Councilman James Oddo wrote an Op-Ed recently calling for the end to self-certification. Here is an excerpt:Professional certification is a failure. City Council members know it and, more importantly, everyday New Yorkers know it. It is incumbent upon us to reverse course and eliminate the program. The Independent Budget Office (IBO), in a study I requested, has provided us with a blueprint on how to make that a reality.
Eliminate Professional Certification to Rebuild the DoB
IBO’s study found that the cost of eliminating this controversial program would be $7.5 million annually, while the cost to eliminate it for one-, two-, or three-family homes would be $2.9 million annually. The bulk of the cost would be hiring a sufficient number of qualified inspectors—boots on the ground—to review every plan.
I say this would be money well spent and that we should focus our attention on incrementally eliminating this program in three years with clear benchmarks. It is incumbent that the Council and the Administration set the wheels in motion prior to the end of our respective terms in less than 500 days.
4 comments:
Wow I would say this is brave position to take - what's the catch?
Looks like it is a bunt, or perhaps a Czech Swing.
"On Sunday, July 8, 2007, while I was intoxicated, I intentionally and forcibly touched intimate parts of the complainant and subjected her to sexual contact without her consent. My conduct was wrong and I apologize to the complainant. I intend to continue treatment for my alcohol abuse and also announce my resignation as a member of the New York City Council, effective close of business on Friday, April 18, 2008."
Dennis P. Gallagher
Claims to fame: Former New York City Council member (Queens); investigator, State of New York Crime Victims Board; Regional Coordinator, New York State Assembly; Executive Assistant to State Senator Serphin R. Maltese; former Chief of Staff to former Minority Leader, Council Member Thomas V. Ognibene; member, Executive Committee of the Queens Republican Party; former president, Midville Civic Association; member, Juniper Park Civic Association; member, Middle Village Property Owners and Residents Association; former member, Catalpa YMCA Board; activist, Greater Ridgewood Youth Council; CYO Coach, St. Margaret’s Sports Program; manager, Ridgewood Glendale Middle Village Little League; member, Mario Lanza Lodge Order Sons of Italy; member, Glendale Kiwanis; member, New York State Senate Veterans Advisory Council; member, New York State Senate Consumer Protection Advisory Board; husband; father of three; drunken sexual abuser
Moral apex: We’ll let Gallagher tell it his way: “On Sunday, July 8, 2007, while I was intoxicated, I intentionally and forcibly touched intimate parts of the complainant and subjected her to sexual contact without her consent.”
When he said it: March 17, 2008, as he pleaded guilty — and simultaneously announced his resignation from the City Council — to two misdemeanors, “admitting that he sexually abused a woman in his district office in Middle Village, Queens … a position in contrast to his earlier claims that they had consensual sex after meeting in a bar.”
What he got: “Prosecutors in the office of the Queens district attorney, Richard A. Brown, said the plea deal required that Mr. Gallagher enter and complete an alcohol treatment program … [and] pay a court surcharge of $160. He was not required to register as a sex offender, officials said, and he will not serve jail time.”
Suggested Bible reading for Mr. Gallagher:
Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
— Romans 13:13-1
http://conservativebabylon.lavenderliberal.com/category/dennis-p-gallagher/
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