Reformer: Feb/March 2010

Citizens Union would like to welcome three new individuals to the Citizens Union/Citizens Union Foundation family.

In December 2009, the Boards of Citizens Union and Citizens Union Foundation unanimously accepted the nominations of Nicole Gordon to the CUF Board, and Ken Seplow to the CU Board. Nicole has served New York City in a variety of roles, including Vice President at the JEHT Foundation and Executive Director of the New York City Campaign Finance Board, among others. Ken is a long-time member of Citizens Union, having served on the Municipal Affairs Committee and co-chairing its subcommittee on infrastructure and development. Ken’s leadership with the subcommittee led to the development of several CU positions on transportation funding, among other items.

Citizens Union is also pleased to announce the hire of Alex Camarda as Citizens Union’s Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, succeeding DeNora Getachew who is now serving as the Policy Director of Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. Alex brings a strong blend of skills and experience, having served as Policy Director and Press Secretary for State Senator Jeff Klein and, before that, as Associate Director of New School Development at the New York City Department of Education. Alex began his career as a social studies teacher in the Bronx.

State Policy Agenda Outlines Citizens Union’s State Reform Goals

Citizens Union’s 2010 State Policy Agenda is now posted on the CU website, www.citizensunion.org, and contains our recommendations in the areas of redistricting reform, election reform, campaign finance reform, government reform, judicial reform, budget reform, and legislative rules reform.

Ethics Update

In one of the more bizarre moments in recent state legislative history, the Senate failed to override the Governor’s veto of the state ethics reform bill in spite of having overwhelmingly passed it two weeks earlier with only one vote in opposition. Many Republicans switched their vote once Governor Paterson provided the cover to oppose the bill with his misguided veto. The fact that the Governor stood in the way of enacting a meaningful piece of legislation that would have significantly cleaned up the ethics swamp in Albany defies explanation, other than to see it as a crass political move at the expense of achieving an important public policy reform. The unfortunate circumstance of this maneuver is that the Governor did not come to the effort with a bill to negotiate until it was too late and he did not have the political power to change the dynamics on the issue. If he had, we would have been negotiating a stronger bill.

The failure of the ethics bill to become law is a disappointment to Citizens Union, which has worked on this issue intensely since January 2009. We believe that the bill, while not perfect, represented the first meaningful step toward improving ethics oversight and enforcement. Though many can disagree over the bill not achieving enough, it was a vast improvement on the currently weak system we presently have. Citizens Union along with some of its good government colleagues  supported  the ethics bill, which was negotiated and drafted over many months by the State Assembly and Senate and would have tackled many of the issues that currently plague the state’s oversight and enforcement of its ethic laws, with a final negotiating session held with CU, its good government colleagues and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson. While the bill ultimately failed to be passed, without the work of Citizens Union and its colleagues, the issue of ethics might not have even been on the table.

The final push for ethics reform, largely catapulted by the convictions of Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno and others, was also aided by Citizens Union’s report ”  Examining Turnover in the New York State Legislature: Ethical Misconduct Increasingly the Cause for Legislators Leaving ,” which was released last fall and found that legislator indiscretions were on the rise, and turnover due to ethical lapses has made up 10 percent of all departures since 1999.

Citizens Union will continue to push for ethics reform in spite of this failure during the next year following up to the state elections this fall. The need is greater than ever with the recent expulsion of Senator Monserrate. Additionally, the City Bar has issued a report which finds that legislators who are attorneys should be required to disclose their clients, but the report recommends that any changes to the law be made to apply prospectively for only new clients of legislators. The issue of client disclosure was a source of tension in Albany, and this report should bolster CU’s efforts to enact this change to the law.

CU Recommends State Budget Process Reform

Prior to the release of the Executive Budget in January, Citizens Union again pressed its case to make New York State’s opaque budget process more transparent, user-friendly and efficient. It did so in two separate actions, first in releasing a “report card” on the state’s progress in implementing its 2007 budget reforms, and then in  testimony it delivered before the State Senate’s Select Committee on Budget and Tax Reform. CU’s  budget reform report card  analyzed the state’s compliance with the 2007 budget reforms, and its progress implementing additional reforms presented in our  2008 issue brief and position statement on budget reform . CU will continue to monitor the state budget process as it unfolds in 2010, as well as push for reforms to improve transparency, efficiency, and accountability of the process.

CU Pushes for “NY-SPAN” Implementation Using National Best Practices

Citizens Union called for the state to implement a state government public affairs channel similar to C-SPAN in  testimony  it delivered to the State Legislature’s Joint Advisory Board on the Broadcast of State Government Proceedings. CU recommended that the Advisory Board develop concrete and measurable goals for adding new content to the channel, and provided a series of best practices for the use of the channel’s corresponding website with regard to archival footage and ease of public use. CU plans to monitor the implementation of the new channel in 2010.

City Updates

Gotham Gazette Highlights

Gotham Gazette kicked off the new year — and its second decade — with a redesign that makes the site more attractive, easier to use and more timely. New content now appears on the site every workday — so visit often! Be sure to subscribe to Gotham Gazette’s email newsletters, including the daily Eye Opener, and enjoy the improved design along with the incisive coverage of policy, issues and politics our readers have come to expect.

Other recent highlights are below.

Contested ‘Domain’ Several politicians want to rein in New York’s authority to seize a person’s property to make way for private development. Can they succeed in a state where real estate rules?

Who Writes the Bills? Which City Council member sponsored the most legislation — and who offered the fewest bills? Find out how your member fared in writing — and passing — laws.

Bloomberg’s Bluff The mayor warns that Gov. Paterson’s budget would force the city to cut 8,500 teachers, reduce police to 1985 levels, and end street cleaning. Scary stuff, but maybe that’s just the point.

A Violent, Dysfunctional System Forcible restraint remains too common and therapy too rare in homes for juvenile offenders, according to several recent investigations. Is change finally on the way?

An Honest Day’s Pay? In the aftermath of the Kingsbridge Armory debate, a more widespread bill on living wages may not come as easily as some expect. Find out where your councilmember stands on this issue. And Joan Byron of the Pratt Center for Community Development discusses how community activists defeated the large mall project.

Events

Who is Citizens Union?

Lillian Rodr&#237guez L&#243pez

Born and bred in New York City, Lillian Rodr&#237guez L&#243pez joined the Board of Citizens Union in 2006 because she wanted to be part of an organization focused on good governance in her hometown. As President of the Hispanic Federation, a non-profit membership organization serving close to 100 Latino health and human service agencies in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, Rodr&#237guez L&#243pez is one of several Latino community leaders on the CU Board. She says her work with each organization informs and enriches the other.

“There is very good synergy between the Federation and CU about issues that affect the Latino community,” said Rodr&#237guez L&#243pez. “We serve to educate each other.”

The other hats she wears include Chair of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, member of the Manhattan Borough President Community Board Reform Committee, the Wells-Fargo-Wachovia Bank Community Board, the News Corporation Diversity Council, and the Nielsen Company Latino Advisory Board. In 2008, she was selected as one of the 15 Most Influential Latinos in the country by People En Espa&#241ol.

Rodr&#237guez L&#243pez says that CU’s work is important because it takes a close analytical look at the critical issues facing New York and opens up debate among a wide-ranging group of constituents.

“CU allows you to not just stay in your own playground,” she said. “That’s what drew me. To try to engage and show a diversity of opinions and backgrounds is really important to build the best New York City that you can. We don’t always agree but we do try to respect each other’s opinions and understand each other’s views.”

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