Ground begins to shift in the presumptive race to succeed Ed Towns, below (Page 3), the DOE capital plan comes under fire (Page 8)
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February 21, 2011
and Christine Quinn expands on her State of the City vision (Page 23).
Political
POWER
Couples
According to the New York City Council, 3 million people lack adequate access to grocery stores.* Here’s how special interests would solve the problem: I keep my prices high and my overhead low. - CEO of NYC-based supermarket chain, (Progressive Grocer, 1986)
If you want a bargain, you get in your car and you go to the bargain. You don’t ever want to bring the bargain into the neighborhood. - A lobbyist for the grocery workers’ union, (The New York Times, 2010)
A Walmart store in your neighborhood would offer a different solution.
Join Walmart’s Community Action Network at WalmartNYC.com or 1-855-NYC-JOBS (1-855-692-5627)
Support us at facebook.com/WalmartNYC *SOURCE: “FoodWorks: A Vision to Improve NYC’s Food System”
Next Towns Over
Rethinking the math on the next expected Brooklyn Congressional vacancy after Darryl Towns’ departure By Chris Bragg
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rooklyn AssemBly Member Darryl Towns, who was appointed in February to head the state Division of Homes and Community Renewal, says he is planning on being part of the Cuomo administration for as long the new governor will have him. Meanwhile, Darryl’s father, Rep. Ed Towns, 76, is unlikely to serve too many more terms in Congress, especially after losing his coveted chairmanship of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Put those factors together, many Brooklyn political observers say, and the Cuomo appointment confirms what they had long suspected: that the younger Towns will not be taking over for his father in Washington. Now, the field for the coveted north Brooklyn seat has likely narrowed to four frontrunners: Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries, Council Member Charles Barron, Council Member Tish James and, depending on whether he runs for re-election, Ed Towns himself. There are reasons to believe Towns may not. He not only lost his chairmanship but also was very publicly bounced as the ranking member of his committee by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi over fears that Towns would not aggressively combat investigations launched by the new chair, California Rep. Darrell Issa. The White House is also no great fan of Towns, who has been at odds with former political director Patrick Gaspard for years over Towns’ 2005 vote in favor of the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Gaspard’s brother, Michael, is a longtime campaign consultant for Jeffries, who is already preparing for a race when and if Towns steps down, Jeffries advisors say. Or maybe even if he does not. “I don’t think it matters either way,” said one Jeffries confidant. “I think he’s going even if Ed Towns is in the race.” Jeffries’ campaign has already begun to gear up, with more trips to influential churches and fundraisers in the district in the works. Jeffries held off on congressional runs
Darryl Towns, left, is likely out of the running for the congressional seat held by Ed Towns, right. in 2008 and 2010 as he tried to build up his résumé. Advisors believe that there is now no excuse to put off a run, after scoring a major legislative achievement last session—a bill requiring that upstate prisoners be counted as members of their own communities in the census—that should play well in the heavily AfricanAmerican district. Advisors, though, caution that no formal announcement of Jeffries’ candidacy would be made until Towns makes his decision—either to run or to retire—particularly since Towns’ endorsement would be important in a race for an open seat. Jeffries himself is keeping quiet. “Until the congressman makes a decision, I don’t want to speculate about something that is 18 months away,” Jeffries said. “Others might fantasize about a hypothetical campaign, but I’m focused on the job I was elected to do.” Jeffries’ comment appears to be directed towards longtime nemesis Charles Barron, who has no problems talking openly about a potential run against Towns. In 2006, Barron narrowly lost a three-way race against the incumbent congressman, despite being out-raised
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tenfold and not declaring his candidacy until February of that year. Barron maintains that he would be the favorite in 2012 regardless of who is in the race because of his hardcore group of supporters in East New York and the rest of his Council district. Of course, most labor unions, the Brooklyn Democratic Party and the district’s sizable Hasidic Jewish population would likely line up against Barron in a one-on-one match-up against Jeffries.
“I don’t think it matters either way,” said one Jeffries confidant. “I think he’s going even if Ed Towns is in the race.” Barron said he believes he is the only one willing to challenge Towns. “Hakeem Jeffries would never run against Ed Towns,” Barron said. “They’re both cut from the same cloth.” Council Member Tish James is also seen as a potential candidate, though she and Jeffries both share the same Fort
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Greene base. James was noncommittal about her plans. “People have me running for public advocate, running for Congress, running for speaker, running for borough president, running for district attorney,” James said. “Every day brings something new that I want to run for. The truth is, I don’t know.” According to two people who have spoken to James about her plans, James is strongly leaning towards running for public advocate if Bill de Blasio runs for mayor. “It’s very clear that Hakeem wants to run for Congress, while it’s one of a number of options for Tish,” said one Brooklyn insider. Opinion is split about the effect Towns’ departure would have on a potential head-to-head match-up between Jeffries and Barron. On one hand, Barron has a committed block of voters, but is likely to have difficulty reaching out beyond his base. Many observers reason that the fewer anti-Barron candidates that run, the better chance there is of defeating Barron. On the other hand, both Darryl Towns and Barron share the same East New York base, so if both had run against Jeffries, Barron and Towns would have been sharing the same geographical base. Redistricting could alter the congressional race considerably. Council Member Darlene Mealy or Assembly Member William Boyland could decide to run. But the biggest unknown remains Ed Towns’ intentions beyond 2012. Towns is seen as both savvy and stubborn, and unlikely to let anyone push him out the door. His public schedule has been unusually full in recent months, observers note. And Towns’ spokesman said the congressman was expecting at this point to run again. Darryl Towns also said he believes his father has a few more terms left in him, despite losing his prominent chairmanship. “The committees he’s on now are more bread-and-butter issues for the community anyway,” Darryl Towns said. “I don’t think a vacancy is imminent.” cbragg@cityhallnews.com
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complete work on time, according to the city’s Vendex database. Under the normal bidding process, the agency putting out a competitive bidding proposal would be required to ask whether potential vendors were under federal investigation, and would review ongoing or past investigations before awarding contracts. Despite the streamlining of the process, the mayor’s office says that city vendors who are pre-qualified receive the same amount of screening they would under the normal process. “Pre-qualified lists make contracting more efficient and more effective—the checks on pre-qualified vendors are done in the same way but in advance,” said Jason Post, a Bloomberg spokesperson. More than 4,000 of the city’s 17,000 vendors are on a “caution list,” outlining ways that the companies have violated contract rules. The list Skanska USA Civil Northeast, a company that is under investigation for its minority hiring practices, has nonetheless also details which companies been cleared for contracts at some of the city’s biggest projects, including Brooklyn Bridge Park. have been fined during an investigation, and which are currently under investigation. In her State of the City speech, Council Speaker Christine Quinn raised the possibility that the city had not been paying enough attention to the details of outside contracts. The city, Quinn noted, spends more than $10 billion each year on outside contracts, and should find ways to hold spending at its current level in the ly uses for Department of Environmental coming year. CityTime, the city’s digital payroll projBy Laura Nahmias The Council expects to vote on legisect, was being run by outside contractor Protection capital projects. The company—which did not return requests for lation to make public the details of city SAIC. The contract for the work was res MAyor MichAel Bloomberg calls for cuts to the city’s capital approved each year despite the project’s comment—is under federal investigation contracts, she said, a step that would budget and changes to the pension substantial cost-overruns and the fact for potential fraud in its minority hiring build upon Comptroller John Liu’s Checksystem aimed at cutting city costs, new that completion of the work was years practices, although it has not been impli- bookNYC initiative, a database of city cated in any wrongdoing. The company spending that shows pay records, but concerns are being raised about the behind the agreed-upon finish date. “This is a substantial problem in the continues to receive payments from the does not detail the specific language in way the city does business with outside city contracts. contractors. Tish James, the former chair City spending on outside conof the Council Contracts Comtractors has doubled at twice the mittee, said some pre-approved rate of general spending under contracts for groups such as Bloomberg, but because of changthe Association for the Blind, es the mayor made in the city’s and Corcraft, the manufacturcontracting process in 2005, the ing arm of the state’s Departcity may have forfeited some of its ment of Correctional Services, ability to effectively control costs, enabled the city to save money. leaving projects open to fraud and But she questioned the city’s lax overcity of New York, and it has continued to city for work. wasteful spending. Currently, Skanska is involved with sight of other pre-approved contracts and The permitting change simplified the increase every year,” said Henry Garrido, city’s procurement process, enabling an assistant associate director of DC 37, construction at some of the city’s big- noted that even in her time as chair, the some vendors who had done business which has been a consistent critic of the gest projects, including the Croton Water city had never ceased to do business with Treatment Plant, the No. 7 line extension, a vendor under investigation. with the city before to be pre-approved city using outside contracts. “I believe there are some players who SAIC may be the exception, but ven- the Second Avenue Subway Line, Hudson for city contracts. This was supposed should be banned, a halt put on their conto simplify the work of maintaining the dors can get away with more than they River Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park. Skanska did $8 million worth of busi- tract, particularly if they’re under federal city’s workload of 50,000 contracts each could under a more competitive bidding year. These would otherwise have had to process, or one with more checks and ness with the city in the past year, and investigation or criminal investigation,” has been the subject of several warn- James said, “and particularly if there are undergo annual review by both the may- balances, Garrido argued. One example is Skanska USA Civil ings and violations over the past decade, fines.” or’s Office of Contract Services and the Northeast, a contractor the city frequent- from breaches of contract to failing to city comptroller before being renewed. lnahmias@cityhallnews.com
Out Of Oversight
With streamlined contract renewal process, checkered pasts are checked less
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Under the normal bidding process, the agency putting out a competitive bidding proposal would be required to ask whether potential vendors were under federal investigation, and would review ongoing or past investigations before awarding contracts.
