Fwd: Morning News Clips 11.1.16
Usha Mehta
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From: Oshiro, Traci <tos...@comptroller.nyc.gov>
Date: Tue, Nov 1, 2016 at 5:20 PM
Subject: FW: Morning News Clips 11.1.16
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Subject: Morning News Clips 11.1.16
Stringer
NYT: Stringer Faults Mayor de Blasio Again as 2017 Race Nears
Glaciers. Dinosaurs. The challenge of putting genies back into the bottles from which they came.
There was more than the usual amount of surreality in the metaphors bandied about at Comptroller Scott M. Stringer’s announcement on Monday of subpar performance grades for New York City agencies on their spending with minority- and women-owned businesses.
But perhaps the most surreal aspect was the comptroller’s insistence that politics — that is, his own undeclared yet increasingly evident interest in a campaign for mayor in 2017 — had nothing to do with the proceedings.
The unveiling of Mr. Stringer’s third annual report on city procurement with minority-owned businesses, in which he issued a second straight D-plus for agencies citywide, followed a string of recent efforts by Mr. Stringer to highlight what he says are deficiencies in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration.
He gave a speech earlier this month at the Association for a Better New York knocking Mr. de Blasio, a fellow Democrat, on the same issue in a campaign-style address. Last week, he issued a report finding fault with day care center conditions at the New York City’s homeless shelters.
At each turn, Mr. Stringer focused on areas of potential weakness for Mr. de Blasio next year. Behind the concern over minority business spending, he offered an unspoken argument for black and Hispanic voters, core constituencies for the mayor, that less is being done for them than what Mr. de Blasio promised. By focusing on homelessness, Mr. Stringer took aim at a vulnerability for the administration as the number of homeless in the city continues to rise.
“I really don’t view this as politics,” Mr. Stringer said on Monday. “This is what a comptroller should be doing.”
The contours of a potential race could also be seen in Mr. Stringer’s movements and statements in recent weeks, as he appeared to be courting small contingents of New Yorkers disaffected with Mr. de Blasio over changes to their neighborhoods.
He defended parents on the Upper West Side of Manhattan who have raised concerns over a school rezoning that would send some well-off white students into a different school where students are mostly poor and black or Hispanic. He appeared in Maspeth, Queens, on Thursday and spoke to a local group that has been vehemently opposed to the administration’s plans to house homeless people in hotels there.
Dan Levitan, a spokesman for Mr. de Blasio’s 2017 campaign, declined to comment on Mr. Stringer’s moves, citing the fact that he is not actually a candidate.
City Hall dismissed Mr. Stringer’s recent activities. “We don’t spend a lot of time thinking about him or his political stunts,” said Austin Finan, a spokesman. “Mayor de Blasio is focused on running city government.”
The issue of spending by the city on minority-owned businesses has become an unlikely flash point in the shadow campaign between Mr. de Blasio and Mr. Stringer. It has helped prompt a public back-and-forth in which the mayor lashed out at the comptroller’s management experience. It continues to fuel some dueling of statistics.
On Monday, Mr. Stringer said that City Hall’s plan to direct 30 percent of city contract spending to minority- and women-owned business by 2021, while laudable, would probably fall short. He said that at the moment only 4.8 percent of the $15.3 billion in total city procurement dollars goes to minority business, down slightly from 5.3 percent last year.
“We are going at such a slow rate that we will get to that goal sometime 20 or 30 years from now,” he said, invoking glaciers and then, later, dinosaurs.
City Hall officials disputed the comptroller’s findings, citing statistics that measured contracts awarded to minority- and women-owned business rather than money spent. The officials also said Mr. Stringer’s office had included too much city contract spending and that, under a 2013 law, he should have limited the amount of money counted as total spending to about $4.9 billion.
