Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
Commissioners discuss the preliminary report, focusing on cost reduction, nonprofit contracting, and accountability
0:31:18
·
3 min
Following Alec Schierenbeck's presentation, NYC Charter Revision Commission Chair Richard R. Buery Jr. opens the floor for questions and comments.
Commissioners Kathryn Wylde, Carl Weisbrod, Anita Laremont, and Sharon Greenberger discuss the theme of reducing costs and improving access, particularly for housing projects and nonprofit contract payments.
Commissioner Shams DaBaron raises the issue of accountability for nonprofit payments.
- Commissioner Wylde suggests framing "reducing process costs" as "reducing project costs" to better resonate with the public.
- Commissioner Weisbrod emphasizes the importance of cost reduction in light of potential federal budget cuts, drawing parallels to past fiscal crises.
- Chair Buery and Commissioner Laremont highlight the critical need to streamline nonprofit contract payments.
- Commissioner Greenberger identifies "access" (to faster payments, processes, and voting) as a unifying theme in the proposals.
Kathryn Wylde
0:31:18
One quick one comment.
0:31:22
Reducing process costs.
0:31:25
I think it's accurate frame is you're reducing process, but you're basically project costs.
0:31:33
I think that's a more compelling argument to the public given how high housing development costs have built it.
0:31:43
So I would just I would say that, and I don't know if you wanna throw in risk as well.
0:31:48
Certainly, I would say you're reducing develop
0:33:37
Well, it also is a way to show that we're making local efforts to bond to some of the Trump stuff, and maybe that's a way showing that we're how reasonable.
Alec Schierenbeck
0:31:53
I think that's right.
Carl Weisbrod
0:31:59
I would just add to what I would just add to what Kathy just said that, we're in a time where we're faced with really substantial federal cuts to, the city's budget and to not for profits budgets.
0:32:20
And in times of stress like this, and I go back to the mid nineteen seventies fiscal crisis, the ability to find new ways to reduce costs and absorb some of these anticipated cuts in a way that doesn't, undermine fundamental values is really important.
0:32:49
And and that is particularly gonna be important in the in the housing area.
0:33:00
And and not for
Richard R. Buery Jr.
0:32:56
Yeah.
0:32:56
And and, Carl, I would just reiterate that for nonprofit contracting as well.
0:33:01
The financial burden is that organizations are already facing are substantial, and everything we can do to make sure that at least Citi payments flow more efficiently and more effectively to the sector, always critical.
0:33:14
It's been critical for a long time, but could not be more critical than than today.
Anita Laremont
0:33:20
I I would just echo what, Carl and Richard said here.
0:33:24
And I actually think that when we go about explaining why we're doing this, that actually should be a part of the explanation because I think that will resonate with New Yorkers very much.
0:33:36
Mhmm.
Sharon Greenberger
0:33:54
For me, I think the through line on all of these is one of access.
0:33:58
We're talking about access to faster payment here.
0:34:00
We're talking about access to faster process.
0:34:03
We're talking about access to voters that I think is an important theme to highlight across each of these areas.
Shams DaBaron
0:34:11
Yeah.
0:34:11
I have something to say in terms of, like, the well, it probably correlates to everything.
0:34:17
But I'm wondering if I heard in that, particularly, I'm thinking about the nonprofit payments, if there was the idea of accountability written in there.
0:34:29
And I know working with some of the nonprofits and the city to try and get, to address those issues, one of the suggestions, in terms of accountability was the idea of a tracker, which we might have heard about recently to to to institute some level of accountability and metrics and stuff.
0:34:51
And if we have that written in even with the other things that we have proposed, if there's if that exists.