IDC Issues Recommendations to Streamline State Government
$312 million wasteful spending, potential savings, uncovered

    The Independent Democratic Conference today submitted a series of recommendations to Governor Cuomo and his Spending and Government Efficiency (SAGE) Commission that will help them streamline New York's sprawling bureaucracy. 

     The IDC's recommendations to crack down on overtime abuses, develop new accountability standards for outside contractors, review the use of state assets, and eliminate duplicative administrative functions, are based upon the work performed by the Senate Task Force on Government Efficiency.

     IDC members Jeffrey D. Klein, (D-Bronx/ Westchester), David J. Valesky, (D-Oneida), and Diane Savino, (D-Staten Island/ Brooklyn), serve as members of the Task Force, which during the last year uncovered more than $312 million in questionable spending and potential savings. 

     “New Yorkers are simply not getting their money's worth from state government,” Senator Klein said. “We have seen example after example of inefficiencies, duplications of services and outright abuse of state resources. I applaud Governor Cuomo for his commitment to restructuring Albany and we believe the Task Force's work will be a good starting point for this critically important job.”

     The IDC sent copies of the Task Force's reports and recommendations to Governor Cuomo and SAGE Commission Co-Chair Paul Francis. The materials will be provided to other members of the commission as they are announced. 

     Senator Savino said: "During these difficult economic times, it is clear that the old ways of doing business simply aren't working anymore. We must look at fresh and innovative ways to find savings—from consolidating bureaucracies, to cutting back on overtime and administrative waste, to reducing our reliance on costly contractors—so that we can bring real relief to New Yorkers, while still providing vital services.  I commend Governor Cuomo's efforts to improve government efficiency and look forward to working with the SAGE Commission, as well as my Senate colleagues, in finding ways to craft fiscally sound budgets. ”

     Senator Valesky said: "The New York State government is too large and ineffective, and has become unsustainable, especially in this difficult economic climate. I strongly support Governor Cuomo's plan, through the SAGE Commission, to restructure the government, and I look forward to continuing the work the Senate Task Force on Government Efficiency has begun." 

     Senator David Carlucci, (D-Rockland), said: “New Yorkers work hard for their money and deserve to know that their tax dollars are being used in an ethical and efficient manner.  Based on the reports by the Senate Task Force on Governmental Efficiency, the Independent Democratic Conference will recommend examining the practice of how we use taxpayer funded assets, the practice of overtime and the consolidation of redundant administrative positions and offices that increase state costs without increasing the effectiveness of services. Such arrangements undermine taxpayers’ trust in government and deplete the States’ limited financial resources. At a time when we are asking all New Yorkers to do more with less, we cannot allow such waste and inefficiency to continue. We must work to streamline government while retaining jobs and continuing to provide critical services New Yorkers rely on.  I commend Governor Cuomo for making government efficiency a top priority.”

     The recommendations are based upon Task Force reports that focused on the SUNY system, the State Department of Transportation, the State Department of Correctional Services, and the former Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (now called the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities.) 

     Based upon these reports, which can be found at www.nysenate.gov/committee/task-force-government-efficiency, the IDC recommends: 

     Cracking Down on Overtime Abuse

     In both Fiscal Year 2008-09 and Fiscal Year 2009-10, the State spent more than $400 million in overtime. In 2009 alone, the Departments of Transportation, Correctional Services and OMRDD, the Task Force discovered a combined spending of $198.4 million in overtime.

      The IDC recommends that the Division of Budget be granted control over overtime spending in order to curb excessive spending by agency heads. The DOB would have to pre-approve any overtime spending at the various agencies. The Division of Budget should issue clear rules regarding the rules for the assignment of overtime.

     The IDC also recommends the administration end the practice of arbitrary hiring freezes, which, in practice, leads to a spike in overtime payments. 

     Enact Stricter Standards for State Contractors 

     The Task Force’s April 2010 report uncovered millions of dollars in DOT spending on outside contractors for projects and tasks that could have been performed at a lesser cost by in-house workers.  The Task Force identified 479 DOT contracts worth $147.5 million that were approved, but expired before the agreed upon project or service was ever started.

     While the money was not lost, it was tied up while the state was cutting back on essential services.

      The IDC recommends new accountability standards for those who seek to do business with the state. 

     Categorize and Re-assess the Use of Certain State Assets

     The Task Force's investigation into DOCS spending included claims by employees at DOCS that prison wardens were being given the use of luxurious homes near prisons for little, or no, cost. A separate inquiry found that in 2008, OMRDD paid more than $1.9 million for the purchase of two homes to care for 13 client. One of those properties, which included a pool and a hot tub, appraised for $5,000 less than the final purchase price. This price was 63 percent higher than the average area sales price during that time period. 

