Let’s talk Borough Presidents. Among other things (working with the Mayor, the City Council, and other governing authorities) the Borough Presidents appoint members (up to 50) of the City’s 59 Community Boards.
That’s a favorite topic of mine which cannot be addressed before considering the Borough Presidents themselves. The other night I shared a cab home with a 26-year-old. He’s my friend’s little brother and an aspiring politician. Those two words look hilarious together, don’t they? I told him to take another job before diving into politics, to round him out and give him some perspective, but didn’t wish to argue with him so veered the conversation to one of my other favorite topics: uninformed smart people.
This 26-year-old and I can’t believe how many people we know who cannot name the President of their Borough. Why is this frightening? Well, for one, we vote for them. That’s right; these are five Elected Officials. It’s like not knowing the name of the Mayor.
Get to know your Borough President. Here’s a little help:
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer
Queens Borough President Helen Marshall
Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro
And the reason why this information today is more important than ever: the position of Bronx Borough President is currently open.
A special election will be held in on April 21, 2009 to replace former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr., who has taken a job in the Obama administration (Director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs). The candidate who wins the election will serve the remainder of Carrion’s term, through December 31.
EdNote: Sara will be writing about ultra-local politics in New York City, with an emphasis on tracking the Community Board beat on behalf of MYD.
Some are moving to get rid of the boro pres position altogether. I think some of the BP’s are really active and don’t abuse the position (e.g. Stringer), we just need more protections in place to make sure they can’t abuse it, legally. Check out this article on the subject: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/03/15/2009-03-15_borough_presidents_spend_our_tax_bucks_b.html
Great post!! Very informative
A few choice quotes from that Daily News article:
In the last two years, they’ve plowed through more than $450 million in taxpayer money, in some cases buying items that appear to fall outside the realm of their limited duties, the Daily News found.
The five went through $60 million more in discretionary spending and payroll in 2007 and 2008, including combined salaries of $800,000 ($160,000 each) and $22 million to pay 352 employees.
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Today, they appoint members of the planning commission and community boards, which provide them their last remaining area of influence – zoning and land-use issues.
Most borough presidents have filled the vacuum by becoming cheerleaders-in-chief for their respective boroughs – spending public dollars on parade floats, marching bands, office furniture and tourism.
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All of the borough presidents paid full-time chauffeurs, except for Staten Island’s Molinaro, although he has a full-time $132,000-a-year architect.
This seems excessive, but perhaps there’s more to the story? The NY Post is scathing, describing them basically as ‘cheerleaders’ to the borough who add little value.
I guess it just seems like a stepping stone sort of position, where you can tread water for a while before running for mayor or something. The concept though should work, as I like the idea of someone rallying for the borough like a kind of sub-mayor.
Al had great things to say about Carrion though, sounds like a real loss for NYC that he was drafted (but a gain for the country, hopefully) (provided that architect payment thing doesn’t flip people out, of course..)