“Comptroller Stringer is wrong on the facts,” Richard R. Buery Jr., a deputy mayor whom Mr. de Blasio recently charged with heading up his administration’s efforts in this area, said in a statement. “Our contracts went to M.W.B.E.s 14 percent of the time, up from 8 percent in the year prior. We are well on our way to awarding 30 percent of the value of our contracts to this important community of businesses.”
NYDN: Scott Stringer report shows NYC is getting worse at hiring firms owned by minorities, women
The city is doling out less of its contract cash to businesses owned by minorities and women, a new report by City Controller Scott Stringer found.
Only 4.8% of contract spending went to the firms in the 2016 fiscal year — down from 5.3% the year before, according to Stringer.
That amounts to just $728 million out of the $15.3 billion the city spent on goods and services.
"We're actually now going backwards," said Stringer, who documented the first decline in the stat since 2013. “That’s alarming.”
Stringer gave the city a D+ grade overall for its minority contracting. Out of 32 agencies graded, nearly half got D’s or F’s, and only one, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, got an A.
There are 4,527 minority- and woman-owned firms, known as MWBEs, certified to do business with the city — but only 994 actually got city money in 2016, the report says.
The worst grade went to city contracting with black-owned businesses, which got an F, while the best, a C, was awarded to its dealings with Asian-owned firms.
“This is going at a glacial pace,” Stringer said. “By the time we make headway...we are going to see generations of lost business opportunities for people of color [AND] women.”
He blamed “bureaucracy” and “paperwork” in part for the hurdles the businesses face in getting city jobs.
“You think you’re a certified MWBE and you’re going to make a living and grow a business, and then you start knocking on the doors of city agencies, and they basically say we’re out to lunch, do not apply,” he said. “It’s a missed opportunity for the entire city economy.”
Stringer, a some-time rival to Mayor de Blasio who has not ruled out running against him, lobbed his latest criticism at the mayor’s administration after a recent clash where de Blasio accused him of “grandstanding” and a spokesman said he’s “never managed anything” and doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
“I think my management skills are pretty well regarded in this city,” Stringer shot back Monday.
The controller also released an interactive map showing the location and city spending history of all the city’s certified MWBEs.
Stringer’s report counts actual city spending in a given year, saying that’s the most accurate measurement since contracts awarded don’t always translate into actual dollars in the pocket of small businesses.
The mayor’s office disputes that methodology, saying contract awards give a more accurate picture of the city’s progress since payments are tied to contracts given out in prior years, some before he took office. By their measure, 14% of the value of city contracts went to MWBEs, out of a goal of 30%.
“Comptroller Stringer is wrong on the facts. Last year this administration awarded $697 million in contracts to M/WBEs, a 52% increase in dollars from the year prior. Our contracts went to M/WBEs 14% of the time, up from 8% in the year prior,” said Deputy Mayor Richard Buery. “We are well on our way to awarding 30% of the value of our contracts to this important community of businesses.”
DNAinfo: De Blasio 'Moved Backwards' on Giving Contracts to Minority Firms: Stringer
The percentage of firms owned by minorities and women that received city contracts dropped for the first time in three years, according to a report Monday from Comptroller Scott Stringer.
Firms owned by minorities and women received 4.8 percent of the $15.3 billion in contracts awarded by the city in fiscal year 2016. That's down from the 5.3 percent awarded in fiscal year 2015. The city received the same D+ grade for its efforts.
But the city was given an F when it came to contracting with businesses owned by African-Americans, a D for Hispanic firms and women-owned firms and a C for companies owned by Asians.
"As much as we talk about moving forward, this report demonstrates that at least for the last fiscal year, we moved backwards and have a long way to go," Stringer said. "Government needs to lead by example, but it’s clear that when it comes to securing city contracts, our minority and women-owned businesses still aren’t getting a fair shot.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has defended the city's MWBE efforts, launching a $10 million loan program to help minority and women developers and pledging to reach a goal of awarding 30 percent of city contracts to minority- and women-owned firms by 2021. De Blasio also launched the Mayor's Office for MWBE. The mayor also acknowledged that it will need state law around the awarding of contracts to change to meet its goals.