     The IDC recommends establishing a comprehensive and centralized database of state assets, and making a determination as to whether these assets should remain under state control. The state must also review policies relating to state-owned “perks,” such as apartments and houses.  

     Eliminate Duplicative Administrative Positions 

     In the examination of SUNY and DOCS the Task Force found examples of redundant administrative positions and offices that increase State costs without increasing the effectiveness of State services.

The Task Force reviewed the  spending of various police forces at SUNY campuses and found a surplus of high priced administrators.

     At DOCS,  the Task Force focused on several clusters of prisons across the State, i.e.,  areas in which two, or more correctional facilities are located right next to each other.

     Each prison at these clusters had their own independent administrative staff, including payroll and contracting staffs, even though each facility used the same local businesses to provide them with supplies.

     The IDC recommends that administrative functions at these various state facilities be consolidated. Assuming these consolidations led to a savings of 20% from the previous cost, the State could save $10 million each year in payroll expenses.

     It further recommends that the administration of the SUNY police system be centralized. As part of this centralization, the position of police chief for these local departments would be eliminated and replaced by a single administrator.

 

 

 

 

     

     

   

State Senate Minority Leader John Sampson-What he Didn't Say to Us

    In this weeks column of 100 PERCENT (in the Bronx News or online at www.bxnews.net, the Bedford Park link on the left) we spoke to New State Senate Minority leader asking him about the new Independent Democratic Conference led by his former Deputy Leader Senator Jeff Klein. Sampson's answer was go ask Senator Klein, and we are all still Democrats. While I knew Senator Sampson's answer wasn't going to be "I didn't want to say anything that may incriminate me in the future", maybe because he was alone in the Bronx could that be why Sampson was so tight lipped.

    Wednesday night Senator John Sampson appeared on "Inside City Hall" with host Errol Lewis to talk about his new role as Senate Minority Leader, and the new IDC led by Senator Klein. Sampson opened up by saying that it was Senator Jeff Klein who nominated him, had a million dollar payroll, and knew about everything that was going on. Sampson added that only Senator Valesky spoke to him before the new IDC was created. Sampson criticized upstate Senator Carlucci, whom Sampson said got $750,000.00 dollars for his reelection bid, but also said nothing to Sampson on the IDC. 

    Minority Leader Sampson continued to ramble on with his rant, saying that Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. is the most independent senator in the senate who has stayed loyal to him. "Instead of giving me credit, people stab me in the back", referring to Senator Klein. Sampson also made sure that he mentioned Senator Klein's new office as one of the perks of the IDC. 

    The interview then changed to the subject of Walmart wanting to open in Senator Sampson's district. Sampson said that there is a difference between Walmart jobs and good paying jobs with benefits, also saying that his constituents are dependent on public assistance.

    Here is the link to the Wednesday January 12th Inside City Hall interview of Minority Leader John Sampson, and judge for yourself. http://www.ny1.com/?ArID=132128

What Did The City Council Hearings Find Out?

    In only a few hours of questioning top city officials the phrase "The City's Response was Unacceptable" could be heard by not only council members, but also by Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith who was in charge during the Christmas blizzard of 2010. Goldsmith admitted that there were many mistakes including that a snow emergency should have been called up to 24 hours prior to when it was declared.

    Council members found out that there were screw-ups and blunders by ill informed and ill equipped city officials. Many city vehicles did not have chains or radios to call for help when they got stuck, and there was no official announcement for private contractors to help remove the snow.

    At a press conference this afternoon, Mayor Bloomberg said that the city is well prepared for tonight's snow learning from the mistakes of the previous storm. As the mayor took questions one reporter asked the mayor if he was in Bermuda during the blizzard. Mayor Bloomberg did not deny or confirm where he was, only to say that there is a public schedule that he has and private time. Bloomberg added that he will be taking in a Ranger game tonight, and believes that it will end before tonight's storm begins.

BOEDC ASSISTS DOMINO’S PIZZA IN THE SEARCH FOR NEW EMPLOYEES

    The Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (BOEDC) is assisting Domino’s Pizza to hold an on-site recruiting event in The Bronx to help fill numerous positions available at the popular pizza chain.

     Domino’s Pizza is looking for energetic and self motivated assistant managers and drivers.  The on-site recruiting event will take place on Thursday, January 13, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, at the Bronx County Building, 851 Grand Concourse.  

     This recruiting event is part of BOEDC’s program to assist companies in their search for employees. For more information, residents can call 718-982-5825.  

Croton Filtration Monitoring Committee Meeting
     
      The Croton FMC will next meet on Thursday, January 20 at 7pm at the DEP Community Office, 3660 Jerome Ave.  An agenda will be forwarded when it is available.           
      Call (718)625-1005 for more information, Martha M. Holstein, Strategic Urban Solutions, Inc.

