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Q&A
Council Member Brannan questions OMB Director about litter basket pickup funding
7:12:57
·
3 min
Council Member Justin Brannan engages in a heated discussion with OMB Director Jacques Jiha regarding the annual funding for litter basket pickups in New York City. Brannan expresses frustration over the need to repeatedly fight for $22 million in baseline funding for this essential service, while Jiha explains the difficulties in securing long-term funding streams for various programs.
- Brannan argues that garbage collection should not be subject to annual budget negotiations
- Jiha defends the OMB's position, citing challenges in finding consistent long-term funding for all programs
- The discussion highlights tensions between the City Council and the OMB over budget priorities and allocations
Justin Brannan
7:12:57
Director, I wanna ask you one question staying on sanitation.
7:13:03
As you know, in many parts of the city, overflowing litter baskets continue to be a quality of life issue.
7:13:11
And to address the overflowing litter baskets, the council, as we seem to do every year, we once again called the on the administration on our budget response to provide $22,000,000 annually baseline funding for additional litter basket pickups.
7:13:25
I don't know why every year we have to fight over the litter basket pickup money.
7:13:30
It seems like getting the garbage picked up shouldn't be something that's left to the whims of a budget negotiation.
7:13:36
So can we get a commitment for these funds to be baselined at adoption?
Jacques Jiha
7:13:41
Again, as you know, council member, chairman, that it's it's not an issue of, it's looking and look finding long term funding stream to do anything is always difficult.
7:13:59
Okay.
7:13:59
It's always difficult to say, you know what, because everything that you currently have in your budget is basically funded to those long term stream to begin with.
7:14:08
So it's extremely difficult.
7:14:09
So it's not that because we choose not to include those things into, you know, into into, not to base lining those, those programs.
7:14:19
But it's sometimes difficult to find a long term funding stream to basically match every single programs that we have.
7:14:27
So But I
Justin Brannan
7:14:28
mean, garbage
Diana Ayala
7:14:28
is one
Justin Brannan
7:14:29
is you don't get much more essential than a municipal No.
Jacques Jiha
7:14:31
I I I garbage.
7:14:33
No.
7:14:33
I understand.
7:14:33
I I understand that.
7:14:35
But, again, as I said, it is something that, again, we will work with the council as we usually do as we get closer to adoption to, basically review that need and see exactly what we will do as adaption like we do every year.
7:14:50
Because it's I understand your concern, I understand your point, but it's just a question of looking and finding the as I said, I was talking about the education issues, same thing.
7:15:00
Finding that long term stream revenue is not something that is easy to find, that you don't have any other resources being used, by those revenue streams.
Justin Brannan
7:15:12
Yeah.
7:15:14
I I have to push back on that because I don't think I'd ever hear you saying that for the police department.
Jacques Jiha
7:15:18
I'm sorry?
Justin Brannan
7:15:19
I don't think I'd ever hear you saying that for the police department.
7:15:22
What do you mean?
7:15:23
What you just said about how it's hard to find money for things.
Jacques Jiha
7:15:26
No.
7:15:26
I mean, if if if they have if they have certain there are certain programs if they have certain programs that that are funded one year at a time, they are programs that are funded 1 year at a time.
7:15:35
It's not, you know, it's not like a a a sanitation has most of sanitation programs are funded, with long term of an streams.
7:15:42
But there are programs that are funded 1 year at a time because of the nature of the program and because of the fact that we don't have a long term revenue stream basically to fund every single program that we have in the city.
7:15:54
We have a lot of program that I funded 1 year at a time.
7:15:56
They are all critical.
7:15:58
But I we cannot make commitment long term to fund them because we don't have a long term of mainstream for these things.
Justin Brannan
7:16:06
Alright.
7:16:06
Council member Juan followed by Brewer.