Two Queens residents are part of the 15-member Charter Revision Commission who will begin reviewing the City Charter and coming up with potential amendments and changes – some of which could go on the ballot as soon as this November.
Queens residents Ernest Hart, who currently serves as chief operating officer for the Columbia University Medical Center, and Bishop Mitchell Taylor, who is the senior pastor of Center of Hope International and chief executive officer of the East River Development Alliance (ERDA), will sit on the commission chaired by City University of New York (CUNY) Chancellor Matthew Goldstein.
“I’ve charged this Charter Revision Commission with reaching out to every community, analyzing every idea on the merits, and proposing changes that will improve the lives of New Yorkers,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
The commission, which includes members from all five boroughs with different experience across the private and public sectors, including much of city and state government, as well as many civic associations, will begin its work shortly, and likely continue through 2011. During that time, the commission will conduct an outreach campaign asking the public for ideas and suggestions and hold public hearings throughout the city.
Taylor said that the committee will hold its first meeting on Thursday, March 18, and he wanted to defer comment until the commission held its first meeting. Hart, who is currently the chair of the Civilian Complaint Review Board and has served in many capacities in city government, is looking forward to hearing from the public.
“When I spoke to the Mayor about this, he basically said the agenda is open,” Hart said. “Everything is on the table; we will take a lot of testimony.”
Although only two of the 15 commission members currently reside in Queens, Hart does not believe the borough will be at a disadvantage.
“We’re all one city and whatever the commission recommends to the mayor and to the voters will be a good cross-section of what city residents want,” Hart said.
Meanwhile, the State Assembly’s committee on cities held public hearings on Friday, March 5, where some committee members raised concerns that the mayor has too much power in appointing all of the members of a Charter Revision Commission. The committee spent time discussing a bill that would allow others people, including the City Comptroller, Public Advocate and Borough Presidents, to appoint members to the commission.
“We can’t have the only vehicle for amending the city charter to run through the mayor’s office, which has its own interest and perspectives,” said Queens Assemblymember Rory Lancman, who sits on the Assembly’s cities committee.