COMPTROLLER AUDIT: 38% OF HIGH PRIORITY FIRE HYDRANTS NOT REPAIRED ON TIME

    The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is not fixing fire hydrants fast enough putting the public and firefighters at risk, according to an audit released today by New York City Comptroller John C. Liu.

    Comptroller Liu said the problem is even bigger for hydrants designated as “High Priority,” meaning they are either located near a school, hospital, or senior citizens’ residence, or are the only fire hydrant on the block. The audit reviewed 149 high priority hydrant work orders and found that some of the fire hydrants were out of service anywhere from three months to more than one year.

    For example, a fire hydrant at 116th Street and Liberty Avenue in Queens took 368 days to fix and a fire hydrant at 15 Little Clove Road in Staten Island waited 102 days to be repaired.

    “New York City’s firefighters already have a dangerous job, and a malfunctioning fire hydrant represents one less tool that our firefighters have to carry out their duty of protecting lives and property,” Comptroller Liu said. “Repairs to fire hydrants – especially the ones deemed ‘High Priority’ by the City’s Bravest – must be better prioritized and further accelerated.”

     The DEP has a goal of 10 days to repair high priority fire hydrants. But 38 percent of the fire hydrants surveyed did not meet the 10-day goal.

    DEP maintains and repairs the City’s 109,217 fire hydrants. In Fiscal Year 2009, the agency received complaints regarding 15 percent of fire hydrants.  According to the audit, it took an average of 18 days to
make repairs.  The audit also found a wide discrepancy in repair time among the five boroughs. The DEP could not explain the discrepancy.

    Average Time by Borough to Fix  Broken Fire Hydrants, FY 2009 (Borough
- # of Work Orders; Avg. # of Days to Resolve)
Staten Island - 1,310; 33.4, Brooklyn - 4,675; 26.6, Bronx - 2,726; 19.5, Manhattan - 4,514; 10.3,
Queens - 3,208; 10.1.

    The audit was initiated by former New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson. It was initiated to determine if the DEP made repairs to the City’s fire hydrants in a timely manner.

    Chief among the findings:
       Citywide, the DEP took an average 18.3 days to repair fire hydrants in FY 2009
       2,314 fire hydrants were not fixed for more than one month
       43 fire hydrants were not fixed for more than one year
       81 fire hydrants for which work order were issued in FY 2009 were still not fixed as of April 21, 2010
       The DEP had no written standard of what an appropriate response time should be
       The DEP did not properly track repairs to fire hydrants

    The recommendations made by Comptroller Liu to the DEP include:
       The DEP needs to improve its response to fixing broken fire hydrants, especially high priority hydrants
       The DEP needs to improve its tracking of repairing fire hydrants to better assess and resolve complaints that remain open for extended periods

    The DEP agreed with six of the audit’s eight findings. Comptroller Liu credited Deputy Comptroller for Audit H. Tina Kim and the Bureau of Audit for presenting the findings.  The full report is available at
http://comptroller.nyc.gov/audits.

State Senators Klein, Savino, Valesky, Carlucci  Announce Formation of Independent Democratic Conference 

    State Senators Jeffrey D. Klein, (D-Bronx/ Westchester), Diane Savino, (D-Staten Island/ Brooklyn), David J. Valesky,  (D-Oneida) and David Carlucci, (D-Rockland), today announced their departure from the Senate  Democratic Conference and the formation of a third legislative conference.   

    The four senators will caucus together as the Independent Democratic Conference. As a group, they will push for commonsense solutions to the problems facing this state, break the hyper-partisan gridlock that has gripped this chamber, and work to restore the public's trust in its public officials. 

   “This is a new beginning,” Senator Klein said. “The squandered opportunities, ethical lapses, and mismanagement of the last two years have left the residents of this state distrustful and disappointed in the State Senate as an institution and their government as a whole. As members of the Independent Democratic Conference, we will work to bring integrity back to this house and once again make government a tool to improve people's lives.” 

    The IDC has pledged to work with Governor Cuomo, the incoming Senate Majority and Minority, and its other partners in government to get New York's fiscal house in order, foster job creation, and cap property taxes. They will also be pursuing a legislative agenda that includes enacting tough new ethics reforms, establishing non-partisan redistricting, and protecting a woman's right to choose.   

    “We are, and remain, Democrats who are committed to Democratic principles,” Senator Savino said. “The Independent Democratic Conference will allow us to make a clean break from the dysfunction that has defined Albany for far too long and allow us to govern in a manner that our constituents expect and deserve.” 

