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Q&A
Balancing democratic input and emergency action in housing reform
1:47:07
·
133 sec
Commissioner Leila Bozorg seeks clarification on the Comptroller's proposal: the council votes on the plan developed by the citizens' assembly, and then compliant projects bypass council review.
Bozorg then asks both Annie Levers and Sarah Penenberg how to balance democratic processes with the need for urgent action in a housing emergency.
Levers argues the proposal strengthens democracy with a new consensus mechanism, while Penenberg emphasizes the union's role in ensuring their members' voices are heard in processes they might otherwise miss.
Leila Bozorg
1:47:07
I'm curious to understand.
1:47:10
So the the council would still have to
Annemarie Gray
1:47:13
vote on the plan?
1:47:13
That's the idea.
Leila Bozorg
1:47:14
Okay.
1:47:15
So an emergency to develop a plan that the council still votes on, and then projects go through assuming the council's voted on the plan and Indeed.
1:47:23
Agrees with it.
1:47:24
Okay.
Annie Levers
1:47:24
And creating that higher threshold for them to just outright reject the plan, I
Michelle de la Uz
1:47:27
think, can help build the consensus.
1:47:30
Okay.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
1:47:31
Can I ask a number?
1:47:32
Hold on.
Leila Bozorg
1:47:32
I just wanna finish.
1:47:34
I'm curious because you both mentioned the importance of democracy and democratic processes.
1:47:39
Also acknowledging a housing emergency is something that maybe well housed people shouldn't be voting on, you know, the types of projects or or the need for certain types of projects.
1:47:48
How how would you I mean, how do you think about this balance of what is a necessary democratic process, first acknowledging it's an emergency that needs quick, fast action?
Melanie Wesslock
1:47:58
Yeah.
Alexa Aviles
1:48:00
Do you want Yeah.
1:48:01
Go ahead.
Annie Levers
1:48:01
Okay.
1:48:03
I I think what this does is actually strengthen our our forms of democracy by creating a new process, basically, that still allows for consensus to be built with opportunities for input along the way.
1:48:17
And I, you know, I think that there are lots of things that will come out through that emergency process that could be addressed through a longer term comprehensive plan, but this would create sort of an immediate relief mechanism to make sure that the targets that are put in the city's fair housing framework, which I think everyone agrees is, like, a critical framework for actually addressing the crisis, can actually be implemented because, otherwise, it's just another plan that's gonna sit on a shelf.
Sarah Penenberg
1:48:47
Just to add to that, I think a big part of the democratic process that us as a union sees is the ability for our membership to have a voice in a process that they wouldn't be aware of or a part of.
1:48:58
Right?
1:48:58
And so we're that governing body for them.
1:49:01
So I think the democratic process for us has really shown in those relationships that we build in making sure that the good job, you know, the good job parameters are seen and that advocacy is done through our voice as representing that larger membership base, which is around 90,000 and in all vast communities in all different boroughs of the city.