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FOR YEARS THE NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING PRESERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT HAS BEEN AN EMBARRASSMENT
THE LIES: THE TRUTH: Police officers and firefighters receive a “Christmas bonus.”
It’s not a bonus. The fund was started in 1968 with contributions from police officers and firefighters. Since 1996, the city has contributed ZERO dollars to pay for this benefit.
Mike Bloomberg cares about police officers and firefighters.
Mike Bloomberg is stealing hard-earned money out of the pockets of police officers and firefighters, which they use to support their families.
The VSF is a burden to the city.
Police officers and firefighters bought and paid for this supplemental retirement benefit in contract negotiations by providing concessions and benefits to the city worth far more than $4 billion.
The variable supplement fund benefit was an unfunded mandate forced on the city by state legislation.
It is not an unfunded mandate. It was the product of legislation jointly requested by the city and the police and fire unions, and an agreement that has benefited the city to the tune of billions of dollars. Furthermore, it has been fully funded by the police officers’ and firefighters’ own money for almost two decades.
Other city services will need to be cut unless the city eliminates the variable supplement fund benefit.
Since the benefit has been self-funded for almost two decades, no city services need be sacrificed for the city to honor its agreement. If the city is looking for savings, it need only consider the billions of dollars it has wasted on projects like “CityTime” and its Public Safety Access Center (PSAC) 911 call-taker system.
New York City Police & Fire Public Safety Alliance www.nycpba.org NYC PBA 125 Broad Street, 11th Floor New York, NY 10004-2400 212.233.5531
Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association Patrick J. Lynch, President
www.ufanyc.org UFA 204 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010 212.683.4832
Uniformed Firefighters Association Stephen J. Cassidy, President
Matchless Funds Prolonged Campaign Finance Board audits causing candidate headaches and delayed payments By Chris Bragg
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uring his 2009 Council re-election campaign, a petition snafu temporarily threw Council Member Alan Gerson off the ballot. He eventually got back on in his unsuccessful campaign to win a third term representing Lower Manhattan, but the ensuing complications prevented Gerson from getting campaign matching funds before Election Day. As a result, Gerson’s vendors—and Gerson himself—had to front much of the money for his campaign, which he narrowly lost to Margaret Chin. Sixteen months later, Gerson is no closer to repaying $142,000 in debt, including a $53,000 personal loan he took out to cover the gap on his campaign. Gerson argues that the fault for the delay lies with the CFB, which demands proof and receipts for every campaign expenditure. “The Campaign Finance Board is a great idea, but in practice, it’s really becoming something that’s bureaucracy run amok,” said Gerson, who acknowledged that not getting the $88,500 in matching funds was causing financial hardship. Under law, the CFB has 14 months, starting the January after an election, to finish its audits, though these can be delayed by candidates seeking extensions to fulfill the agency’s wide-ranging paperwork demands. Citywide candidates’ audits do not have to come back for 16 months. And it can take even longer than that: Freddy Ferrer did not get $460,000 in matching funds for his 2005 mayoral race until mid-2009, in the heat of that year’s mayoral election. By then, he was well into his post-politics career as a lobbyist, and all the vendors who had worked on his campaign had seen their bills gather quite a bit of dust. The process rarely moves quickly. Out of the 51 current members of the City Council, only five have received their 2009 audits back so far. More than 100 audits remain open. CFB officials argue that the process is slow because it is meticulous, but the slow pace stands in contrast to the work the CFB does during election season, when it doles out funds to qualifying candidates—within four days of disclosure filings on eight separate occasions. Many candidates, and their vendors, would like to speed up the post-election auditing process, arguing that the CFB should finish its work within six months or so, to allow candidates to have their books clear if they want to run for of-
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fice again immediately after an election. Those concerns were raised when amendments were made to the program in 2007, but were ultimately never acted upon. A number of candidates also suspect that the CFB slows down the process intentionally in order to encourage candidates to pay back vendors with their own money. Council Member Gale Brewer, head of the Government Operation Committee, said she was planning on holding an oversight hearing on the issue. Brewer said even her uncompetitive re-election in 2009 has been affected by the CFB’s auditing delays. “I called and was told I would be getting my audit in August 2011—I mean, good grief,” Brewer said. “I didn’t even have any problems.” But even while Brewer seeks to close this loophole, most Council members seem unlikely to want to grant any more power to the CFB. The strangest occurrence this year has been in the case of Council Member Dan Halloran, whose matching funds were held up over questions about whether his 2009 opponent, Kevin Kim, exceeded spending limits of $483,000 in the campaign. That would give Halloran eight and a half government matching dollars for every dollar he raised, rather than seven. While the CFB’s audit is ongoing, two of Halloran’s vendors are suing him for more than $60,000 in unpaid expenses. And the headaches do not stop there. Halloran says if he raises and pays off the debts from a separate campaign account, he will no longer be eligible for the matching funds. In response, the CFB has told Halloran to take a personal loan to pay back the debt, with his CFB disclosures as apparent collateral— something the Queens Republican has been unwilling to do, even if there was a bank that would agree to such a loan. Sitting at his desk in the dark, cubicle-lined offices of the CFB in Tribeca, spokesman Eric Friedman said the agency’s auditing process was necessary to ensure that candidates do not waste taxpayer dollars. The process, which includes examination of bank records and detailed document requests, simply takes time—and the CFB uses all the time that is allotted under law. “There are valid concerns on both sides of this argument, but we believe the public should know that their funds are being spent with complete integrity,” Friedman said. “As for the vendors, they go into this process with their eyes open.” cbragg@cityhallnews.com
Our Perspective
Wal-Mart Can’t Silence Its Record By Stuart Appelbaum, President, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, RWDSU, UFCW
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etail behemoth Wal-Mart has been ratcheting up its efforts to silence its many critics. Earlier this month, Wal-Mart filed a copyright violation claim against askwalmart.com, a website that sheds light on the retailer’s anti-worker and community-damaging practices. In trying to get askwalmart.com shut down, Wal-Mart is repeating another recent action the company took against walmartworkerscanada.ca, a UFCW Canada web site that offers resources for Wal-Mart workers who are seeking better lives. For a company that calls itself “an advocate of free speech and open communication,” Wal-Mart sure dedicates a lot of its lawyers’ time to shutting down opposing views. With more and more activists and community groups expressing concern about Wal-Mart’s troubling record on progressive issues and human rights, it’s no surprise that the Waltons want to keep things quiet. At its Executive Board and General Meetings last month, the Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City, the oldest and largest citywide Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgendered Democratic organization, endorsed the Wal-Mart Free NYC campaign. The group noted that the 2010 Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, which evaluates corporations on LGBT issues, gave Wal-Mart a failing grade of 40 percent, whereas progressive retailers like Macy’s earned 100 percent. Wal-Mart has bucked the industry trend of offering domestic partner benefits to its gay and lesbian workers. In addition, Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke has signed a petition in Arkansas aimed at preventing adoption by gay and lesbian parents. Wal-Mart also raised the eyebrows of activists recently for their partnership with Jackson-Hewitt tax preparation services. According to New York Communities for Change, which has also endorsed the Wal-Mart Free NYC movement, these services promote predatory lending by offering “refund anticipation loans” with interest rates as high as 24 percent APR. Predatory lending practices like this hurt low-income families, and disproportionately affect people of color. And let's not forget one of the biggest stories about Wal-Mart right now, the fact that the retailer is defending itself against the largest class action suit in history — a gender discrimination lawsuit on behalf of 1 million former female employees. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Silence won't extinguish any flames.
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Not Adding Up DOE wants over $4 billion for its capital plan, but declines to source the funding BY ANDREW J. HAWKINS
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OWEN SHEWOOD
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ACK IN NOVEMBER, as the debate over Cathie Black’s appointment as schools chancellor began to reach a fever pitch, the Department of Education quietly proposed an amendment to its five-year capital plan: a 20,000-seat boost to the system’s overall capacity, along with $4.4 billion in new spending to cover capacity and technology increases. The amendment, which must be approved by the Panel for Education Policy and the City Council, also left the door open for future increases “as needs are verified.” Unmentioned in the amendment was how the department proposed to pay for the 38 percent increase in its capital plan, which accounts for building, repairing and expanding the city’s schools In fact, the city’s Independent Budget Office called the source of the funding for the proposed increases the “great unknown, especially with the city projected to face a $9 billion budget deficit next fiscal year, and a $17 billion gap the year after. Even Mayor Michael Bloomberg seems unsure of where the money could be found. “We clearly don’t have enough money for our capital budget,” he said after announcing a new project to help struggling students meet demands at a January press conference. “Debt service is one of the big expenses. And so we’re going to have to stretch out certain things, and if we can’t do everything we want… ” The mayor trailed off, before quickly adding, “Next year’s projects are so close to being done, they’ll be done anyway.” The plan calls for an additional $972 million for the fiscal year that starts April 1, though as several Council members have noted, the mayor has already called for a 20 percent across-the-board reduction in the budgets for all city agencies. The cut to the DOE’s capital plan could affect repairs and new capacity projects, spending for which is 50 percent reimbursable by the state. On top of that, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed huge cuts in the state’s education spending. Bloomberg has argued that will disproportionately affect city schools.
