Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
Plans for improved communication and planning for council member-funded projects
5:43:06
ยท
5 min
SCA President Nina Kubota and Vice President Cora Liu discuss plans to improve communication and planning for council member-funded projects. They acknowledge the need for better engagement with council members, principals, and schools throughout the project process.
- SCA has started providing quarterly updates for select council member districts to improve communication
- There's a focus on engaging council members at an earlier stage of the project planning process
- SCA encourages schools to reach out even before allocations are made to better estimate project costs
- A new process is being implemented to work directly with principals to define project scopes and set realistic expectations
Nina Kubota
5:43:06
So I mean I think we met with your office pretty recently on some of the Reso Way funded projects and we're doing this we actually started with a quarterly update for select council member districts so we can start that communication better.
5:43:24
I think one of the things that we I think council member Stevens brought it up last time.
5:43:29
One of the things that we wanted to do and we started to do is reach out to council members to sort of engage at an earlier stage because as you know, we some of the things what ends up happening I think a lot of times is that money is allocated to a school.
5:43:45
The school then says, oh great, I want all of these things.
5:43:49
Then we come back to you and say, we're short x number.
5:43:53
And in the case of PS 217 that was part of it, but also I think what to or what wants to be added right now is the side yard.
5:44:03
I think we looked at the initial, the larger yard for 217, now we're adding.
5:44:09
And we have the exterior modernization project that's completing that will allow us to start that project.
5:44:15
But I think it's earlier communication.
5:44:16
I think it's communication with the school most importantly we encourage the schools to reach out to us even prior to the allocations being given because then we can actually say to them, okay, you're going to advocate for an auditorium project.
5:44:36
We know that an AV system is going to cost $200,000 Curtains will cost $200,000 Your floor will cost, I don't know, whatever, 500,000.
5:44:44
I think what ends up happening is they say, Oh, I want an auditorium upgrade, and council members generously fund a half a million dollars, but then when it gets to the project level, then all of a sudden we see the 500,000 isn't enough because it's not enough to do all the things that they want on the list.
5:45:03
So I think, Cora, do you want to add?
Rita Joseph
5:45:05
2017, just to be clear, that was not the case for 2017.
5:45:08
I came in, was a $400,000 there and you guys said there was a gap for $550,000 which I funded.
5:45:16
So this schoolyard is going to cost $950,000 and we're still two years later.
5:45:23
So this is a different scenario than what you're talking about.
5:45:25
You're asking me for funding, I funded it on time and still this was FY '23, we're in FY '25.
5:45:32
These kids are going to leave the school that came to me ADA compliant playground and we're not there yet, not even a communication, not even a note until it was brought to my attention, PTA parent called me and the kids called and they said council member remember that playground you promised us at the legislative breakfast which I delivered in October of twenty twenty three?
5:45:55
It is March of twenty twenty five, not one word has been said.
5:46:00
And I think what I say again is adults got to do better by the kids, right?
5:46:08
We're adults, we're leading this, they come to us and we say hey we're gonna do it and here we are with delays projects.
5:46:15
And I'm just gonna stop with 02/17, but if I were to start listing all the projects that I funded from FY '22 that has not been completed, the list would be very long today.
5:46:24
So when I already told and I spoke to Kevin Moran and I spoke to First Deputy Chancellor and I told him I was very very unhappy, and that's across the city.
5:46:32
If I were to do a survey right now across the city, schools with scaffoldings, students never get to see this school building until they graduate and they driving by and they're like what building is that?
5:46:43
Oh, I attended that school.
5:46:46
So I'm putting out my frustration because I want us to do better as deputy chancellor moving forward, do better, communicate better, let us know early on your funding is short, we got to do this, it's going to be delayed.
5:46:59
That would help a lot of this frustration.
5:47:01
PS two seventeen, I hope by the time I leave today and by tomorrow we start working and looking how how do we do we address the kids and making this better for them.
5:47:11
Right?
5:47:11
Okay.
5:47:11
There was a delay and that was your fault.
5:47:13
Thank you for owning it.
5:47:14
And then how do we move forward?
Cora Liu
5:47:16
We are meeting with the principal on Wednesday, so now we can start brainstorming how to move forward.
5:47:22
I do want to go back to the point Nina was making.
5:47:25
We agree with you wholeheartedly.
5:47:27
Communication is the key.
5:47:29
We took a very deep look at our process, what Nina was mentioning, to move that communication directly with the principal to define the scope of work so that principal has the right expectation for what they are getting as part of the project.
5:47:44
We're moving that out of the project design schedule to the very beginning before projects are adopted or money are added, we think will help tremendously.
5:47:53
And we need to invest them time and resources to work with principals directly.
5:47:59
And we encourage council members to direct their principals to come reach out to us.
5:48:04
We will work with them, come up with a reasonable expectation on scope as well as cost.
Rita Joseph
5:48:10
Thank you.