, which currently features bios of the 2010 commission members and an extensive archive of documents from previous commissions.
Mayor Bloomberg’s 2010 charter revision partnership with the Citizens Union showed its face Monday in the form of a comprehensive charter overview by CU panelist Douglas Muzzio, a professor at Baruch College. Here’s some of what Muzzio wrote, with our translations in italics:
Describing the current city charter, Muzzio called it “a large document (currently 356 pages), packed with organizational minutiae, much of which belongs in the Administrative Code.” The Bloomberg commission — with the help of the Citizens Union — will call for “streamlining” the charter by shifting some of its provisions to the Administrative Code. This will make it easier for the mayor and the Council to change those provisions later on, without the public scrutiny that would occur if they remained in the charter.
Posted in 2010 NYC Charter Revision
Tagged 2010 charter revision, 2010 NY charter, bloomberg charter, Borough Presidents, BSA, charter revision, Citizens Union, City Planning Commission, Community Boards, Douglas Muzzio, Mayor Bloomberg, Michael Bloomberg, Michael R. Bloomberg, New York City Charter, New York City government, New york Community boards, NY charter commission, NY charter revision, NY City Council, NYC charter, NYC City Council, NYC contracts, NYC Government
Some of our readers may wonder why we repeatedly worry about giving the mayor any additional powers. It’s because we believe that our current system of government tends to select city-wide leaders who support the interests of Manhattan’s finance and real estate industries — to the detriment of other boroughs and other industries. As important as finance and real estate are for the city’s financial solvency (right now, they’re still crucial), they don’t tend to create middle-income jobs, which can leave us in a vulnerable place in an economic downturn, as in 2008-2009. Simply put, we’ve placed too many of our eggs in one or two baskets. Continue reading
Posted in 2010 NYC Charter Revision
Tagged 2010 charter revision, bloomberg charter, Borough Presidents, charter revision, Citizens Union, Community Boards, Development, economic development, land use, Mayor Bloomberg, Michael Bloomberg, Michael R. Bloomberg, New York City Charter, New york Community boards, NY charter commission, NY charter revision, ny charter revision 2010, NY City Council, NYC charter, NYC public schools
Elizabeth Benjamin reports that billionaire businessman Ron Lauder, principal sponsor of the 1990s referendums that restricted NYC elected officials to two 4-year terms, has declined to serve on Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s anticipated 2010 charter revision commission. If confirmed, Lauder’s withdrawal may mean that he expects the Bloomberg commission to seek to ratify last year’s City Council legislation that extended the limits to three consecutive terms—or maybe even to try to eliminate term limits entirely.
With the announcement of a 2010 charter commission coming (likely) any day now, it’s a useful reminder to see what’s come, or not come, from the city’s last few charter revision commissions. To that end, Gotham Gazette released today a very readable chart of the six charter revision commission proposals since the major revision in 1989.
Starting in 1998 under Giuliani, the chart provides: the sitting mayor, the dates each commission was created and expired, the name of the chair and number of commissioners, the ballot proposals and the voting result (adopted/rejected, %).
Not a comprehensive charter history education, for sure, but a handy resource.
CityPragmatist 