Richard Buery, deputy mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives and director of MWBEs, said Stringer "is wrong on the facts" when it comes to MWBE spending.
Stringer said he measured the amount of money the city actually paid to minority firms because he believes it is a more accurate representation of MWBE participation.
The city measures MWBE participation by citing how many contracts were awarded to those firms. City officials say that is a more accurate picture of what de Blasio is doing because money can be paid out to firms months and even years later.
"Last year this administration awarded $697 million in contracts to MWBEs, a 52 percent increase in dollars from the year prior. Our contracts went to MWBEs 14 percent of the time, up from 8 percent in the year prior. We are well on our way to awarding 30 percent of the value of our contracts to this important community of businesses," said Buery.
De Blasio's MWBE efforts have come under attack. The $10 million loan fund was deemed too small to help MWBE firms compete in a city where projects regularly top $100 million. And the timeline for the city to reach 30 percent minority contracting is too long, critics say. 2021 would be de Blasio's last year in office if he wins re-election next year.
Stringer said the city was moving at a "glacial pace" when it came to MWBE progress and would not likely reach the 30 percent goal for another 20 or 30 years.
Minority and women contracting likely will be an issue in the 2017 mayoral elections. Blacks and Latinos overwhelmingly voted for the mayor during his first run for office and continue to be his strongest supporters, according to polls.
Multiple potential candidates for mayor have criticized de Blasio's MWBE record, including Stringer who said the mayor wasn't moving fast enough to address inequality at a speech before the city's business community. Income inequality is an issue that helped carry the mayor into office.
On Friday, minority and women developers in the South Bronx said de Blasio's decision to award a $300 million project to redevelop the former Spofford Juvenile Detention Center to non-minority firms was a "kick in the face."
The Rev. Johnnie Green, a Harlem pastor who heads the statewide group Mobilizing Preachers and Community, called the numbers in Stringer's report "reprehensible" and shows that "this mayor is all talk without action."
Green and his group plan to oppose de Blasio's re-election based on his MWBE contracting record.
"It is a slap in the face of his African-American and Latino supporters who overwhelmingly supported him and elected him mayor," Green said. "I hope this is a wake up call for African-American leaders and activists who support this mayor's re-election."
The report found that 15 city agencies, nearly half of those examined, received grades of D or F. Eleven of those 15 agencies have received D's and F's since Stringer's report was launched in 2014. But some agencies have also improved. Eleven agencies received higher letter grades this year than last.
The report recommends hiring a full time chief diversity officer. Stringer also called for creating a dedicated pool of smaller contracts and then pre-certifying small businesses to compete for that work.
Stringer, who has included his own office in the report even though it does not fall under the mayor's office, received a B, which is up from a C last year.
Stringer toured the offices of Constructomics, a minority-owned general contractor and construction manager. Principal Trevor Prince said his firm does not do much city work because they lose out to larger firms even though they are MWBE certified and have a high level of bonding. Because they are competitors with those big firms, they are not used as subcontractors.
Prince and his fellow principal Glenn Levey said the city needs to do a better job of breaking down large contracts so minority-owned firms like theirs can get a piece. Prince said they sometimes hire as many as 50 percent of MWBE subcontractors for their projects.
Alex Pena of Totem NY, a general construction firm, said more MWBE firms need to be named as equity partners in large projects. He said he was tired of "idealistic goals" in regards to MWBE contracting.
"I want to see things put in motion. I want to see action. The goal could be 15 percent as long as it gets done," said Pena.
Observer: Comptroller Says City’s Minority and Women-Owned Business Program ‘More of the Same’
Comptroller Scott Stringer—a rumored 2017 Democratic primary rival to Mayor Bill de Blasio—gave the city a D+ on spending with nonwhite- and female-owned firms for the second year running in his annual report card.