Council Education Committee Chair Robert Jackson predicted a tough fight for these additional dollars, especially
Jackson said. “In fact, Mayor Bloomberg testified up in Albany that if the governor has his way, instead of getting reimbursed 50 percent for all of the capital expenditures, we will only get onethird, which is outrageous.” The School Construction Authority is currently in the process of identifying space for an additional 30,377 seats, a process some are worried could be hampered by a loss of both city and state funds. Jack Zarin-Rosenfeld, a DOE spokesperson, sought to downplay the size of the proposed increases, arguing that the final numbers are still subject to approval by the Panel for Education Policy, a group comprised mostly of mayoral appointees, and, following that, the City Council. “With the current budget outlook, we
Even Mayor Michael Bloomberg seems unsure of where the money for the 38 percent increase in the DOE’s capital plan could be found. given the city’s dire fiscal situation. “As far as the capital funding, the schools and the major repairs are going to have to slow down as a result of that,”
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know it’s important to assess exactly what our needs are on a recurrent basis, and to not make unreasonable requests for three or four fiscal years out,” he said. “So we’re being prudent and realistic here by making requests one fiscal year at a time.” The massive increase in spending for technology projects has also caused some concerns. Roughly 70 percent of the $972 million increase for 2012 will be allocated, to the DOE’s technology programs iZone and iLearnNYC, with the remaining 30 percent for capacity funding, like design and scope work. “That requires a lot of equipment purchasing up front, in order to get the prep work going on that,” ZarinRosenfeld said. “We need to start investing in that hardware now.” Seventeen education technology firms have responded to the DOE’s request for proposals on the iLearnNYC program, which proposes to create “online courses” for the purposes of “integrating online resources in a blended learning environment.” Of the 17 companies, only two are New York City-based— McGraw Hill Companies, which contracts with the New York State Department of Education on the math and English tests for grades 3 through 8, and NBC Universal, Inc. The rest of the firms are from out of state, including Apex Learning from Seattle, Wash., which would charge $4.5 million over five years for the project, and One Discovery Place from Silver Spring, Md., which would charge $3.2 million for its services. The contract will be finalized by the PEP, which has yet to schedule a vote on the proposals. The massive investment in technology programs has Council members and education experts worried that the DOE is banking a lot of its money on relatively untested programs. David Bloomfield, chair of the education department at the College of Staten Island, said the DOE’s capacity plan should be viewed through a different lens than the technology investment, given that it is traditionally funded through borrowing rather than tax levies. “During a recession, it makes sense to take advantage of cheaper capital costs and to increase local employment,” Bloomfield said. The technology component of the capital plan, though, is a different story. “Unfortunately, a great deal of this money is wasted on untested technology for suspect accountability systems,” he said, “not on bricks-and-mortar schools that students desperately need and that would employ locally-based workers.” ahawkins@cityhallnews.com
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Architect’s rendering of Medgar Evers College Library after $18 million redesign.
$21M Library, Pool, Lounge Upgrades Underway at Medgar Evers College Medgar evers college has announced an $18-million makeover of its main library that will modernize its information technology resources and redesign the building so students can make the most of the upgrades. The planned renovation of the Charles Evans Inniss Memorial Library, which will begin next year, is the latest and most dramatic improvement to date under the college’s president, Dr. William L. Pollard. A $3.2-million upgrade of the Brooklyn campus’s swimming pool facilities is already underway. Meanwhile, the college recently opened a new student lounge, a bright new space in the Carroll Street building with features ranging from groupstudy space to a pool table. A centerpiece of the renovations of the library, which was built in the late 1980s, will be the installation of cutting-edge information technology equipment. But a major part of the project will be the redesign of its interior spaces: There will be an expansion of library space, new group seating areas, attractive new open spaces and a reconfigured layout to make it easier for students to find assistance. An “information commons” is also planned. The library was built in the late 1980s and is named for Charles Evans Inniss, a former CUNY
trustee. Noting that Inniss was known for his dedication to promoting literacy and access to education, Medgar Evers President William L. Pollard said, “It is fitting that the new changes to our college library will increase student success through the provision of more print and electronic resources and more study space.” The project will include a significant expansion of the library’s lower level, converting an area that has been used for storage into some 12,000 square feet of new library space. Overall seating will expand by nearly 40 percent, including a doubling of the number of technology work stations to 58, and there will be six new group study rooms. The expansion will also allow the library to expand its collection by more than 16 percent. Meanwhile, Medgar Evers students have been flocking to the new student lounge, which was dedicated in December. The lounge is part of an ongoing effort to make the college more welcoming and convivial by creating more places where students can meet, socialize and relax. They can also look forward to the swimming pool renovation, a multi-stage project that includes refurbishing the pool itself— including installation of a lift to make the pool accessible to those with disabilities—as well as upgrading
the women’s locker room and installing new lighting. “The enhancement of college-wide student services is central to my vision of creating a more inviting campus atmosphere,” said Dr. Pollard. “The pool renovation will provide an essential resource to our athletic teams for training as well as serve as a recreational space for student, faculty, and community enjoyment.” The library project and improvements designed to enhance student life have been lauded by the college’s students and faculty. The library renovation “will foster academic growth for Medgar Evers’s students, and certainly provide more suitable avenues for faculty to improve academic learning on campus,” said Dr. Eda F. Harris-Hastick, professor and director of the college’s Bachelor of Science in Social Work. The new student lounge was much-needed, she added. “Students need a comfortable space to relax and socialize with peers who are similarly motivated toward academic success,” she said.
Home Care Wrecker Federal lawsuit against personal-care services could have far-reaching impact BY LAURA NAHMIAS
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FEDERAL LAWSUIT alleging New York City has been overcharging for some of its Medicaid services has the potential to reverse a decadelong trend of growth in home health care and cause a ripple effect in Medicaid administration nationwide. The suit, which alleges the city committed fraud by improperly authorizing home health care services for patients who did not need it, is seen as open war on the way the state and city have funded and paid for Medicaid over the past two decades, especially as Gov. Andrew Cuomo has singled out Medicaid and home care in particular as excessive and riddled with waste. The complaint was filed by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and a doctor who brought the suit as a whistleblower under the False Claims Act. It addresses the high cost of personal-care services in New York, estimated to cost $2 billion per year and serve 42,000 recipients. The doctor, Gabriel Feldman, stands to receive a portion of any awarded funds if the federal government wins its suit. Disability advocates say they were surprised by the suit. “The state has been on the city’s back about this,” said Valerie Bogart, director of the Evelyn Frank Legal Resources Program for Self-Help Community Services, “with claims that the care being given in New York City is unnecessary.” The city filed a motion to dismiss the federal government’s lawsuit on Feb. 4, arguing that Bharara’s lawsuit is based on “sweeping generalizations” that takes the
The city argues that U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s lawsuit is based on “sweeping generalizations” that ignore the well-being of infirm, elderly patients. said in a statement, “The allegations here are serious and unfortunately reflect a systemic failure to responsibly administer the Medicaid program.” The city is represented by the firm Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett, as well as the city’s Law Department. Lawyers from the firm did not return a request for comment. The city’s Human Resources Administration, which administers the Medicaid program, would not comment on the suit because it is pending litigation, but said the city continues to properly follow the state’s guidance. “HRA has administered the program on the principle that personal care recipients should live with dignity and as much independence as they can appropriately manage in their own homes,” Carmen Boon, an HRA spokesperson, wrote in an e-mail. The city approves personal-care services based on the notion that it is always better to keep patients in their homes than to place them in nursing homes, said Roger Bearden, director of the Disability Law Center at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. That interpretation
“There was concern that this could set a precedent… The concern was that if these programs are attacked here in New York City, they can be attacked anywhere,” said Roger Bearden, Director of the Disability Law Center at the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. “shocking position that the city should turn a blind eye to elderly, infirm New Yorkers that are unable to take care of themselves without assistance.” In announcing the suit, Bharara said the city had been negligent for almost a decade in the way it had distributed money for personal-care services. “It goes without saying that ultimate medical decisions about patient care should be made by doctors and nurses, not government bureaucrats,” Bharara
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is based on a 1999 Supreme Court case, Bearden said. But there are potentially much darker implications for the city and the way it distributes Medicaid dollars if the lawsuit is ruled in the federal government’s favor. Bearden said it could have a chilling effect on the approval of personal-care services nationwide. “There was concern that this could set a precedent… The concern was that if these programs are attacked here in New York City, they can be attacked anywhere,” Bearden said.
BuTLEr ASSoCiATES
The complaint also alleges that medical directors, such as Dr. Feldman, who initiated the suit, are under pressure from “political and advocacy groups” to greenlight personal-care services for people who do not need them. The suit suggests the city was eager to pass along the costs of caring for its elderly population to the state and the federal government, which fund most of the Medicaid program. The lawsuit is not the first attempt to reform the personal-care services program. That particular Medicaid-funded program has been under attack from fiscal watchdogs like the Citizens Budget Commission for years. The CBC argues that the city, on average, approves almost three times as many hours of care per patient as other states. On Feb. 14, the governor’s Medicaid redesign task force issued a list of 49 possible ways to trim the state’s Medicaid budget, with a prominent suggestion to eliminate some personal-care services altogether, including light chores that involve some nursing. About 80 percent of the state’s total expenditure on personalcare services happens in New York City, which also spends $33,791 per recipient— a rate that has jumped 40 percent since 2003. The task force proposal estimated the state could save $155 million this year by eliminating the services. The task force will vote on the suggestion at a March 1 meeting. Advocates involved in the case said they were puzzled by the U.S. Attorney’s office’s decision to bring the suit because of its distance from typical Medicaid fraud litigation. “When you think of Medicaid fraud, you think about people getting services they don’t need and that someone’s profiting from, doctors who are bilking the system,” Bogart said. “Here you look at the complaint, and the examples are people where there’s no dispute they need longterm care.” lnahmias@cityhallnews.com
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Political
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T
Couples
here are the affairs and sex scandals that sink careers, sure. But the headlines tend to skip over the relationships and marriages that survive a life in the all-consuming career of government and political work. Even more impressive, though, are the rela-
tionships that have survived when both sides of the couple choose this crazy life, balancing their sometimes differing agendas and needs at the office with the happiness and stresses of home. With another Valentine’s Day upon us, City Hall put the spotlight on some of the couples who have made it work, asked them how they did—and if they would ever wish it on their children.
