Busy Week Continues: Lobbyists in Cyberspace, Mayor's Veto Stands on Sanitation Waste Plan.

Subject: Week of Ups and Downs
Date: 6/23/2005 5:38:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: starquest@nycivic.org
To: reysmontj@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)



Busy Week Continues: Lobbyists in Cyberspace,
Mayor's Veto Stands on Sanitation Waste Plan.

By Henry J. Stern
June 23, 2005

THE REASON THAT WE ARE SO PROLIFIC THIS WEEK,
AND A PLAN FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO READ LESS

This is a busy week for New York Civic. The State Legislature is working feverishly so it can adjourn tomorrow. Traditionally but absurdly, most of its business is transacted in the last week of the session. The City Council and the Mayor have been grappling with waste removal plans, and now they focus their attention on the city budget, which by law must be adopted by July 1 (eight days from today).

A few people (10 out of 13,000) have recently unsubscribed, and we wonder whether more of you feel that you are getting more information than you can readily digest.

We have a special Q list, under which 1200 of you who have signed up for it receive more frequent reports, and more links to daily newspapers.

Now we are thinking of creating a W list, for people who wish to be informed about New York City affairs, but for whom one report a week (except in emergencies) would be sufficient. The W list would primarily contain material that appears in our regular reports, but it might have some new material.

If you would be more comfortable hearing from us weekly, and would like to switch, please reply by writing W on the subject line of this e-mail. If you want the W's in addition to what you are now receiving, write W PLUS on that line. If enough of you want W, we will undertake to prepare it and send it to you.


NEW YORK CITY PUTS LIST OF LOBBYISTS ON LINE,
SETS STANDARD FOR NEW YORK STATE TO FOLLOW.

We wrote yesterday about New York State's first step in requiring lobbyists on procurement issues to register and list their fees.

New York City is way ahead of the state in dealing with lobbyists. On Tuesday, Mayor Bloomberg announced in a press release that a list of city lobbyists and their clients is now posted on the city's website.

Go to NYC Lobbyist Search and look for the lobbyists, listed alphabetically and by the year they registered. Previously, these records were only available in paper form, which was filed and stored in the office of the City Clerk, and published by the Clerk, just once a year. You can now see the list, which is updated quarterly, 24/7.

The city law which requires registration of lobbyists and public disclosure of the names of their clients was adopted by the voters in 1998. It was an amendment to the City Charter that was approved in a referendum. This law is part of a larger effort to restrict campaign contributions from firms doing business with the city, a process widely known as "pay-to-play". The Campaign Finance Board has found it difficult to implement this law, due to its uncertainty over which businesses it affects. In the meantime, these businesses may be solicited by candidates.


THE GARBAGE WARS; A ROUND FOR BLOOMBERG
AS MILLER LACKS VOTES TO OVERRIDE HIS VETO.

The City Council has been sharply divided for months over Mayor Bloomberg's waste management plan, which involves the construction of four marine transfer stations (in which garbage is dumped from trucks into scows). Two would be in Brooklyn, one in Queens, and one in Manhattan at East 91st Street (between Asphalt Green and Gracie Mansion).

On June 8, the Council adopted its own plan, which rejected three of the mayor's proposed sites, including the 9lst Street station. On June 14, Mayor Bloomberg vetoed the Council plan, and Speaker Gifford Miller tried to round up the 34 Council votes (2/3 of the 5l members) needed to override the veto. On June 22, Miller gave up his attempt to secure the 34 votes. The result leaves the Bloomberg plan in place, but it still must be implemented. The garbage wars will go on for some years. They already have.

Today's newspapers describe today's struggle and its denouement. In the News, p2, under the headline, 'MILLER CANS HIS GARBAGE BATTLE' Frank Lombardi writes: "Miller's strategic surrender spared him from becoming the first Council leader in modern times to lose a veto-override vote.... (b)ut his move created the same result."

The Times' detailed account, by Nicholas Confessore, appears on B1 and B2. It is headlined "MAYOR WINS TEST OF WILLS ON TRASH PLAN; Speaker Lacked Votes to Override Veto."

Newsday reports the conflict on pA18 in an article by BryanVirasami and Glenn Thrush, under the headline "TRASH-EXPORT WAR IS 'FAR FROM OVER. Miller Fails to Secure Enough Votes to Kill Bloomberg's Garbage Proposal But Speaker Vows to Continue Fight."

The Sun, which is often critical of Miller, ran a p3 story by Jill Gardiner, 'AS LEGISLATIVE CLOCK RUNS OUT, MILLER LOSES GARBAGE BATTLE'.

The Post, whose columns often find fault with the Speaker, gave the story short shrift. A four-paragraph story at the bottom of p19, by Frankie Edozien, was headed simply 'GIFFORD BID IS TRASHED'.

Eschewing Plan B, Speaker Miller insists that it's not over 'til its over, and that in the end he will prevail. Earlier this month, it took Mayor Bloomberg 24 hours to move to his Plan B, Shea Stadium, but that war will not be decided until July 6 in Singapore. Will the marine transfer stations be built before the Olympics are held in 2012? It's just too early to tell.



Henry J. Stern
starquest@nycivic.org
New York Civic
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New York, NY 10018
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