The city’s chief financial officer made the announcement while speaking at Constructomics, a Lower Manhattan-based home builder classified as a minority- and/or women-owned business enterprise, or MWBE. Stringer, who held a roundtable with MWBE leaders ahead of the press conference, said that in fiscal year 2016 the city spent $15.3 billion on goods and services—but only 4.8 percent went to MWBEs.
He said that was even less than what he reported at the Association for a Better New York breakfast last month—that only 5.3 percent of $14 billion the city spent on goods and services went to MWBEs.
“Last year, the results weren’t pretty,” Stringer said. “The citywide grade was a D+. And this year, I’m sorry to say that we’re seeing more of the same. Nearly half the agencies scored a D or an F.”
He also noted that there are upwards of 500,000 minority-owned businesses and 400,000 women-owned businesses in New York City but only 4,527, less than 1 percent, are certified to do business with the city. His analysis also found that just 994 of certified firms received city spending in fiscal year 2016.
“It’s not only hurting our small business owners, it’s a missed opportunity for the entire city economy because when we invest in our small businesses, they invest in their neighborhoods and our economy gets stronger,” Stringer continued.
The comptroller’s office also launched its first-ever series of interactive online maps that show which certified MWBEs received city spending by race, ethnicity and gender.
Out of 32 agencies graded—31 mayoral agencies and the comptroller’s office—the Business Integrity Commission, the Department of Buildings and the Department of Sanitation each received an F. The rest of the agencies received C’s and D’s. The only agency to receive an A was the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which received an A for the second year in a row.
The Commission on Human Rights, the Department for the Aging, the Department of City Planning, the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Department of Small Business Services and Stringer’s own office each received a B.
Stringer has clashed frequently with the administration over what he perceives to be the city’s abysmal performance in increasing the number of contracts given to MWBEs. Just six days after Stringer’s scathing assessment of de Blasio’s record of helping MWBEs and on other issues affecting the city’s most vulnerable residents, de Blasio unveiled a new 30 percent MWBE participation goal to be met by 2021 and the appointment of Deputy Mayor of Strategic Initiatives Richard Buery—who implemented de Blasio’s universal prekindergarten initiative—as the city’s new MWBE director.
De Blasio named Rev. Jonnel Doris as the city’s full-time senior MWBE adviser in July.
The mayor previously said his new vision had nothing to do with Stringer’s blistering takedown of the program. And his spokesman, Eric Phillips, had dismissed Stringer’s critiques of de Blasio’s work to help the city’s most vulnerable residents as the kind made “when you have never run anything and don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I think my management skills are pretty well regarded in this city,” Stringer retorted today.
When the Observer asked Stringer whether the appointment of Buery and Doris is sufficient, the comptroller said Buery has taken on “some very tough issues,” adding that he enjoys working with him. He also said Doris has been working with Chief Diversity Officer Carra Wallace—whom he appointed in 2014 to oversee city agencies—and Wendy Garcia, deputy chief diversity officer to Wallace, and “gets good marks from everyone I’ve talked to.”
But he stressed that the new statistics indicate the need for a full-time chief diversity officer, noting that once such a role is codified, it will not “be at the whim of changing administrations.”
“I think [Doris] is making a difference, I really do,” Stringer said. “I think Richard Buery is going to make a difference. But if we were close to 30 percent, we’d let it go. The future is about making sure we have a chief diversity officer who works full time at this.”
But he acknowledged that a change in state law is necessary to allow the city to have access to tools and resources to which the state has access.
“We certainly want to go to Albany,” Stringer said. “We wanna look at some legislative issues, we’re aware of that. The mayor has raised those issues. I think he’s absolutely right.”
In a statement, Buery said Stringer is “wrong on the facts.” He noted that last year, the de Blasio administration awarded $697 million in contracts to MWBEs—a 52 percent increase in dollars from the previous year.
