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The City Council approved three bills May 24 geared towards limiting lobbyist access and influence. These measures, however, were but the overture to major changes to the status quo by the Council’s nascent Rules Reform Working Group.
Next up may be changes to the Council’s harassment and expulsion policy, with spokespersons for both group co-chairs, David Yassky (D-Brooklyn) and Dan Garodnick (D-Manhattan), confirming that the group’s recent meetings have been dominated by discussion of relevant policies and mechanisms.
However, there is no set agenda or schedule for the group, which meets biweekly. Therefore, while Yassky’s spokesperson said some new reform bills may reach the floor later this month, he could not elaborate on the nature of such bills.
The working group was created earlier this year by new Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), who immediately upon being elected leader of the Council began enacting changes to increase the transparency, democracy and efficiency in the body.
This included creating the eight-member working group to spearhead ongoing overhauls of Council policy, with Yassky and Garodnick tapped to lead it due to their voiced interest in changing the Council status quo.
Garodnick, who was first elected last year, said the position made sense because reform had been an issue so central to what he “had focused on and thought about,” during his campaign for the seat Eva Moskowitz (D-Manhattan) left behind to run for Manhattan borough president.
The other members of the group are Domenic Recchia, Jr. (D-Brooklyn), Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan), Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan), Leroy Comrie, Jr. (D-Queens), Oliver Koppell (D-Bronx), and Michael McMahon (D-Staten Island).
Last month’s lobbying reforms were the first fruits of the group’s work. One bill empowers the city clerk’s office to oversee lobbyist conduct and requires full disclosure reports from lobbyists on their activities. It also includes a provision for the mayor and Council to allocate city funds necessary for the mechanism and personnel in the clerk’s office and the conflicts of interest board necessary for enforcement.
Another bill repealed a $50 annual gift allowance and banned all gifts from lobbyists to elected officials and civil servants, with the exception of small gifts such as pens and mugs.
A third bill made lobbyists’ donations to political candidates ineligible for public matching funds.
The Council approved all three pieces of legislation unanimously.
Dick Dadey, executive director of the good government group Citizens Union, said he is pleased with the progress of reform and with the very existence of the working group.
“It is unheralded for the City Council to establish such a working group,” Dadey said. “It is a great thing.”
Dadey, who worked closely with the group during its formative stages, said its members had embraced the January Citizens Union report issued to the Council meant to serve as a reform roadmap of sorts. He anticipates that once the budget passes, the Council will be able to be more aggressive in bringing additional reforms to the floor.
He added that one of the most immediate concerns from his organization’s perspective is to see more transparency and communication from the Council. An obvious area of improvement, Dadey said, would be revamping the city’s web site, which he described as not user-friendly and lacking in up-to-date information for the public.