Statement by Pam Bennett, Director, Citizen Action of New York City

October 12, 2009

Statement by Pam Bennett, Director, Citizen Action of New York City:

“Citizen Action of New York supports efforts to strengthen checks and balances in New York City government by supporting a strong Office of the Public Advocate with the necessary access and resources to ensure representation that works for all New Yorkers – at every level of government.

Yesterday at an Editorial Board meeting with the Staten Island Advance, Mayor Bloomberg spoke of his desire to eliminate the Public Advocate’s Office. This action would severely weaken the ability of New Yorkers to know if City government is working on their behalf.

This could be another dangerous blow to a democratic New York City government after the years of diminished transparency we have experienced during the Bloomberg Administration.

We have already seen Mayor Bloomberg disregard the will of the people on term limits, and we have no reason to doubt that, given the opportunity, he would do the same to eliminate the elected representative whose mission it is to be the people’s watchdog, to give oversight to New York City government, to let us know that our City government is functioning honestly and efficiently, and most importantly, to hold the Mayor and City government accountable to every New Yorker.

The actions of this Mayor have spoken loudly to his intent to govern unchecked, beholden to no one – including the voters of New York City.

We believe it is most important to sever responsibility for budgeting the Office of the Public Advocate from executive control. Failure to do so will allow a Mayor (any Mayor) who is hostile to an active and vibrant Public Advocate, to limit the ability of the Public Advocate’s office to provide the kind of balance that our City Charter strives to achieve.

Quoted yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg told the Advance ‘It’s a total waste of everybody’s money. Nobody needs another gadfly and we have an aggressive enough press.’ With that said, as Mayor, media owner, media buyer and billionaire, there is a perception that Bloomberg has great influence over the press and could overwhelm even the largest citizen’s group or alliance. We need an advocate elected and employed by the people of New York City.

We call on New Yorkers, the City Council, Borough Presidents and all of our elected representatives to repudiate any efforts to deny New Yorkers the sorely needed Office of the Public Advocate.”

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