He also said contracts went to MWBEs 14 percent of the time, up from eight percent the prior year and that the city is “well on our way” to giving out 30 percent of the value of its contracts to MWBEs.
“Comptroller Stringer’s report is not an accurate measurement of the important progress this administration has made in improving city contracting and sharing the results of our city’s economic progress with all of our businesses,” Buery said.
Amsterdam News: City comptroller gives mayor another near-failing grade on city procurements for M/WBEs
Last month, Mayor Bill de Blasio and several elected officials touted the creation of a new minority- and women-owned business enterprise (M/WBE) office with a goal of awarding at least 30 percent of procurements to M/WBEs by 2021. However, when it comes to the city’s own share of procurement with M/WBEs, a new report by City Comptroller Scott Stringer reveals Mayor de Blasio continues to fail.
Stringer gave the city a “D+” grade when it comes to the its utilization of M/WBEs. No change from 2015 when he gave the city a “D+” and a “D” in 2014. Grades are based on actual spending with M/WBEs during the fiscal year, not on contracts awarded.
The third-annual report released Monday titled, “Making the Grade,” paints a grim picture of total city procurement with M/WBEs declining in Fiscal Year 2016. In the first drop in three years, only 4.8 percent of the city’s $15.3 billion annual procurement budget went to M/WBEs in FY16.
In 2015, M/WBE procurement rate was 5.3% and overall city M/WBE procurement has gone up. However, the share with M/WBEs has gone down.
"This isn't just about giving everyone a fair shot — it's about our economy and about our neighborhoods,” Stringer said to the AmNews. “There are upwards of 500,000 minority-owned and 400,000 women-owned firms across the five boroughs. Yet, less than 1 percent are certified with the City.”
The report points out that the lack of procurements is contributing to unemployment for people of color who are more likely to work for M/WBEs. A survey in the report states that in Chicago, Black business owners are five times for likely to hire other Black workers than white-owned businesses.
Unemployment in the city remains the highest for Black residents at 7%. Barriers continue to plague M/WBEs which in turn contributes to the city’s economic divide.
“This administration at this late date does not seem to be able to take MWBE procurement seriously,” said Bertha Lewis, founder and president of The Black Institute. “This situation is so serious and it needs to be treated separately by someone on the deputy level. You can’t keep shoving this in the basket.”
Over 3,500 certified M/WBEs, or nearly 80 percent of those certified, did not receive city dollars in the 2016 fiscal year, according to the report. There are 4,527 certified M/WBEs the city can use to do business with.
When looking at which city agencies have used M/WBEs well over the last few years, the Department of Small Business had the best overall improvement receiving a “B” moving up from the “F” it received in 2015. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development maintained its “A” grade along with the Commission on Human Rights, which received a “B.”
Agencies that consistently fail in utilizing M/WBEs include the Department of Sanitation with the worst grade receiving an “F” three years in a row, the Department of Buildings and the Business Integrity Commission both of which dropped to “F” grades.
“We have to do better," Stringer said. "We have to be a city that delivers fairness for everyone. This is a missed opportunity, and it's our hope that will reports like this, we can help deliver and engender real results."
The solution? Stringer’s recommendations include creating a more comprehensive, all-inclusive M/WBE development program across all city agencies, appointing a Chief Diversity Officer who reports directly to the Mayor to strengthen agency accountability and streamlining the certification process and create a universal certification application across local, state, and federal M/WBE programs.
The AmNews as reached out to the mayor's office for comment.
Metro: Companies run by women, minorities see drop in city business, report says
Companies owned by women and minorities saw a drop in the business they conducted with city agencies during the past fiscal year, according to a report released Monday by the city comptroller.
It marked the first decline in city business by such companies in three years.
Businesses owned by women and minorities reaped only 4.8 percent of the city’s $15.3 billion procurement budget, the report states.
Because of the city’s meager spending with these firms, the comptroller’s office assigned a grade of “D+” to the city for its efforts to engage companies owned by women and minorities.