Bill de Blasio
Norman was the county leader and he was chairing the meetings and he was pushing very hard for the Brooklyn Council members, including the incoming Council members, to support Angel Rodriguez, who was a Brooklyn Council member who was running for the speaker of the City Council, and I was very, very dubious. And it was a classic situation where the message from the county leader was, “The train is about to leave the station and things are moving, and if you’re not with the majority you’ll be left behind,” and I started to feel a conflict between what I felt— which was that I didn’t think Angel was the right candidate—and then sort of practical politics. I went home and I talked to Chirlane about it, and she literally said—sorry, this is a sound byte that’s so excellent because it was true—she literally said, “If you vote for Angel Rodriguez for speaker I’ll divorce you.” [Laughs.]
Public advocate
Chirlane McCray
Senior VP at Mack Crounse Group
Married for: 16 years How did you meet?
McCray: During the Dinkins administration, I was employed by the city Human Rights Commission, but I was sent to City Hall to work in the press office on rotation. It was a common practice where they would send people from the agencies to work in City Hall for a while. I was there for a few weeks, and one of my assignments was to write a press release outlining who the mayor was endorsing for the City Council races, and I was told that Bill de Blasio was the guy who knew all the political stuff. ... One of the press people literally took me by the hand and over to his desk, which was not far from our office, and said, “There he is,” and he was on the phone, he was sitting at a little cubicle with lots of Post-Its all around his desk and totally involved in a very deep conversation. He turned around and saw me and put his finger in the air, signaling that it would be just a moment, but moments passed and he was still on the phone. de Blasio: I’m in the middle of my workday and I look up and there’s this totally captivating woman walking towards me. What added to my sense of captivation was that in the midst of this traditional, kind of bureaucratic… McCray: Button-down. de Blasio: Huh? Oh yes. Right, button-down. Very button-down environment, drifting towards me elegantly is this striking person, because she was wearing a very colorful dress and she had a head wrap and she had a nose ring—a very prominent nose ring. So the rebel in me immediately loved it. [Laughs.] Even though I was on the phone and I was doing something, the way I was signaling was, “Don’t go away.” I didn’t even know who she was, but I knew I didn’t want her to go away, and then I talk to her for a few minutes. But it was really the kind of, the lightning bolt struck me, there was no question and I was captivated. It was definitely some of that love-at-firstsight dynamic to it, like I was absolutely taken by her from the first conversation. McCray: All of a sudden, he was in the press room all the time. I had never seen this guy, and then literally every day from then on he was in the press room.
Do your professional lives ever overlap?
de Blasio: I think there’s two different realities. There’s the political reality: we met doing this work. It’s funny, I have spent so much time in public life, but very few people that I have come across actually met the person who they would spend the rest of their lives with in City Hall or in the White House or wherever it might be, the Governor’s Mansion, whatever. This is the real thing: we actually met in City Hall right outside the actual mayor’s office itself, and we met in part of something that we both felt for very
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FEBRUARY 21, 2011
Do you talk about work at home?
de Blasio: I would differentiate what we do to unwind, because we both lead very busy lives and we have a nice tradition of watching shows together, and that’s kind of our way of unplugging a bit. But, I think, all the time we’re talking about what’s going on in the world around us. This is kind of the age-old question, “Do opposites attract and is that a better model? Or people who are similar?” I’m just a huge believer that if you’re going to be doing this particular type of work, which is so intense and all-encompassing, that for me I can’t imagine doing it without a partner who really wasn’t a part of it, believed it and felt it. … Neither I nor Chirlane grew up in anything like this—my family talked a lot about current events and all but no one was involved in anything. Our kids, this is all they ever knew, not in a bad way, in a good way. They’ve been brought along to all sorts of gatherings: when I worked for Hillary, they slept overnight at the White House. McCray: They went door-to-door for deeply and that we were really committed to. For us, I think everything since, regardless of where each of us was working, because Chirlane was a speechwriter for an elected official, I worked for elected officials on campaigns before I ran myself—it’s always been this shared thing. We talk about it all the time, we think together about it, and then when I have campaigns, Chirlane is a very, very active participant in my campaigns. So on that level our lives are totally intertwined. On a professional level, typically there have been times where we do totally separate things and we create some separation on purpose. For example, when we worked for different elected officials at the same time, generally people get elected and people get along, but they may have different approaches. But currently, in Chirlane’s current work, we very purposely keep separation, so I think we’re used to public life being in our blood stream, it’s what we believe in and so it’s very natural for us.
Have you ever disagreed on a political issue?
de Blasio: It was when I was first elected to the Council in ’01… there were lots and lots of meeting going on with the Brooklyn delegation. At that point, Clarence
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Obama. de Blasio: They went door-to-door for Obama. They worked, of course, on my campaign, they were actively involved in their own ways. This is very much a part of their lives, and I don’t think they talk about it—they’re both very smart and advanced people. They don’t talk about it all the time, but they expect us to talk about it. We think it’s very normal at the dinner table to talk about what’s happening in each family member’s life.
Would you want them to go into politics? McCray: We want them to do what they want to do. It’s such a personal and individual decision that I don’t think either one of us really feels like this is what they must do with their lives. de Blasio: I think more than ever I have come to the same conclusion, that never push them towards something. Would I like it? I would love it if they were in public life, there’s no question about it, I would be thrilled that if in some way or another they were doing something that served humanity, and it doesn’t have to be politics or electoral politics, but I definitely have a bias. But if they both become yoga instructors or something, that’s great too.
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Charles Barron
we do, what we’re interested in and committed to, so it’s just a natural part of our discussion all the time. That, and, of course, our family members and things concerning them. Charles: There’s no distinction. The struggle is our life, and that’s why we take everything political personally, because the struggle is our lives, and that’s what we’re committed to—whether we’re at home, outside of the home, in church, in the workplace. We’re fighting for the liberation of our people.
City Council member (D-Brooklyn)
Inez Barron
Assembly member (D-Brooklyn)
Married for: 28 years How did you meet?
Inez: At our church, the House of the Lord Church that is under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Herbert Daughtry. Charles: Inez was a member already, and I joined the church because Rev. Daughtry was the head of the Black United Front, a political organization I had been a part of, and from there I joined the church and she was there already, and we both became members and married. Inez: And we were working on a lot of the same issues. My first issue of greatest importance to me was education, and Charles was also interested in education and joined the committee that I chaired, the education committee at the church. So we developed a working relationship, first based on our commitment to education and its importance to our people.
What’s your favorite way to escape from it all?
Inez: Just to be with each other and just relax and chill out. Charles: Right. We’ve been to Africa together, we love travelling together. We’ve gone to Ethiopia and Egypt. When we’re not travelling, we love when we can have time to ourselves in our home. Sometimes the days and the weeks can get crazy and there’s nothing like just having a day at home and doing whatever we want to do and not having to deal with the stress and challenges of the struggle. Inez: And we try to make every day a special day. Someone would say, “Well, what are you going to get for Valentine’s Day?” We don’t single out those kinds of so-called holidays that are nationally recognized, because it’s not any different from what we do with one another every day.
Have you ever disagreed on a political issue? Charles: Never! We’re perfect political Siamese twins. We agree with each other all the time, and when we don’t agree with each other, we’re not letting you know. Now, how is that for an answer? That’s our answer to that one. Inez: (Laughs) We’re cut from the same political cloth so we share the same visions, values and opinions.
Do you talk about work at home?
Inez: Oh yes. Charles: Yep. Inez: All the time. It’s what our life’s work is, it’s what
John Feinblatt
chief advisor for Policy and Strategic Planning for Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Would you want your kids to go into politics?
Political
POWER
Couples
commissioner of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs
Together for: 14 years
What’s your favorite way to escape from it all?
How did you meet?
Mintz: Almost 14 years ago, our mutual friends set us up on a blind date. Feinblatt: Apparently [blind dates] work. The mutual friends were very reliable. Mintz: Well, let’s just put it this way: it was 14 years ago—we now have two kids. Things are pretty good.
Feinblatt: We would be lying to say that we don’t talk about work. Jonathan: It’s part of the fun of working in the same shop.
CITY HALL
Do your professional lives overlap? Mintz: Not very often. Occasionally, there is—we do a program every year together called Tread Fest, which is an identity-theft, consumer-enforcement issue. Feinblatt: Identity theft means a lot to the consumer and is also a big law enforcement issue.
Jonathan Mintz
Do you talk about work at home?
Inez: It’s their choice, it’s their lives. They’re already involved and committed and loving the people and concerned about what’s going on, but what they choose to do is their choice. My oldest son is into media, he’s a production assistant, and our youngest son is very much a humanitarian, and he works with developmentally challenged people.
Feinblatt: To spend every second that we can with our kids. Mintz: Our girls are seven and five so these are really fantastic years with them. We tend to spend just about every minute that we’re not at work with them.
Have you ever disagreed on a political issue? Feinblatt: We’re more likely to disagree about whether the kids need an extra sweater to go to school than about politics.
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Would you want your kids to go into politics?
Feinblatt: Our kids like the food at City Hall a lot. Mintz: Our second grader tried to convince her class that their next social studies unit should be about City Hall, which is probably in part because of the snacks.
FEBRUARY 21, 2011
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Zoe Segal-Reichlin
Have you ever disagreed on a political issue?
associate general counsel of Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Garodnick: We find that our conflicts are more related to who is doing the unloading of the dishwasher than about any more political or policy issues. Segal-Reichlin: We tend to be pretty in sync on political issues, less so on dish washing.
Dan Garodnick
City Council Member (D-Manhattan)
Married for: 2.5 years
Do you talk about work at home?
