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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Will Hiron, Union Representative from Laborers' Local 1010
2:17:31
ยท
129 sec
Will Hiron, representing Laborers' Local 1010, testified before the NYC City Council to advocate for full restoration of NYC parks budget and raise concerns about the parks department's procurement policies. He highlighted instances of contracts being awarded to companies with histories of fraud and misconduct, emphasizing the need for immediate action to prevent public funds from being given to criminal contractors.
- Mentioned specific cases involving Griffin Landscaping Corporation, Dragonetti Brothers, and Champion Electric, all of which had legal issues but still received city contracts.
- Emphasized that awarding contracts to such companies wastes scarce funding, undermines project integrity, leads to worker exploitation, and puts communities at risk.
- Called for the city council and parks department to take immediate action to improve the procurement process and ensure public funds are not misused.
Will Hiron
2:17:31
Good afternoon everyone.
2:17:33
Chair Krishna, thank you so much.
2:17:34
Also to the members of the PARS committee and all to the council members in attendance.
2:17:38
My name is Will Hiron and I'm here on behalf of Labour's local ten ten Launa.
2:17:42
And I'd like to thank you for this opportunity to testify before you today.
2:17:45
Labour's Local ten ten is proud to advocate alongside our community members for full restoration of NYC parks in the f y twenty six budget.
2:17:52
With one of the smallest city agency budget, every dollar allocated to our parks matter.
2:17:57
However, we also want to raise serious concerns about the parks department procurement policies that allow unscrupulous contractors to bid and win contracts.
2:18:04
And thank you chair Krishnan for uplifting that to the parks commissioner.
2:18:09
We mentioned Griffin Landscaping Corporation that has a history of being awarded NYC parks projects, specifically over $20,000,000 as also the chair mentioned.
2:18:17
In tree planting contracts in the past three years, despite the company owner Glenn Griffin being charged in 2022 with seven counts of fraud, bribery, and bid rigging in federal courts.
2:18:27
In 2025, Griffin's landscaping will be awarded two tree planting projects that are currently pending contract registration.
2:18:34
And we've also included the original indictment in the folders that we've distributed.
2:18:39
But this is not the first time that we've seen NYC Park engage with fraudulent contractors.
2:18:44
In 2023, the Parks Department awarded Dragonetti Brothers with 40,000,000 in tree service contracts despite Nicholas and Vito Dragonetti pleading guilty in 2022 to insurance fraud and offering a false instrument for filing in the second degree.
2:18:57
And just recently, it was reported that Champion Electric also falsified payroll records in 2016 and committed over $200,000 in wage theft on the sidewalk repair project, also contracted to Parks.
2:19:11
And these cases highlight a critical failure in the city's procurement process and taxpayer dollars should not be handed to companies with a track record of fraud and misconduct.
2:19:20
These contracts not only waste scarce funding, they undermine integrity of public projects, they lead to worker exploitation, and they put all of our communities at risk.
2:19:29
So the city council and the parks department really must take immediate action to ensure that the public funds are not awarded to criminal contractors, and we look forward to working with you, Chair Krishnan, and to everybody in the city council to make sure that that doesn't happen again.