Apparently aware of the situation, Mayor Bill de Blasio and several elected officials announced last month the creation of a minority- and women-owned business enterprise office and set a goal of awarding at least 30 percent of to such firms by 2021.
Nevertheless, Comptroller Scott Stringer said “game-changing shifts” aren’t happening.
“As much as we talk about moving forward, this report demonstrates that at least for the last fiscal year, we moved backwards and have a long way to go,” he said.
Although there are roughly 540,000 minority-owned and 414,000 women-owned firms in the city, only 4,527 – less than 1 percent – are certified with the city. Only 994 of the certified firms received city spending in fiscal 2016.
In compiling its report, the comptroller’s office looked at 31 city agencies and graded them on the amount they spent on construction, professional services and goods in business dealings with companies owned by women and minorities.
Fifteen agencies were given “D” or “F” grades. Eleven agencies earned higher grades than they did last year.
El Diario: La contraloría reprueba a la ciudad por la baja contratación de negocios minoritarios
El Nuevo Herald: Denuncian que empresas hispanas no reciben apoyo en NY
The Chief: Stringer: Shelter System Offers Little Care, No Oversight for Younger Kids
More than half of the city’s homeless children under age 3 living in city-operated shelters have no access to child-care services, according to a report by City Comptroller Scott Stringer.
The audit, released Oct. 26, is a follow-up to his December 2015 report on health, safety and security concerns at homeless shelters.
The investigation found that children 5 and younger are the largest population served by the Department of Homeless Services, and the average length of their stay in the shelter system increased from 337 days in fiscal 2012 to 412 days. Of the shelters that provide child-care on-site, Mr. Stringer’s report found “dangerous shortcomings” in the facilities.
‘Makes My Heart Sink’
“As a father, these findings don’t just make my jaw drop, but my heart sink,” Mr. Stringer told reporters at a press conference announcing the report. “It’s unacceptable for children to languish in shelters without any access to services.”
According to the report, there are 167 city shelters housing families with children. Ninety-nine of these shelters offer no form of child-care services—including state-mandated “linkage agreements” with local child-care centers. These shelters house 52 percent of the city’s homeless children under age 3.
In mid-August, the report also found 1,351 families living in commercial hotels throughout the city in rooms paid for by DHS. The use of commercial hotels as homeless shelters has been controversial, with a plan to convert a Queens Holiday Inn to a shelter nixed in mid-October after the hotel’s owner pulled out amid angry public protests.
Forty-three of the city’s traditional shelters offer on-site child-care centers without any permits or oversight from either the city or the state. Traditionally, according to Mr. Stringer, day-cares in homeless shelters are exempted from the city’s Public Health Code and are not required to be inspected by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene as commercial providers are.
The Comptroller said this lack of oversight leads to “two standards of care—a system for the ‘haves’ and a dramatically inferior version for the homeless children.”
‘Nightmarish’ Conditions
His office inspected 21 shelters offering on-site child-care throughout the city, and found what he called “conditions that would give any parent nightmares.”
In 18 percent of the child-care rooms inspected, there was no fire extinguisher. Forty-one percent had no sprinklers, and two shelters that offered child-care had no fire alarms or sprinklers anywhere in the buildings.
The inspections also found that 9 percent of the designated “emergency-exit” doors locked from the inside and had no “panic bar” that would allow the doors to be opened in the event of an emergency, and 23 percent of the rooms had no fire-alarm-pull stations near the exits and entrances.
Other hazards included bubbling, peeling or chipping paint in child-care rooms or bathrooms, broken bathroom fixtures, exposed wires, outdoor play areas full of dirt and debris, and choking hazards in easy reach of young children.
One shelter’s child-care room had baseboard heaters that were broken, leaving the heating portion exposed to little hands. That same shelter had glue traps filled with dead cockroaches under a sink, easily accessible by the children in the program.