Garodnick: One of the things about Zoe, she is also an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown Law School in negotiation, so I frequently turn to her as a sounding board on various conflicts and issues that present themselves in the district, and she’s incredibly helpful. Segal-Reichlin: And I would say that I generally think of Dan as my number-one adviser on all issues that I have, workrelated as well as personal.
How did you meet?
Segal-Reichlin: I was in law school, and I had become good friends with a professor of negotiation who was a very good friend of Dan’s from college. One day—actually, it was at the very end of law school—it just occurred to him that Dan and I should meet. Dan was in New York and I was in Boston, but his friend thought we should at least have dinner. So I was coming to New York to take the bar exam that summer. Dan’s friend put us in touch and we were e-mailing and we decided to have dinner when I finished the bar exam. Garodnick: Have you ever heard of somebody going on a blind date on the second day of the bar exam? Segal-Reichlin: I was a little tired, much like I feel now, actually. Garodnick: I thought she was beautiful and brilliant and the real deal. Segal-Reichlin: And I must have thought the same thing, although I have very little memory of the date because I was a little tired from the bar exam. But I clearly thought the same thing because we went out again, and all of those things proved true.
Jimmy Van Bramer City Council member (D-Queens)
Dan Hendrick
What’s your favorite way to escape from it all?
Do your professional lives overlap?
Garodnick: Not formally. Segal-Reichlin: I would say that Dan is a strong advocate for choice and women’s issues, and so in that sense they do, although, as Dan said, not formally.
Political
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Couples
communications director, New York League of Conservation Voters
FEBRUARY 21, 2011
Segal-Reichlin: I think that right now it’s so soon that our main goal for him is to sleep for two hours consecutively, so it’s hard to say. Garodnick: It’s high hopes. Maybe three hours of consecutive sleep.
any big issues. In many ways we’re rooted in the same philosophy, so in terms of big stuff nothing comes to mind. Van Bramer: Yeah, Dan’s endorsed me in all of my races.
Van Bramer: All the time. Hendrick: Yeah. Well, it’s interesting because we both work in political spheres, and even though we’re not exactly in the same track, a lot of our work is overlapping and we share a lot of updates.
How did you meet?
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Would you want him to go into politics?
Do you talk about work at home?
Together for: 12 years Van Bramer: We met at a fundraiser for a LGBT community center in Queens. That fundraiser was May 1, 1999. Hendrick: It was interesting, because we didn’t know each other before we came to the event, the irony being that a mutual friend invited both of us independently. It was a fundraiser, you know, and I think he was trying to bring people into the door for the fundraiser. So we didn’t know each other but we both had the mutual friend. It was a classic story—I’ll sum it up, but Jimmy might say it with a little more flair than me. Basically, I walked in and said, “Who’s the guy over there?” and my friend said to me, “Well, that’s funny, because the guy over there just asked me who you were.” So we made an introduction that way, through our friend. Van Bramer: I think the amount of money I gave at the door was $25, and it was the best $25 I ever spent in my life. Hendrick: [Laughs.] What a romantic.
Segal-Reichlin: At the moment, it’s changing lots of diapers and playing with rattles. Garodnick: And looking adoringly at our brand-new son.
What’s your favorite way to escape from it all?
Have you ever disagreed on a political issue? Van Bramer: Hmmm. Nothing comes to mind. Hendrick: I don’t think any of the substantial stuff or
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Van Bramer: Well, first of all, I never get away from work. Hendrick: [Laughs]. Van Bramer: But I think if we have an opportunity to take a vacation, which we rarely do, but if we do, we like to take cruises, which is very relaxing. I don’t know if Dan has anything else. Hendrick: Yeah, I would add to that. Those are certainly the official vacations, but I sort of like the mini-vacation, although I think it takes some persuading for both of us. We actually turn the phone on silent and don’t pick up e-mails or phone calls for an hour or two, I think that’s a wonderful mini-vacation. It’s a demanding lifestyle and an exciting one
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Dana Czuczka
Do you talk about work at home?
director of Special Projects for the Department of Population and Family Health at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health
Czuczka: Uhh… sure. But I think it’s after—as I was saying to Justin last night—probably after discussing the kids, and all the to-do’s, and all of the day-to-day stuff. … What to pack for lunch, who has what play date, and then maybe politics.
Justin Lapatine
What’s your favorite way to get away?
senior vice president at Global Strategy Group
Czuczka: I think we enjoy just spending time as a family. We have a kindergartener and a two-and-a-half-year-old, and weekends are really about spending time together.
Married for: 8 years How did you meet?
Lapatine: How’d we meet. We met at—well, I was actually living with some friends in the city and we had a party for—was it Halloween? Czuczka: Mardi Gras. Lapatine: Mardi Gras. We had a Mardi Gras party, and Dana came with a friend of mine, and we met at the party. She, uh… yeah, we don’t have to go into that. [Both laugh.] We met at a party.
Would you want your kids to go into politics?
Have you ever disagreed on a political issue?
Czuczka: I don’t think so. Lapatine: Well, that’s not true. We’ve—we’ve never really disagreed on a political issue, but I think we’ve disagreed on—Dana is vehemently pro-choice, given all her years at Planned Parenthood and on the issue, and I’m a vehement Democrat, but I think we sometimes disagree on how broad the Democratic tent should be in terms of, you know, gaining majorities in the United States Senate, for example.
Czuczka: Hmm... If they want to, we’ll help on their campaigns. Lapatine: Right. And our five-year-old is actually a little bit fascinated with politics. We live in Connecticut, and she was very scared when—somehow she started hearing about Linda McMahon during the last race, and she was very scared and worried that Linda McMahon would win. I think we have a Democrat in the making.
Do your professional lives overlap?
Lapatine: Our professional lives don’t really overlap. Planned Parenthood is actually a client of my firm, Global Strategy Group, but I don’t work on the account.
Political
Errol Louis
host, NY1’s “Inside City Hall”
Juanita Scarlett
POWER
Couples
executive VP for Strategy, Policy and Public Affairs at the Empire State Development Corporation
Married for: 6 years
Have you ever disagreed on a political issue?
How did you meet?
Scarlett: We met at an editorial board meeting, and I was press secretary to Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, and Errol was on the board. Louis: It was an hour-long meeting from which my notes consisted of two words: Juanita Scarlett. To this day it’s the only thing I can honestly tell you I remember from the meeting. Scarlett: That’s very sweet.
Do your professional lives overlap?
Scarlett: Yes Louis: Constantly. Scarlett: More so when he was an opinion journalist and he had strong opinions about my bosses, but luckily he doesn’t get paid to give his opinion today. Louis: But much of what we talk about concerns her and her world, and I don’t have direct proof of this, but I suspect that she calls me to get a brief summary so she doesn’t have to sit through the whole show.
What’s your favorite way to escape from it all?
Juanita: Weekend road trips. We get away for the weekend, and often it’s to visit family either on Long Island or in Westchester and sometimes we just get in the car with
CITY HALL
our little one, who’s five years old, and just enjoy road trips and get away. Louis: I have four siblings and she has 11, so lots of family. Weekends are lots of family, almost entirely family. We get away with friends once in a while, but that’s usually during the week.
Juanita: [Laughs.] Louis: I think we have disagreed on people’s character. In other words, the same action can be seen as helpful, neutral or nefarious depending on what you think the person’s motives are. I think one or the other of us can be a little more cynical than the other depending on the person we’re talking about. Juanita: I think a journalist is generally a little more cynical. … I love everyone. Louis: When I was columnist, she would remind me, “You don’t want to be the most hated man in New York.” My answer was usually, “Well, why not?” [Laughs.]
Would you want your kids to go into politics?
Juanita: Well, our five-year-old wants to be king, so I think he should start by running for the New York City Council. No, seriously—if he wanted to go into politics, I think we would welcome that, whatever he wants to do, maybe a doctor. Louis: I’d encourage him to go into politics in the role of a wealthy donor. A wealthy contributor.
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FEBRUARY 21, 2011
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Bill Thompson
disagree, but sure, we disagree. I can’t think of anything specific, but do we disagree? Oh yeah. We both have our own strong opinions, some likes and dislikes. Between the two, neither one of us is shy about expressing our opinions.
former city comptroller, chair of the Battery Park City Authority
Elsie McCabe
What’s your favorite way to escape?
president, Museum for African Art
McCabe: The movies, and usually less demanding things like the children... That was totally tongue-incheek. There is no end of activity in our house. We have a menagerie of pets, who have the pet issues. We talk about those things, as well as what we are going to do with a weekend off. Thompson: I don’t think there’s one specific thing that me and Elsie could mention. Our downtime is spent either with just us or the kids. McCabe: For better or for worse, I have now raised two 13-year-olds who are equally opinionated. As my mother would say, my twins are living proof of god’s good humor.
Married for: 3 years How did you first meet?
McCabe: I met him in City Hall, but I didn’t really know him back then. It was just meeting in passing. Thompson: We had met, but we didn’t know each other well. This was probably back in 1992 or 1993. The first date was interesting. When we finally went out in 2005, by then, we had been friends for years. It was a little… awkward, I think, would be the right word, because we had been friends and then all of sudden you’re going out not quite as friends. McCabe: We’d had different spouses. He was a good friend of my late husband. Gene, my late husband, used to always go to Bill for good advice, and after he died I started doing the same. I asked him for dating advice, which he tried to give me. He used to give great advice.
Would you ever want your kids to go into politics?
Do you talk about work at home?
Thompson: Any subject is fair. We talk about everything, from how the kids are doing in school to how our days were to… McCabe: To what’s happening with the museum. We do rolling commentary as we’re watching NY1. There’s the “Wise Guys,” and then there’s us. One thing New York is not short on is opinions, so we have our own rolling commentary.
