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TESTIMONY
Testimony by Marjorie Velasquez, Former City Council Member, on member deference and the challenges of approving affordable housing
0:26:28
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4 min
Former Bronx City Council Member Marjorie Velasquez shares her experience supporting an affordable housing project in her district, illustrating the intense challenges posed by the current land use review process and the practice of member deference.
She describes facing extreme opposition, including doxing, death threats, and intimidation, simply for being open to and eventually negotiating a deal for much-needed housing.
Velasquez argues that member deference empowers small, vocal minorities to obstruct essential projects and places an unsustainable burden on elected officials, ultimately hindering the city's ability to address the housing crisis.
- Velasquez faced intense backlash for supporting a 349-unit housing proposal (including 168 affordable units) in Throgs Neck.
- The practice of "member deference" allows a small minority to derail projects by focusing pressure on the local council member.
- She experienced severe harassment, including death threats and a break-in, requiring police protection.
- Velasquez believes the current system, reliant on council members enduring such abuse, is broken and cannot solve the housing crisis.
- She calls for charter reform to lessen the burden on council members and facilitate affordable housing approval.
Marjorie Velasquez
0:26:28
There we go.
0:26:33
Good evening.
0:26:34
My name is Marjorie Velasquez.
0:26:36
And from 2022 to 2023, I served in the city council representing the Thirteenth District in The Bronx, which includes Thros Neck, Palm Bay Park, Morris Park, and other communities in the Northeast Bronx.
0:26:48
The housing crisis is the defining challenge facing our city.
0:26:53
As a council member, perhaps one of the challenges I faced the most was, when I was in office, was a proposal to build more housing, a rezoning to add three forty nine apartments in Throsnek, including 168 affordable apartments for seniors and veterans in a district that added fewer than 60 affordable units in the previous eight years.
0:27:19
As a councilmember under the city council practice known as member deference, you are at the center of the debate over housing proposals like this one.
0:27:28
Opponents of a plan, even if they are few, know that the very best way to prevent a project is to convince a council member to vote against it, and they focus their attention on the local member.
0:27:40
Simply put, a small, vocal minority can get in the way of an affordable housing for majority of residents who so desperately need it.
0:27:50
Council members hear the voices of big and small community groups, and during this unprecedented housing crisis, they must strive to provide affordable housing for all families in New York.
0:28:02
With member deference, what was originally intended to be an avenue of input for all residents in the district, It's become a bludgeon for a few outspoken residents.
0:28:13
They use their wealth and intimidation to unnecessarily divide communities.
0:28:18
ULUIP member deference will always officials in a position where it's hard to say yes to affordable housing than no, forcing members into a no win political situation.
0:28:29
New Yorkers are tough, and elected officials are used to hearing strong views from constituents.
0:28:35
But in my case, the opposition went frighteningly outside the bounds of civil discourse.
0:28:41
I was doxed.
0:28:43
I received multiple death threats.
0:28:46
My home was broken into.
0:28:49
My staff and I had to receive police protection.
0:28:53
I had to have a panic button installed in my house and my office that went directly to the NYPD.
0:29:00
The hate and the venom laced with racism and misogyny that was directed at me and my staff was overwhelming.
0:29:09
I feared for my safety and continue to feel the effects in my community to this day.
0:29:15
What did I do to deserve this vitriol?
0:29:18
I signaled openness to voting for housing and ultimately negotiated a deal that allowed this important housing project to go forward.
0:29:27
Projects like this in every neighborhood are the only way to make a dent in this housing crisis.
0:29:32
With how long the EULA process currently takes, we will struggle to match the rate of affordable housing production that is needed to make New York City an affordable place for families to raise their children and our older New Yorkers to retire in the city they've called home for decades.
0:29:49
I am proud of the compromise I negotiated.
0:29:51
It took courage, and I understood the stakes.
0:29:55
Unfortunately, my decision to support new housing cost me my seat at the city of Hamzah.
0:30:00
I believe in community input.
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I believe in a democracy where we need communities to have a say in development.
0:30:06
But a system that depends on council members enduring death threats, hate and intimidation to approve new housing is a system that cannot solve our housing crisis.
0:30:16
The city charter review commission gives us an opportunity to address this immense burden that the EULAR process heaves upon local elected officials, and more importantly, would give us an opportunity to turn our dream of affordable housing into a reality.
0:30:29
So thank you for this opportunity to testify.