Another had an exposed wire hanging from an exit sign and an outdoor playground that wasn’t fenced in and open to the shelter’s trash area.
Most Staff Untrained
The audit also found that 82 percent of the shelter staff working in the child-care centers had not been fingerprinted or completed a background check.
“If we’ve learned anything from the tragedies at [the Administration for Children’s Services] it should be that we need complete background checks on every worker with these kids. There’s no way around this,” Mr. Stringer said, noting that a full background check would reveal both disqualifying criminal or child-abuse or neglect histories.
In addition, nearly half of the employees at those shelter sites—49 percent—hadn’t been trained in child-abuse and maltreatment identification, reporting and prevention. Both complete background checks and abuse and maltreatment training are required for employees of a DOHMH-regulated day-care center.
Finally, 24 percent of the workers at the inspected shelter-based child-care centers either did not or could not provide a valid photo ID upon request by staff from the Comptroller’s Office.
Recommends ‘War Room’
“We need answers about this, especially when we know in our hearts that there are children in danger here,” said Mr. Stringer.
He released a handful of recommendations to address the crisis—among them, a weekly “war room” meeting similar to the Police Department’s COMPSTAT process—to improve coordination between agencies.
“You have ACS, DHS—basically an alphabet soup of agencies that don’t know what the others are doing,” he said. “Get them all together, bring all the stats and meet every Monday morning. That’s how you handle a crisis.”
He said the city should “honor its stated commitment to ending its reliance on using commercial hotels as homeless shelters for families with children,” a statement Mayor de Blasio made in February after a mother and her children were attacked and killed at a Staten Island hotel that was being used as a shelter.
Calls for Tighter Controls
Mr. Stringer also wants to see the 20-year-old licensing exemption for shelter child-care centers removed, and these centers and their employees regulated by the DOHMH and subject to frequent inspections, strict safety standards, and full criminal background checks for all employees as soon as possible.
“Our priority should be helping these kids at all costs,” he said. “This report doesn’t bode well for them, and we need to change that.”
A City Hall spokeswoman told the Daily News that the DHS and other agencies are “working to develop a system to effectively provide childcare across shelters,” and they hoped to have new protocols in place in the next few months.
Governing: From Police Shootings to Playground Injuries, Lawsuits Drain Cities' Budgets
[…] “But it’s not just about fighting penny-ante payouts. New York has engaged in a major effort to get smarter about the kinds of risks that lead to lawsuits in the first place. In 2014, City Comptroller Scott Stringer launched ClaimStat, a data-driven initiative intended to serve as an early warning system for city agencies by detecting patterns in claim filings. By mapping sewer overflow claims, for example, Stringer’s team found several blocks in Queens prone to flooding. The office has now issued a series of alerts drawing attention to problems such as potholes, playground injuries and traffic accidents involving pedestrians.
ClaimStat staff are also working with the police department to better respond to and address claims. Now, when a new claim is filed, police investigators immediately start working to assess its merits, searching for witnesses and surveillance video. They analyze claims data in real time, attempting to pinpoint recurring issues in precincts throughout the city. Early results of the new initiative are encouraging: Police misconduct filings dipped 13 percent in fiscal 2015, the first year-over-year decline in at least a decade. Local advocacy groups are supportive, but say the city could still do more to address underlying concerns. “The city should be focused less on lawyering,” says the New York Civil Liberties Union’s Christopher Dunn, “and more on trying to focus on the [police] misconduct that produces lawsuits.”
It will take years for New York to realize the full effects of the changes. Cases may linger for decades; three of the city’s top settlements in fiscal 2015 were from cases dating back to the 1980s. But the initiatives are expected to cut costs. Accordingly, the city’s latest budget cut the law department’s allotment for claims and judgments by 11 percent over the next five years. On the whole, says Daitz, New York will no longer be known as a place to file a claim and make a quick buck. “The attorneys on the plaintiffs’ side are getting the message that this is not a lottery ticket. The days of an easy payday are long gone.”