Dan Squadron
state senator (D-Manhattan/Brooklyn)
Liz Weinstein
Have you ever disagreed on a political issue? Thompson: I’d say we probably agree more than we
Political
POWER
Couples
director of operations for Mayor Michael Bloomberg
How did you meet?
Weinstein: We met because I was working for the DOT commissioner at the time, Iris Weinshall, as chief of staff, and Daniel was working for Chuck Schumer—and they are married also. We would get on the phone to work between our respective offices, and we met on the phone through Iris and Chuck. Squadron: I pursued Liz for a long time with Iris’ encouragement. Weinstein: I think Iris was trying to work it out from behind the scenes and I didn’t realize it until Daniel made it clear.
Squadron: They haven’t, surprisingly.
What’s your favorite way to escape from it all?
Have you ever disagreed on a political issue?
Squadron: We disagree on political issues. Liz is a constituent, so I’ll let my constituents speak for themselves. Weinstein: I can’t think of an example. We certainly disagree, but we’ve learned how to agree to disagree and move on, I think that’s the important thing.
Would you want your kids to go into politics?
Do you talk about work at home?
Squadron: We both bring strong opinions to many issues in the world. Weinstein: I wouldn’t say there are rules, but there’s lots of talking about things that we know we won’t disagree on.
FEBRUARY 21, 2011
Do your professional lives overlap?
Squadron: Escape? Eating in Chinatown. Weinstein: We’ve made quite a dent in Chinatown. I think once we’re home and we’re together talking, reading and cooking dinner, it feels like an escape. I think once we have time off, we’re pretty good about not letting the job interfere. Squadron: As long as there are no errands.
Married for: 1.5 years (dating for 5 years)
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Thompson: I would. Elsie would probably tell them—absolutely not. McCabe: What I do push is public service—however they want to pursue it and in whatever capacity, whether they do it as a vocation or something they do in their spare time. Giving back needs to be a part of their life’s work. That is something I press because that was how I was brought up, and honestly it’s one of the reasons why I fell in love with Bill. When I started dating again, I couldn’t find many people who had a similar commitment to public service as I did.
Weinstein: We are expecting our first child in seven weeks. Squadron: I think what our child wants to do is what we’re going to be supportive of, as long as they are committed to giving back and making a difference. Weinstein: I would suggest government over politics, I think.
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CITY HALL
Second Opinion
Women’s Health Center New York Downtown Hospital
Bloomberg looks to Texas for ideas on changing medical malpractice laws By Selena RoSS
M
ayor BlooMBerg is not just sending spies to gun shows in Arizona. He is also doing recon in Texas. Last month, his staff called the head of an advocacy organization there with a question about local physicians. Were there doctors practicing in Texas, they wanted to know, who were originally New Yorkers? When and why had they moved? Bloomberg jumped into the medical malpractice debate on Jan. 26 with a strongly worded keynote address at the state Bar Association’s Presidential Summit. He railed against New York’s “doctor drain” to states like Texas and told lawyers to fix the problem. The high insurance premiums that go along with high litigation costs discourage New York doctors from practicing here, Bloomberg said. States with lower premiums—the best example being Texas, which passed tort reform in 2003 and
no-fault system in which payments would depend only on injury. He referred only briefly to Texas, saying that the state had solved its shortage with reforms. “And can you guess which state the most doctors came from?” he asked the lawyers. “You got it: New York.” The statistics on doctor drain in New York are mixed. Bloomberg’s office points to a recent survey by the Healthcare Association of New York State showing that hospitals are having trouble recruiting specialists. But a NYPIRG study in 2009 found that there was no serious doctor shortage. In his speech, Bloomberg also mentioned financial strain on the health care system. OB-GYNs tend to have the highest insurance premiums. With 60 percent of births in the city paid for by Medicaid in public hospitals, that is a significant weight on the municipal health budget. Medical malpractice tort reform has been a longtime pet cause of Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo, who has reformed other aspects of the city’s tort system over the past nine years.
States with lower premiums—the best example being Texas, which passed tort reform in 2003 and started aggressively recruiting doctors—are attracting them from New York, the mayor argues. started aggressively recruiting doctors— are attracting them from New York. “How can we remove the straightjacket our law is placing on our doctors and instead use the law to improve our treatment options and our health?” he asked. “The low-hanging fruit is malpractice reform.” A few days before, Jeremy Robbins, who works for John Feinblatt’s Office of the Chief Advisor to the Mayor for Policy and Strategic Planning, called Jon Opelt of Austin-based Texas Alliance for Patient Access. According to Opelt, Robbins said the mayor wanted to take a stance on medical malpractice reform and asked for more information about what he had seen in Texas. “I’ve spoken with several doctors who recently moved from New York, who cite the high insurance premiums as their reason for leaving,” said Opelt, who tracked down several examples for Robbins. Among them was a female Spanish-speaking obstetrician who had been trained in the city and was working in a Brooklyn hospital before she moved to Texas. “She did not want to leave New York. She had no desire to move, and felt forced out by the high cost of liability coverage,” said Opelt. Texas seems to loom large in the mayor’s mind on this topic. In his speech to the bar association, Bloomberg suggested creating special health courts or a
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“Tort reform has long been a priority of Mayor Bloomberg, as well as myself,” Cardozo said in a statement. “The huge deficits faced by the Health and Hospitals Corporation could be mitigated by such reform.” The mayor’s interest in the issue is touching nerves as both doctors and lawyers expect him to raise the profile of the debate. So far, that’s all he seems to have accomplished: state legislators and local health lobbyists said they had not been contacted by the mayor to work on legislation. Nor has Bloomberg’s staff reached out to one of the country’s leading proreform organizations in California, the state with the most experience with tort reform. But Bloomberg spokesman Jason Post said to “stay tuned” for further involvement. Nicholas Timko, president of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, called the speech a too-public surprise attack rooted in bad data. “Mayor Bloomberg must be getting his health care stats from the same place he’s getting his weather stats,” said Timko. “I think it’s unfortunate that he’s taken this path instead of taking a more productive path, in terms of sitting down all the parties and making the system better.” Direct letters to the editor to editor@cityhallnews.com.
Dr. Allan Klapper directs the Women’s Health Center at New York Downtown Hospital’s new Wellness & Prevention Center. Dr. Klapper is a recognized leader in the field of Obstetrics and Gynecology, specializing in the treatment of female urinary incontinence, bladder pain, pelvic pain, and pelvic organ support disorders (bladder, uterus, and vagina). He is also a recognized leader in the minimally invasive treatment of gynecological disorders. His team of board certified obstetricians, gynecologists and subspecialists utilizes leading diagnostic and treatment methodologies across a broad spectrum of women’s health issues including:
• Comprehensive screening, disease prevention, and
educational services • Routine gynecological assessment • Adolescent gynecology • Menopause management • Assessment and treatment of urinary incontinence, bladder pain/ urinary frequency and pelvic support disorders • Assessment and treatment of gynecologic conditions including abnormal bleeding, fibroids, endometriosis, pelvic pain and ovarian cysts • Cancer prevention and treatment • Infertility evaluation and treatment • Genetic counseling The Center also provides DEXA Scan and Digital Mammography services. Dr. Klapper’s team at the Women’s Health Center looks forward to providing superb service and clinical excellence in our comfortable, state-of-the-art Center.
For an appointment with Dr. Klapper, Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, call (646) 588-2500
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170 William Street, New York, NY 10038 Telephone: (212) 312-5000 www.downtownhospital.org february 21, 2011
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Don’t erase our progress Here is where New York really ranks: (Sources: “Annual AP Report to the Nation,” The College Board, Feb. 10, 2010, and “Quality Counts,” Education Week, Jan. 13, 2011)
1st in the nation in closing the achievement gap in fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade math 2nd in the nation on a wide variety of multiple, rigorous measures of education quality 3rd in the nation in Advanced Placement test scores (2009) 4th in the nation in improving high school graduation rates (up 10 percent between 2000-2007) 4th in the nation for students enrolled in college or with a post-secondary degree *The “34th in the nation” statement has been traced back to an obscure 2007 Census statistic that contains a category called “total educational achievement.” That refers to the entire citizenry of New York state with high school diplomas. It lumps together present-day adults with their parents and even their grandparents, and does not measure performance by students in school today.
Richard C. Iannuzzi, President Andrew Pallotta, Executive Vice President Maria Neira, Vice President Kathleen M. Donahue, Vice President Lee Cutler, Secretary-Treasurer
Representing more than 600,000 professionals in education and health care. 800 Troy-Schenectady Road, Latham, NY 12110-2455 518-213-6000 • 800-342-9810 Affiliated with AFT / NEA / AFL-CIO www.nysut.org
issue spotlight:
Education
Point/Counterpoint
Times are tough for teachers and students in New York. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has called for over 4,000 teacher layoffs in his budget proposal. And Gov. Andrew Cuomo is seeking billions of dollars in cuts in education spending. The teachers union is locked in a struggle for survival, while Cathie Black continues to try to find her footing as the new chancellor. City Hall asked Assembly Education Committee Chair Cathy Nolan and City Council Education Chair Robert Jackson to size up the various issues to see how their answers stacked up against each other. Cathy Nolan: Education is almost always linked to the budget. Somehow, whatever the education issues are, they are also budget issues. And I’m certainly very concerned. I understand the governor’s called for cutbacks— there have been two, maybe three rounds of cuts in education funding, and this would be yet another one—so I’m concerned, and I’d prefer that it not be so significant. You know, we may have to cut, but perhaps the number could be, in some way, dealt with, because it’s a very big number and a very serious cut to education. So, that’s probably our top priority this year—how do we negotiate that, how do we work on that.