    The IDC creates a new paradigm in the State Senate, which for the first time will have more than two legislative conferences. There will be no concentration of power in the Independent Democratic Conference. Each member will have an equal say and an equal vote when it caucuses.   

     “This conference represents a new way of conducting the people’s business— with civility, a commitment to sound policy, and a willingness to work together,” Senator Valesky said. “In time, this may become a new model for legislative governance; but for now, it is the only choice that makes sense.” 
     “The late Senator Morahan understood the importance of setting aside partisan politics to get work done for the residents of New York State,” Senator Carlucci said. “As a member of the Independent Democratic Conference, I will uphold that tradition. It is time to stop thinking about the next election and start thinking about the next generation.” 

    The Independent Democratic Conference 2011 Agenda

    Job Creation This past October, New York State was given the dubious distinction of having the least hospitable tax climate in the nation. The key to job creation in New York is removing obstacles to business investment and business creation through broad-based reforms that benefit all sizes and types of employers all across the state.   

    Streamlining Upstate NY Economic Development Efforts to Attract and Retain Businesses
We will continue to strongly encourage development of programs like the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit that foster economic development in Upstate urban cores and villages. Support for core industries, including medical and pharmaceutical research, healthcare and renewable energy, and agricultural priorities, including providing relief for farmers and promoting local foods, is also critical.
    Property Tax Cap Our new legislation to impose a 2% annual tax cap on property tax levies will require school districts and other local governments to live within their taxpayers’ means and will help create a more sustainable funding stream than the current one that drives seniors from their longtime homes and makes it unaffordable for young people to start families in the communities where they were raised.   
    Real and Immediate Mandate Relief for Local School Districts and Municipalities
State government must also do all that it can to help school districts and local governments control their costs by eliminating non-essential state mandates and encouraging a more streamlined government through regionalization, shared services and functional consolidations.  
     Identifying Government Waste and Creating Government Efficiency Last year we committed ourselves to investigating costs on a State agency-by-agency basis. In the coming session, we will switch our focus to State government wide issues that would allow us to highlight larger possible savings such as an examination into simplifying business regulations and their costs, controlling costs in the Legislature and modernizing State government functions
    Women’s Reproductive Rights New York’s reproductive health laws are outdated and inadequate. The Woman’s Reproductive Health Act of 2011 is needed to ensure that New York gives women an affirmative right to their reproductive health and would enact the critically important reforms in New York’s laws governing women’s reproductive health such as protecting the right to privacy in reproductive decision-making, safeguarding not only the right to end a pregnancy but also the right to bear a child and the right to use or refuse birth control.  
    Ethics Reform in Albany The Ethics in Government Now Act ( S.573) has been introduced to comprehensively reform the operation of the Legislative Ethics Commission and to establish new prohibitions against nepotism for hiring relatives in the same legislative chamber
    Independent Redistricting Concerned New Yorkers have indicated that the current reapportionment process exposes the legislature to claims that the deck is stacked to favor the re-election of incumbents and to discourage potential challengers. Senate Bill S. 660 will create an independent commission which would enable the reapportionment process to unfold in a manner that debunks any claims that legislators are primarily concerned with apportioning districts in order to facilitate their own re-elections.  
    MTA Tax Reform Gross mismanagement is blamed for 1/3 of the MTA’s current fiscal debt.  Our goal is to conduct a comprehensive forensic audit of the MTA to find areas of waste and corruption and determine the need and the efficacy of the current MTA tax.  
    Medicaid Reform An examination of Medicaid and is needed because of the centrality of the issue to the State’s long-term fiscal health. Our focus will be to start to target individual areas of Medicaid for examination with the goal of cost savings to all New Yorkers.  Possible targets are Long-Term Care, Transportation Services, or care for patients with disabilities. Furthermore New York is one of a few states that disburse Medicaid funds through its counties.  This system has caused New York to lose control of spending.  It is imperative that we we consider disbursing Medicaid funds from the State level, eliminating the need for counties to pay and wait for reimbursement.   
     

 

Engel Cleared In Ethics Investigation into Per Diems

    Bronx Congressman Eliot Engel has been cleared of ethics charges over per diem travel payments after the House ethics committee ended its investigation into the matter. 

     The investigation dealt with the way that Engel and five other lawmakers spent federal travel funds while visiting foreign countries. A Wall Street Journal report last year uncovered how some members of Congress used daily cash stipends even though many of their costs were picked up by foreign governments and U.S. embassies, leaving lawmakers with leftover funds.  Leftover per-diem money was often used for shopping or to cover spouses' travel expenses and there are no rules about members of Congress returning leftover travel funds.

    According to a report on the matter, "the Committee concludes that there is insufficient evidence to determine with any degree of certainty that any one of the Members were provided an amount of per diem that was not necessary for their respective trips."