While New York’s initiatives may prove effective, not every city is in a position to hire a phalanx of new attorneys and build a whole new data-analysis system. But there are a number of other things a city can do to bring down its claims costs. For one, it’s important to establish a hardline reputation for taking on frivolous lawsuits, says Darren McKinney, communications director for the American Tort Reform Association. “The plaintiffs’ lawyers will file meritless lawsuits in cities where there will be little resistance,” he says. “The impulse is to settle early on.” Chicago and Los Angeles, he says, are viewed as easier targets relative to other cities.
Cities could also incentivize individual departments to help cut down on risks. Comptroller Stringer has suggested New York consider holding individual departments more responsible for the claims filed against them. Departmental budgets would have to share in paying for settlements, but they’d also get a share of any savings attained from implementing better risk management practices. One of the few jurisdictions where claim and judgment payouts come directly out of individual departments’ budgets is Los Angeles County. “It certainly makes them pay attention to it,” says Steven Robles, the county’s risk manager. In most cities, settlements and judgments come out of the general fund. The lone exception in New York is NYC Health and Hospitals, the agency that operates the city’s public hospitals. It saw a noticeable decline in medical malpractice filings when it began shouldering some of the costs of medical malpractice liabilities in 2001, followed by another drop once it took over management of its cases in 2006.” […]
de Blasio
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NYDN: Mayor de Blasio cracks Halloween joke about helicopter controversy
Politico: De Blasio officials, City Council tussle over tenant protection legislation
Observer: Bill de Blasio ‘Confused’ By Former Top Homelessness Official’s Criticism
Observer: NYC Mayor Says He Still Thinks ‘the World of’ Huma Abedin, the Wife of Anthony Weiner
amNY: Second Avenue subway will be vital asset, but ‘don’t pop the champagne corks yet,’ says de Blasio
DNAinfo: De Blasio's Security Detail Nabs Man Who Punched 85-Year-Old in Park: NYPD
News 12: Mayor joins Park Slope community in Halloween parade
The Chief: Knee-Jerk Police Reflex A Bad Strain for Mayor
Cuomo
Albany Times Union: Cuomo warns Canada over potential milk policy
The Chief: Senate Leader Upset Cuomo Actually Backs Democrats in Battle
NY News
NYT: Judge Rejects Settlement Over Surveillance of Muslims by New York Police Department
NYT: Police Killing of Mentally Ill Black Man Is, 5 Years Later, Headed to Trial
NYT: Life Beyond Bars: One Man’s Journey From Prison to College
NYDN: NYC sees pros, cons in releasing disciplinary records of correctional officers
NYDN: ACS commissioner cries during testimony probing 6-year-old Zymere Perkins' death
NYDN: EXCLUSIVE: Attorney fighting Brooklyn DA’s ‘malicious’ voter fraud case against him for two decades
WSJ: New York City Ramps Up Immigrant Outreach
WSJ: Airbnb in Talks to Settle New York Lawsuit
WSJ: Hunter College to Alter Response to Sexual-Assault Allegations
Politico: Staten Island has already seen more drug overdose deaths this year than last, DA says
San Francisco Examiner: SF loses tech director to NYC
James
Observer: Children’s Services Commissioner Breaks Down Over Zymere Perkins’ ‘Unbearable’ Death
CBS NY: ACS Commissioner Breaks Down In Tears Before City Council Committee Probing Zymere Perkins Death
Mark-Viverito
NYP: ACS head weeps during hearing on death of Zymere Perkins
Opinion
Crain’s: Is Wall Street worth the tax breaks?
Huffington Post: Mass Transit in the Sustainable City
NYP: The Post’s endorsements for city Assembly seats**********************************************************************
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--Sapna
ajay mehta
Awesome, congrats! 👍
Happy birthday!
All the best for new job.
Anju Chacha
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