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TESTIMONY
Testimony by Frederick Shack, CEO of Urban Pathways, on the broken contracting system and solutions for accountability, transparency, and fairness
0:36:48
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5 min
Frederick Shack, CEO of Urban Pathways and co-chair of the Mayor's Non-Profit Advisory Committee, testifies that the city's contracting process is fundamentally broken and threatens the nonprofit sector's solvency. Drawing on decades of experience, including an instance where his organization waited 1.5 years for payment, he proposes solutions focused on accountability, transparency, and fairness. He argues the city needs consequences for late payments, should not ask providers to start work before contracts are fully processed, must publicly report on agency timeliness, and needs to ensure contracts provide fair wages.
- Shack emphasizes the lack of accountability for the city's payment failures compared to consequences faced by nonprofits.
- He recommends preventing services from starting until contracts are registered, budgets are input, and advances are ready.
- He calls for transparent reporting on agency performance regarding contract registration and payments.
- He highlights the unfairness of underpaying nonprofit workers doing essential city work and calls for adequate contract funding.
Frederick Shack
0:36:48
I wanna thank the commission for offering me this opportunity to provide testimony this evening.
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My name is Frederick Shaq.
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I'm the chief executive officer at Urban Pathways where I've had the purpose of serving over the past twenty years.
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In addition to my role at Urban Pathways, I'm the co chair of the mayor's advisory committee to the mayor's office of nonprofit services.
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And prior to that, I was the co chair of the mayor's nonprofit nonprofit resiliency committee under the administration.
0:37:19
For the past decade, more than
Richard R. Buery Jr.
0:37:22
a decade, I've been working
Frederick Shack
0:37:23
with the city to try to address the issues around contracting and and and, including the work that I did under on accelerator and more recently working around, you know, looking at passport as a way of expediting payments to our.
0:37:45
The reality is that you have heard that the the contracting process in the city is broken, fundamentally broken.
0:37:53
And it really is the number one threat to the solvency of the nonprofit sector here in New York City.
0:38:01
It is impossible for us to provide these really vital services if we can't rely on a a stream of funding from the city following through on its commitments that it makes to our organization to.
0:38:14
So I don't wanna spend the rest of my time talking about.
0:38:22
I really do wanna talk about what I think the best solutions are.
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And I'm gonna frame it around three things.
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And you've actually already heard it.
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You probably hear it most of the times.
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Accountability as being, you know, the critical component of.
0:38:38
The work that I've done in the past with the city, the reality has been that there have been good intentions, but at the end of the day, there is no accountability for its failure to be the top of patient.
0:38:50
If I don't pay my bills, if I don't pay my vendors, a couple of things happen.
0:38:54
They terminate services, but they also I'm not sure it's subject subject to late fees and penalties.
0:39:00
The city does not have any consequences for its failure.
0:39:04
At one point in time during the period where the city was interested in net zero with with its veterans programs, I was approached by the commissioner.
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They proceeded with me to open up a program.
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Historically, we've not been able to do that because of permission associated with it.
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But because of the urgency at that time, decided, okay.
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Do this.
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I wish you promised that within three months by contract.
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We operated that program for triple net based on the building, providing services to your veterans, ending their homes for a year and a half before we were able to draw down.
0:39:41
K?
0:39:42
The reality is that that is just totally unacceptable, and there has to be a way of addressing.
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So refer to.
0:39:49
You know, I'm not that familiar with with city upgrades and.
0:39:53
But the reality is that the city should not be able to enter into and to begin services unless the contract registered, unless the budget is input into the system, unless the advances are prepared.
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It is it is absolutely unfair to the organizations that are doing this work to be operating and viable where we have to depend on either private resources, our own resources.
0:40:20
The the other is transparency.
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You know, it would be really, really important for the city to be able to, like, you know, from here and clearly how it's doing as it relates to its contract registration.
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So I served as I indicated on the advisory committee to the mayor's office of public services.
0:40:44
It would be helpful if there was a work that was available to that group and to those of us who are on the advisory that identifies whether or not the city agencies are making payments in a timely fashion and whether or not the contacts are.
0:41:00
And that's the same thing should be available to the general public through the various manager.
0:41:05
But we should know how people are.
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And then the other issue is in terms of fairness.
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You know, this is a city that is committed to racial and gender equity.
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The reality is that the workforce that we employ are grossly underpaid, And a lot of that has to do with the funding levels and the current existing contracts.
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And and and the city really does impact you know, we're talking about a city of death.
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We're talking about affordability.
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It is unconscionable that individuals who are doing this work on behalf of the city are working on are living the property.
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We're doing work.
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It's critically important to the city.
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And you are we are, as I said, this is position to do something.
0:41:48
So this idea of just making sure that if you are providing a contract, providing for the city, that the the amount of funding that is in your contract is enough to make sure that people are being able to be paid.
0:42:02
Again, thank you for this opportunity.
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I'm really hoping, you know, after decades of doing this work that we'll find real solutions that will solve this problem.
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Because, honestly, organizations like ours cannot continue to survive under the current circumstances.
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K?