Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
District Attorneys discuss additional budget needs and funding requests
5:43:29
ยท
4 min
Council Member Yusef Salaam inquires about new budget needs not included in the DAs' testimonies. The DAs from various boroughs respond with their specific funding requests and challenges.
- Bronx DA requests $25 million baseline funding for 87 new positions and additional office space
- Brooklyn DA emphasizes funding needs for staff and discovery obligations
- Queens DA discusses staffing challenges and need for crime lab funding
- Manhattan DA focuses on personnel as key resource for public safety
Yusef Salaam
5:43:29
wanna start with asking, were there any new needs your offices requested from the administration that were not included in your testimony?
5:43:38
This is for the panel.
Darcel Clark
5:43:49
Oh, Oliver.
5:43:50
You know, I had I had so many requests.
5:43:54
I I didn't wanna take up the time asking for every single thing.
5:43:57
But for the most part, we would like to see $25,000,000 baseline for a 87 positions.
5:44:05
We need more staff.
5:44:06
You heard all of the work that we have to do.
5:44:09
It's like you can't get it done.
5:44:10
We had a tremendous amount of attrition after COVID.
5:44:14
We were able to alleviate some of that and we're we're doing much better, but we still are at a deficit.
5:44:22
And, you know, a lot of it goes to that we had to increase our salaries in order to encourage people to come, but with the discovery that discouraged people from coming because it's so much work.
5:44:33
But we're doing better, but in order for me to really be where I am, I would need, you know, a 87 more DAs to bring me to where I'm supposed to be.
5:44:44
$25,000,000 baseline.
5:44:46
That's one of the biggest acts.
Michael McMahon
5:44:51
Yes.
5:44:51
I would join in that as well.
5:44:53
Overall funding needs to be increased to to fulfill the mission that our constituents and our our council members want us to fulfill.
5:45:01
We highlighted some of the items that we submit in our testimony, but we'll certainly in writing submission highlight, more if that makes your work easier, mister chairman.
Darcel Clark
5:45:11
Can I just can I just add one thing?
5:45:13
And if I get more ADAs, I need more space because I have to put them somewhere.
Eric Gonzalez
5:45:21
Chairman, I we, desperately, you know, need the funding that council member Ressler mentioned regarding our rent that would allow us to bring up the number of assistant district attorneys and staff and paralegals.
5:45:36
And, of course, as my colleagues already testified to, the discovery obligations are tremendous.
5:45:43
We estimate, after speaking to our staff, that ADA spend about 80% of their day just doing discovery work.
5:45:53
That does not include the time that they spend in court.
5:45:57
That does not include speaking to victims and survivors of crime, going to crime scenes, preparing cases for hearings and trial.
5:46:06
So there's a desperate need to do that.
5:46:08
I understand that money is tight.
5:46:10
If we got everything we asked for in our budget, we would still not be the most highly funded district attorney's office in the city.
5:46:18
Thank you.
Melinda Katz
5:46:21
I agree.
5:46:23
But so, right.
5:46:25
I think that is a big problem.
5:46:27
We can't hire ADAs fast enough ADAs obligations, to meet all the prosecutions that we have, and to make sure that we have people in the same time working in our conviction integrity unit, well at least in my conviction integrity units and all of the other human trafficking and areas that we try to work with the community on.
5:46:45
We can't hire ADAs fast enough.
5:46:47
And then if we do, we need space.
5:46:50
So it is a vicious circle in that.
5:46:53
But the answer to your question, Mr.
5:46:55
Chairman, is no.
5:46:56
There's nothing here that we've asked for that we haven't also or will ask from the mayor.
5:47:01
Just the crime lab would be the most successful thing for our budget so that we can actually have those tools without taking them from our other bureaus.
5:47:12
Thank you.
Alvin Bragg
5:47:14
Same.
5:47:15
Our written testimony captures everything.
5:47:18
But I will note that the asks are for personnel.
5:47:22
Our most significant and best resources are human resources.
5:47:25
They're the folks who are driving public safety.
Bridget Brennan
5:47:29
And same everything that we've asked for, we've made an application for with the city too.