Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
Importance of proactive vs. reactive work in government
0:15:25
ยท
4 min
Council Member Williams expresses frustration with the government's tendency to be reactive rather than proactive, emphasizing the importance of proactive measures like testing. Commissioner Palma responds by highlighting other proactive work done by CCHR.
- Williams stresses the importance of proactive measures like testing
- Palma points out that CCHR uses multiple methods for proactive work, not just testing
- Discussion on the balance between reactive complaint handling and proactive initiatives
Nantasha Williams
0:15:25
Yeah.
0:15:26
I think one thing that always frustrates me with like all branches of government like including legislative bodies is that we're often like reactionary and I think the one thing that is cool about the testers is that this is like government proactively like testing to make sure people are complying which I argue is even more important, but I think we spend so much time reacting to things that we don't reallocate resources to do proactive things and like I know you yourself last year said that this was important but it's like unfortunate to see that the numbers remain the same and it it does not feel like there's any priority to hire more testers.
Annabel Palma
0:16:07
You know we we have we own for us to be able to investigate complaints and proactively do work, we just don't depend on our testing unit.
0:16:18
It is a unit that's extremely important of us.
0:16:21
I think the, you know, the work that was done to around the city of Yes allows us now to bring on five additional staff members to to to our agency as a whole.
0:16:35
Our testers are not the only way we proactively do work.
0:16:39
We always, you know, we receive tips from the public.
0:16:42
We are our LEB department is ready to initiate proactive investigations, so we're always looking out for any tips or any information that may come through all the avenues other than our testing team.
Nantasha Williams
0:16:57
Okay.
0:16:58
Yeah.
0:16:58
I don't think tips from the public is like reactionary.
0:17:01
Like somebody from the public is reaching out to the commission and the commission is responding and I agree with you.
0:17:07
I don't think testers is the only proactive measure.
0:17:10
I really appreciate the work of the community affairs bureau.
0:17:13
I mean I've even been having that conversation internally because I think the council has been really focused on the law enforcement bureau and the law enforcement is primarily only reactionary work when people come with a complaint.
0:17:24
So I agree with you.
0:17:25
I do think that like the testing component of the commission is a is an important one and should be prioritized prioritized as such.
Katherine Carroll
0:17:35
Thank you council member.
0:17:36
I just wanted to point out that in the last three months the law enforcement bureau has brought on an associate commissioner and assistant commissioner and we're really revamping how we're looking at investigations as a whole to ensure that we can make everything as efficient as possible and as Commissioner Palma was mentioning, know, in the next fiscal year we're going to have the additional staff attorneys to really build up our commission initiated work.
0:17:57
So after we've brought on these new leadership positions that are helping us take a look over archingly, we definitely plan to look more at our testing program.
Nantasha Williams
0:18:06
Okay, I appreciate that.
0:18:08
I think a lot of times I think it's great to have leadership but like leadership isn't gonna be on the grounds and I think in general people have a tendency to like hire top line folks and not focus on the ground but I hear you, you're hiring hiring people that can reassess how you do your work, which hopefully is productive.
Kajori Chaudhuri
0:18:30
Chair Williams, sorry, if I may interrupt here.
0:18:33
You mentioned community relations.
0:18:36
Right?
0:18:36
And this is really critical because a lot of our proactive work is preventative work, which is done through, like, doing know your obligations training with obligations holders under our law.
0:18:49
We are proud of a partnership that we have with Fordham University where excuse me where real any real estate agent could receive 1.5 of free continuing education credits to learn about housing discrimination under the city human rights law.
0:19:09
So preventative and proactive work is done in different spheres other than also testing.
0:19:15
Thank you.
Nantasha Williams
0:19:17
Thank you.
0:19:18
I'm sorry,
Annabel Palma
0:19:20
madam chair just to follow-up I think you know the the unique position that CCHR is in in terms of the team that we have while you know while there is a leader a leadership team that is working on assessing how we can continue right to strengthen the the agency, these are individuals that are also on the ground in the community helping us do the work.
0:19:48
So it's truly a team effort when when we are ensuring that New Yorkers rights are protected.