Sliwa has plan to reform City Hall

From the Daily News:

Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, who also heads the state Reform Party, wants to give voters a chance to abolish the city public advocate office.

Sliwa, who also hosts a daily radio talk show, is set to call Wednesday for a public referendum to eliminate the advocate position and have the City Council speaker elected by voters, not the council members.

With no oversight or subpoena power, “it is clear by now that the public advocate position has just become a taxpayer-funded method to run for mayor of the city of New York,” Sliwa said.

Making the council speaker a publicly elected position would take the power away from the party bosses who currently control the process, he said. Sliwa added that the speaker should also have increased oversight functions.

By law, the council could vote to put the measure on the ballot or the mayor could appoint a charter revision commission to do it.

Doubting that will happen, Sliwa said the state Reform Party and its allies are prepared to try to collect the necessary signatures needed to put it up for a citywide election.

Reform Party candidates unveil affordable housing plan

NYS Reform Party City Council candidates Paul Graziano (District 19) and Robert Holden (District 30) and Comptroller candidate Michel Faulkner unveiled their 3 part plan to reduce homelessness and create affordable housing in NYC yesterday outside the Pan Am Hotel, which has been converted into an 800-person family shelter.



The plan is as follows:

Part 1 – Emergency Homeless Shelter Placement

Instead of heading to a centralized intake center for assignment to a hotel, displaced families and individuals would visit faith-based organizations in their own area for placement locally. Many churches and not-for-profits are interested in providing immediate, short-term housing as part of their missions. Let’s remove the barriers which prevent them from providing services. Congregations tend to come together to foster caring and supportive environments, and provide safe, secure places for people in need in a much better way than the government, which up to this point has left the homeless languishing in dangerous shelters and hotels.

Part 2 – Community Advisory Board

The board would be comprised of local residents who have expertise in fields such as law, social work, financial advisement, human resources and home improvement. They would administer to the currently homeless as well as those threatened with homelessness by offering services like resume writing, job placement, mental health referrals, legal assistance, substance abuse counseling and repairs to homes, with the ability to hire outside help when necessary.
Part 1 and Part 2 could be funded for a lot less money than we are throwing at hotels and not-for-profit providers right now. A strong support system is what is needed in order to break the cycle of homelessness plaguing our communities.

Part 3 – Mandatory Affordability as Part of As-of-Right Zoning

Developers currently get “bonus” height or bulk allowances for offering to include affordable housing in their projects. But this housing often is not permanently affordable and it is only offered to those developers seeking to build out-of-context. In order for affordable housing to work, it needs to be a mandatory part of as-of-right zoning.

LOCATIONS
• Areas at high risk of gentrification (generally that are zoned R6 or higher)
• At least 15% of units in new construction projects will be reserved for low-income families or individuals. If units targeted middle income families, the requirement would be 25%. If supportive housing is provided instead the requirement would be 10% of units.

INCOME OF RESIDENTS
• 100% affordable units for households at or below 60% of the local area median income, calculated based on zip code or community district rather than current formula based on the greater NYC region.

PRIORITY COMMUNITIES
• Families, including families with children and intergenerational households
• Tenants on fixed incomes such as seniors and disabled
• Households experiencing or at imminent risk of homelessness

Part 3 would require a zoning text change be adopted by the City Council after community board and City Planning Commission review.

Reform Party has surprise primary

For the first time ever, independent voters (blanks) may vote in a party primary. The Reform Party has a line on the ballot this November, and both voters registered with the Reform Party and independent voters (registered to vote but not with any party) have the opportunity to vote in it. The ballot will look like this:

You may either choose Sal Albanese or write in a candidate of your choice.