Robert Jackson: Obviously funding is a huge major issue, which is causing vibrations, situations where Mayor Bloomberg is saying that he’s going to have to do these layoffs. And the issue of seniority for teachers—the last in, first out—is right there with that funding situation. So that’s one thing. This funding situation means that class size is going to increase. So these are some major issues right now in education: class size, funding, construction and, of course, school closings. That’s huge. As you know, Mayor Bloomberg has stated at a conference in Washington, D.C., that he plans on closing 10 percent of the lowest performing schools in New York City over the next four years. And that’s equal to about 160 schools, so that’s a major issue. Nolan: Mayoral control was re-approved— there is a sunset in the future, but I certainly think my colleagues are always looking at issues around mayoral control. The committee has received a number of bills, for example, on the issue of school closings, co-location and parent involvement, all of which we will consider, but I don’t know—they’re certainly issues that we’re going to have ongoing conversations on, let’s put it that way. I don’t know, maybe there won’t be a consensus, but they’re certainly on the radar screen. I’m a parent of a publicschool child, and like many parents I’m very concerned that the system not be contracted. You know, I think the city has an obligation to continue its commitment and funding as well, not just the state.
Jackson: Those are all clearly the challenges Cathy Nolan
that lay ahead, and obviously part of that is the achievement gap between blacks and whites. Obviously that’s a major issue when you’re coming down to education rates and the lack of students being prepared for higher education. So the achievement gap is another issue, and also the whole issue of special education, and obviously the needs of children with special needs have to be addressed. And then from a funding point of view on that particular issue, that’s becoming a major issue also. Even Mayor Bloomberg has mentioned, up in Albany, the cases where children are going to private institutions and the city is being made to pay that cost. We’re spending approximately $100 million a year on this. So those are some of the major issues that Cathie Black and the administration will have to deal with in the next three years of her tenure.
Nolan: We have regular meetings, obviously, and we’ll probably have some additional public hearings. We just had one in late fall, early winter, on GEDs. Adult education is another big issue that I’m interested in. It’s not, perhaps, a hot-button issue, in terms of the media world, but adult ed is a key priority for our committee. We’ll probably continue to have hearings and roundtables and meet with the members of the committee. This is a committee that con-
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siders as many as 600 bills in a legislative session. That’s one of the largest workloads in the legislature, so each of those ideas has to be reviewed, and discussed, and looked at legally, so we keep pretty busy there.
Jackson: We did the oversight hearing on school closings on Jan. 25, and we just had an oversight hearing on school lunch and the monitoring of school lunches, because obviously the DOE had put a mandate on the principals, that they have to go after all of the parents that are not paying the lunch fees that they’re supposed to. And if they don’t collect them, whatever each school is owed will be deducted out of their overall budget. So in that sense the principals are becoming collection agents and making sure the parents pay the money—which is a waste of time. Let me just tell you, as I told Cathie Black, I said to her that she’s going to either be a hatchet person or a surgeon, and I asked her which one she is going to be. And she said a surgeon. So time will tell.
Nolan: Solutions in Albany always have to be a consensus, so I don’t know yet what those solutions are going to be. We’re just at the stage now where we’re reviewing lots of different approaches, and we’ll continue to try to achieve consensus. The best solution is for every child in the state to have a good, sound basic education. That’s the goal of everything that we do, and that has been the goal for all the years that I’ve been in Albany. It’s just a constant struggle because we are balancing fiscal needs and different approaches— you know, education is an issue area where lots of people think that their solutions will be best for children, and it’s up to the Legislature to try to weigh all these different approaches in the education field and make recommendations. That’s one of the reasons that we work so closely with the Board of Regents, because we want to rely on their expertise in determining what the best solutions are for kids.
Jackson: One of the solutions is to continue the PIT—the Personal Income Tax on wealthy New Yorkers. … If it’s extended, one full year of implementation would bring in 4.6 to 5 billion dollars. And that money could be spent in order to save education and save some other programs that we depend on, such as safety and security. Robert That’s an immediate thing that could happen this legislative year. And I’m not saying making it permanent. You could extend it for two years, or three years—temporary extension of the PIT.
Jackson
Nolan: My father was a shop steward and a very active union member. Many people in my district support seniority rights. I think that the mayor can achieve... The mayor’s negotiated, like, four successful contracts with the teachers union, and I’m sure he’ll negotiate this issue as well. I gave you my priorities. I think the mayor has his, and he’s a very successful negotiator, I’m sure he’ll do that again.
Jackson: No, the top priority is education funding. I agree with Mike Mulgrew when he said, instead of talking about laying off teachers, the mayor should be fighting for us to go to Albany, and also fighting to get the Personal Income Tax Surcharge, because that’s going to bring in so much money that would help us to get out of this negative situation, at the state level and the local level. He shouldn’t be focusing on this policy, he should be focusing on making sure that we get the funding that we need in New York City.
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february 21, 2011
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issue spotlight:
Sound-bites Ernie Logan President, council of School Supervisors and administrators
Prepare for a future in Public Policy in New York City
The most important education issue facing the city right now is, above all, the education gap between the rich and the poor, white and minority populations. The gap is not closing, and the failure to close it could spell disaster for the city, the state and the nation. There is no issue more important than this in New York City or anywhere in the country, particularly when you stop and think that today’s minority will soon be the majority. What is not on the city’s agenda—and was rightly a priority of our new President, Barack Obama—is early-childhood education. Early-childhood education has been less than ignored in New York City—the city has and continues to cut back early-childhood education for the working poor and the poor. The decimation of early-childhood education, among all but the upper middle class and the rich, could set New York City back decades.
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education
Absent adequate resources, the New York City Department of Education will need to target its programs and services to the schoolchildren who need the most support to meet standards and graduate. DOE must employ best practices developed in successful schools, they must focus on attendance, which is a primary factor in achievement, and they must address the growing resegregation of the schools through stepping up the use of programs such as Educational Option schools, which blend the student populations. DOE should also fix the Blue Book so that we have an accurate record of our school facilities and can strategically address overcrowding and provide appropriate facilities for programs ranging from science labs and art rooms to libraries and gyms.
Zakiyah Ansari coordinator, coalition for educational Justice The city must address its lack of capacity and infrastructure to support dramatic school improvement/turnaround without closing schools, in addition to acknowledging the fact that the racial achievement gap is as wide as ever. Where they are closing schools, there does not seem to be a plan for the tens of thousands of students that stay in schools as they “phase out” and then often get forgotten and left without the resources and staff they need, becoming collateral damage—usually before they get shuffled off to the next struggling school. The City is not adequately addressing capacity and infrastructure deficiencies, especially when it comes to supporting struggling schools—right now the strategy is to leave schools on their own to sink or swim. If they sink, they will be closed. In addition, despite occasional lip service, there is a lack of investment in meaningful parent and community involvement so that we are systematically left out of decisions that affect our children, our schools and our communities. We have a PEP that is a rubberstamp and a city that has gone gaga for closing schools as if that is a school-reform strategy.
David Bloomfield education chair, Staten island college The Achievement Gap and graduation data are considerably lower than even the abysmal published results for high school completion and college/career readiness. The increased rate of school closings and attacks on teachers are an intentional distraction from this failure, which has persisted throughout the mayor’s three terms. Mayoral control of schools was supposed to increase interagency cooperation. This hasn’t happened. The city needs to improve coordinated health, housing, law enforcement and social-service efforts to increase student achievement. The NYCLU’s revelation that suspensions spiked from 44,000 in 1999-2000 to 73,000 last year, with a smaller student population and longer periods out of school, must be addressed through better disciplinary policies, especially toward students of color and those in special education.
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CITY HALL
Save City-funded Day Care! On March 1st, 5 City-funded Day Care Centers will close their doors forever, leaving children and families with few alternatives. Since 2002, more than 50 centers have faced the same fate.
“…students who come to school knowing their ABCs, having number sense and the ability to work collaboratively with others are better prepared for school and the workplace.” – Valerie Capituloi-Saide, Principal of P.S. 101, Queens
“…children who have never attended day care often take a longer time to adjust to the school and classroom environments… Knowing… how to share and follow rules at an early age is certainly an advantage to having more instructional time.” – Amy Hom, Principal of P.S. 1, Manhattan
Studies show that children who are exposed to quality early education not only perform better academically, they are also in a better position for future success.
Call the Mayor at 212-788-3000 today to save city-funded day care.
