Addabbo updates HB Civic

BY STEVEN ORTIZ
At the most recent meeting of the Howard Beach Civic Forum on April 29, City Councilmember Joseph Addabbo updated those in attendance on the latest developments from City Hall, including congestion pricing, the budget and the investigation regarding City Council spending.
Addabbo is happy to be done with congestion pricing and getting back to focusing on doing the people s business and legislative work. The council is now going through with the annual budget process. The $60 billion plus budget is due July 1.
The Queens Library could face significant cuts in service, but Addabbo is working hard to protect six-days-a-week service. We fought to get that sixth day. We are going to try and keep it if that s possible,  Addabbo said. Queens Library had recently expanded to six day service in all of its libraries last October.
Keeping senior citizens centers open and keeping senior centers meals warm is another priority that Addabbo is working hard to save. There is a proposal to freeze the senior s delivered meals. Homebound seniors usually get a warm meal delivered to them everyday by such programs as Meals on Wheels. The proposed plan is to freeze a whole week s worth of meals and deliver the meals in one or two visits. The problem with this is that the seniors are seen infrequently. A highlight of the day for many of these seniors is the chance to interact with those bringing them food. When someone delivers a meal, that is often the only interaction they have had with a person the whole day. The daily visitation is important for their wellbeing. The seniors deserve a warm meal and they are owed a visitation as well. That s an issue we are going to work on as we go forward on the budget,  Addabbo said.
Addabbo reiterated his stance that the NYPD is doing a poor job of paying its officers livable wages. One thing we must do is increase the pay for our police officers,  he said. There is really no way possible that a starting salary for a police officer should qualify for food stamps. That s unacceptable. He praised the 106th Precinct for doing a great job with the personnel they have even though they could use a lot more cops. We need to recruit and retain them because what s also happening is that we are training them and then they are jumping ship to Nassau County, the Port Authority and other places to get more money. You can t argue with that. They have a family to support,  Addabbo said.
Finally, Addaabo addressed allegations regarding the investigation regarding city council spending and gave some insight into the issue.
He explained that each council member is given a certain amount of money called discretionary money. These small amounts of money are given to certain groups in the councilmember s district for groups which include little leagues, senior centers, libraries, schools, and other organizations. They also fund some capital projects and other programs throughout the district.
I went back to my budget, past and prior budgets and looked at all my groups,  Addabbo said. All my groups are credible groups. The bottom line is that you are going to get some council members that aren t going to do the right thing. That s where the investigation lies.  Addabbo said.
Addabbo thanked the Howard Beach Civic Association for honoring his office staff at their most recent dinner dance. Addabbo was grateful for the recognition his staff received. Often staff members are not acknowledged for the work that they do, so often community leaders and officials are acknowledged, but for this Civic to acknowledge the whole staff, it was groundbreaking,  Addabbo said.