Attendance not important to council members

From Gotham Gazette:

Gotham Gazette monitored 13 City Council hearings over a ten-day period, from late February into early March, collecting data that shows more often than not, the committee chair is the only Council member that remains to hear testimony from members of the public at the end of a hearing (7 of 13); more often than not, at least one Council member had two committee hearings scheduled for the same time (8 of 13); and committee hearings never start at their scheduled time, with the earliest start time nine minutes after the scheduled time and the latest start time 54 minutes after. The average start time of the 13 hearings was 23 minutes past scheduled start.

It can be frustrating for members of the public to miss work and spend hours at committee hearings waiting for their turn to testify, only to find that most Council members have left before they’ve had a chance to speak. Yet to Council members, leaving hearings early or arriving late is often seen as necessary, either due to conflicting hearings or meetings, or to take care of something in their home districts.

(Or to meet with lobbyists.)

Ruben Wills has worst Council attendance

From the Daily News:

A Queens pol accused of corruption and a Bronx pol accused of sexual harassment have something in common besides legal trouble - the worst attendance records on the City Council.

Indicted Councilman Ruben Wills (D-Queens) and Councilman Andy King (D-Bronx) each missed about a third of their required meetings, putting them in a tie for dead last in attendance on the 51-member body.

King, who was hit with a claim this year charging he wrongfully fired a staffer after she spurned his sexual advances, skipped 29 of the 89 hearings he was supposed to go to, or 32.6%, according to attendance records obtained through the Freedom of Information Law.

Wills missed 26 out of 111 committee and Council meetings during the fiscal year that ended in June - 23.4%.

Success at the Cinemart

From the Daily News:

Movie lovers came out in force to support a historic Queens theater on the brink of collapse.

The Cinemart in Forest Hills hosted sell-out crowds for several showings of “American Sniper” and other films on the bill, said owner Nicolas Nicolaou.

The response was strong enough to postpone any short-term plans to close the financially struggling movie house, he said.

“The community wants to send a message that this theater has something special for them and the character that comes with being here for 90 years,” he said.

The public momentum spread to nearby eateries along Metropolitan Ave., including Eddie’s Sweet Shop, which had a brisk business all weekend, he said.

Nicolaou plans to meet with movie executives in Los Angeles and show them the theater should be a venue for first-run films.

The question is: will they keep coming?

When teachers don't show up to class

From the NY Post:

Educators at a new high school in Queens who were brought in to reverse years of poor student performance and truancy issues are instead giving kids lessons on skipping class, according to a shocking report by state officials.

The 15 teachers at Rockaway Park HS for Environmental Sustainability had collectively posted an 80 percent daily attendance rate when state reviewers came in March — 3 percentage points worse than the kids.

The review shows that while school administrators were moving mountains every day to bolster student attendance, they had no answer for how to deal with no-show adults.

At a minimum, absent students got daily phone calls to their homes and their parents could be summoned for face-to-face sit-downs.

By contrast, “interventions by school administrators regarding the improvement of teacher attendance was [sic] not provided at the time of the [state] site visit,” the documents show.

People who want raises shouldn't be no-shows

From the Daily News:

State lawmakers are clamoring for a pay raise, but a lot of them had trouble showing up for work this year.

At least a dozen lawmakers — many of them city Democrats — missed 10 or more days during the recently concluded legislative session, according to a Daily News review of legislative attendance records.

Seven lawmakers, including three candidates for Congress, skipped 20 or more days, roughly one-third of the Legislature’s 2012 session, according to the records.

“We expect to have them show up,” said Barbara Bartoletti of the League of Women Voters of New York. “They are elected to do a job, but on the other hand, a lot of these people figure they can essentially get away with it.”

Queens Assembly members Rory Lancman and Grace Meng each missed 28 of the Assembly’s 62 session days as they battled each other in a Democratic primary for Congress.


Since Grace said that her father was her "moral compass," this is hardly surprising.

The no-show council members

From the Daily News:

City council members are paid more than $100,000 to represent New Yorkers - but some often don't show up.

Councilman Charles Barron missed 28% of Council meeting and hearings he was supposed to attend in the last fiscal year.

Larry Seabrook (D-Bronx) missed 27% while under indictment on fraud charges, and Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera missed 19%, records show.

Barron, who missed 34 of 121 hearings and meetings last fiscal year, defended his record.

"I have perfect attendance in my community," the Brooklyn Democrat said. "You don't get your attendance checked on going to crises in the community when people are shot and killed."

Seabrook - awaiting trial on federal corruption charges - missed 32 of 118 hearings. He could not be reached.

Other Council members had personal reasons including James Gennaro (D-Queens), who had the third worst attendance. He is the primary caregiver for a family member with a chronic medical condition.