Council of School Supervisors & Administrators AFSA Local 1: AFL-CIO
www.csa-nyc.org
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issue spotlight: teacher Layoffs, LiFO, Sound-bites School Closings On tap For Education debate this Year
EdUCatiON
James Merriman CEO, New York City Charter School Center
By Andrew J. HAwkins
With over 4,000 teaching positions potentially on the chopping block, the pitched battle over education funding and seniority rules seems destined to dominate the New York City education scene for months to come. Mayor Mike Bloomberg unveiled his “doomsday” budget on Feb. 17 that not only proposed using $1.86 billion in city funds to offset the $1.4 billion loss in state aide, but also called for the total reduction of 6,166 teaching positions, including 4,666 via layoffs. During his budget presentation, Bloomberg made an appeal to Albany to find a way to avoid layoffs by restoring some education funding. “If there is a possibility the State Legislature restores cuts around the state, I want to get our name on the list,” he said. The mayor is pushing hard for the elimination of the socalled “Last In, First Out” policy, and replace it with a meritbased system. Union officials and city and state lawmakers are wary of the policy shift, though, accusing the mayor of targeting senior teachers unfairly. “The mayor’s insistence on teacher layoffs becomes more and more bizarre,” said UFT President Mike Mulgrew in a statement. “We’ve already lost nearly 5,000 teachers to attrition in the last two years, and class sizes are skyrocketing across the city.” A bill to eliminate LIFO has yet to be introduced, as Bloomberg has said he would prefer it be included in the state budget proposal. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he is open to discussions on the policy. Assembly Member Jonathan Bing said he intends to introduce a bill soon. School closings have also caused a stir lately, with raucous, late-into-the-night meetings of the mayor’s Panel for Education Policy filled with protests and pleas to allocate more funding and assistance to schools slated for closure. The City Council has held hearings on the issue, and may soon vote on a bill that would require a more thorough accounting from the Department of Education on school closings. New Schools Chancellor Cathie Black has weathered the recent school closing hearings, as well as her introduction to the city as a whole, with mixed results. Opponents to her appointment continue to pursue legal measures to remove her from office, but barring some unexpected revelation, Black is likely to stay put. “We may be in the last round here,” said Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries of the recent appeal against a court ruling validating her waiver from the State Education Department. Regardless of how that fight plays out, Bloomberg is likely to continue to pursue the same agenda he has for the past nine years: more control over teacher hiring and firing, more charter schools, more technology innovations, and more data systems to track the results. After all, he is the man in control. “Many people always say, ‘the DOE wants to do this’ or ‘the DOE is doing this,’” said Sam Pirozzolo, president of Community Education Council 31 in Staten Island. “In my opinion, the correct term should be ‘the mayor wants to’ or ‘the mayor is doing.’ Mayor Bloomberg runs the DOE, no one else.”
ahawkins@cityhallnews.com
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february 21, 2011
Charter schools do not receive facility funding, an inequity that has been ameliorated by the city’s decision to provide space in public-school buildings—but not solved. Until charter schools have the financial means to choose whether to accept district space or to go into private space, it will be difficult not just to end the district v. charter mentality (which is unproductive), but to site high-performing charters wherever there is demand. Providing charters with dedicated funding they deserve should be an absolute priority for the city and the state. More generally, we need to have open discussions about the flexibility that charter schools enjoy— and how district principals and teachers can share and apply them to their own schools. If we do, we’ll find enormous common and productive ground both with teachers and the vast majority of parents. For instance, charter schools are able to set their own discipline policies, which in turn are an essential building block for creating a school culture of respect and high expectations. In turn, parents, who place a high value on a school being safe and orderly, flock to these schools. District teachers rightly chafe that their schools either are unable or unwilling to institute similar policies—and that therefore their jobs become impossible. In turn, they feel like the playing field is tilted against them. Opening a discussion around these issues (and then moving to action) will result in district and charter teachers seeing each other as partners in a shared project that is an essential component of student academic achievement.
Diane Ravitch Education historian; research professor, NYU The continuing poor academic performance of many students, especially African-American and Hispanic students, is a major issues. When the State Education Department revealed that the state scores were inflated, the proportion of New York City students meeting state standards fell sharply. The Schott Foundation for Public Education reported last year that only 28 percent of black males graduate in New York City. Three-quarters of our high school graduates who enroll in community colleges require remediation, and very few get a degree. This year, for the first time in memory, New York City public schools had not even one winner in the Intel science competition. Clearly, the DOE’s singular devotion to accountability is not working for students. The city should have a school improvement strategy instead of a school closing strategy. Closing schools harms fragile communities. Public schools are not like chain stores that can be closed and opened at will. The city’s indifference to parent and public opinion is creating a volatile situation where rage builds without an outlet. The rage will only grow if the city continues to hold hearings where no one listens. Democracy requires a willingness to listen and respond to the public.
New York City Education, By The Numbers 1.1 million. Number of schools: 1.700. Size of DOE budget: $23 Billion. Estimated cuts to the DOE budget: $1.4 billion. Number of teachers. according to DOE: 78.000. Number of teachers. according to UFT: 80.000. Estimated teacher layoffs for 2011: 4.666. Schools closed or phased out in 2011: 22. Schools closed or phased out since Bloomberg took office: 91. Number of charter schools: 125. Charter school budget: $545.2 million. Graduation rate. 2009: 64.5 percent. Percentage of students deemed prepared for college: 22.8 percent. Amount of state funding lost for 2011 school year: $1.4 billion. Amount of city funds allocated to replace lost funding: $1.86 billion. City spending on education in 2002: $5.9 billion. Projected city spending on education in 2011: $13.6 billion. Number of students:
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CITY HALL
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Speaking Blue JayOut
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ouncil Speaker Christine Quinn, a likely candidate for mayor in 2013, has stayed mum on any future political plans, but often refers to her pride in how the Council under her leadership has successfully dealt with the budget—unlike other legislative bodies, Quinn pointed out, the New York City Council put money away during the fatter years of the economy, rather than spending every dime available. Instead, she pressed for her proposal to pay more capital costs up front as a way of bringing down costs for debt service in the long term. A day after her speech, Quinn joined City Hall for an On/Off the Record Breakfast moderated by editor Edward-Isaac Dovere about her plans—including her opposition to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed 20 percent cut on capital spending—as well as issues like Wal-Mart and a living-wage bill. What follows is an edited transcript.
CH: How will you convince the mayor that a 20 percent capital budget cut is not needed? CQ: In the first few years when I was speaker, we had real surpluses, and we did not spend all of them. We took $8 billion and created a health care trust fund. There’s money in that account—$6 billion of prepaid bills. All of that has helped us weather the different budgets that have been more challenging. We agreed at the end of last year that we needed to make mid-year cuts to generate savings we could roll into next year. We were able to change $35 million worth of those cuts. That meant that home care services stayed available to seniors. That meant fire houses didn’t close at night. It’s that same type of effectiveness that we’ll apply to the 2012 capital contract and expense budget.
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CH: How would you pay for proposed Business Link and affordable housing databases? CQ: The online application for affordable housing isn’t going to cost anything. We have folks who can do that, that’s what they’re paid to do. We have a listing of affordable housing, we just need to take that listing and mesh it with this new online application. Now we will actually have a way of knowing how many New Yorkers are
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CH: Who would make the call in your proposal to dismiss parking tickets if you already paid the meter? CQ: When you park your car, you have to walk to the meter to pay. You can’t ESP your money over the meter. So there is by definition sixty seconds that you actually have not paid to park. We can’t do anything about that. We’ll figure out what’s the right time frame, because it isn’t fair to the traffic enforcement agent. He or she needs to be bound by some guidelines. We’ll articulate that so we can explain it to the public, and it’ll be implementable. CH: What’s your position on the living-wage bill? CQ: I don’t know what’s going to happen with the bill. It’s been introduced, and we’ll have a hearing at the appropriate time. We’re still looking at it. The lead sponsor made it clear that he wants a hearing on the bill, and that’s fair, to have a hearing as the paid-sick-leave bill did, and I’ll make my position on it known at the appropriate time.
andrew schwartz
City Hall: Has there been a shift in the dynamic of power in the city? Christine Quinn: Given the significance of the issues we deal with, if you’re in the City Council or the mayor or any elected official, there is neither the time nor the luxury to sit around and map them out on some massive political playboard with X’s and O’s like it’s the Super Bowl. So the mayor and his administration did a job [during the blizzard in late December] I would call unacceptable. When things happen in government that are unacceptable, we have an obligation to do oversight and, when we can, develop policy, budgetary, or legislative suggestions that will create a safety net to prevent an unacceptable act from recurring. The next blizzard they handled well. It was as appropriate that I put out a statement saying that the first job was unacceptable as it was that I put out a second statement saying it was a job well done.
CH: Is this the right time to be spending more up front on capital projects? CQ: The thing that will dampen infrastructure projects is cutting the capital budget by 20 percent. The government-funded projects are the most significant part of infrastructure work that is still going on. More work has begun, but it’s not at the level we want it to be at. That is the thing that will most cut into the 50,000 people who are employed by the city’s capital budget.
applying for affordable housing. What boroughs do they want to live in? What neighborhoods? That’ll help us do our long-term housing planning efficiently. The NYC Business Link, that’s going to take us time to phase in. It won’t be fully running for 18-24 months. Starting up is the only time businesses have trouble with the city. There are all these agencies helping small businesses. If we take them out of their individual cubicles and team them not so much under the rubrics of their agency, but under the rubrics of NYC Business link, you don’t need any more people. We don’t need a significant number of new employees, because we’re going to take the ones we have and retrain them, regroup them, refocus them and have them be assigned to different businesses. CH: Would you push for those programs by taking funding from others? CQ: They’re not going to cost any money. The online application is not going to cost any money to do it. If we don’t have the in-house expertise, we’ll get somebody to do it pro bono. The NYC Business Link is designed not to cost us money. We’re not going to propose many things in the next year or so that cost a lot of money.
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CH: What do you think at the moment about Wal-Mart? CQ: I met with Wal-Mart, and it was a very productive conversation. I articulated my concerns, the most significant one being its impact on small businesses. I believe if it opens up, I think it will cause small businesses to close. I feel strongly about government not allowing things to happen that will make it harder for small business to stay open. We’re going to meet again. There is nothing they’ve said in terms of corporate vision that leads me to change my position. That said, I think it’ll take a lot of work for them to make that change. CH: When some Council members start to prepare to run for other offices in 2013, will that hurt cooperation? CQ: I don’t have that worry at all. If you look back to 2009, we had council members running against each other, and everybody said the Council was going to deteriorate into potshots. That didn’t happen, and I was proud of my colleagues that that didn’t happen, and I have tremendous faith in my colleagues that they will put New York first. CH: What time frame makes sense for you to be declaring candidacies? CQ: There’s lot’s of time between now and the next political go-round. I think the most important thing is the job I have to do. I laid out a lot of stuff I want to get done, which will take work and focus, and a lot of other things that weren’t in that speech will take work and focus.
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Bruce J. Lindenbaum, President Frank and Lindy Plumbing and Heating, Inc. Peekskill, New York
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