Good Government

The chair of the City Council’s governmental operations committee, Council Member Ben Kallos, is hopeful that a package of eight campaign finance reform bills,introduced November 10, will move through quickly after they are heard for the first time next month.

The legislative package, scheduled for a hearing May 2, is aimed at making improvements to the New York City campaign finance system, including its landmark small-donor public matching program, ahead of the 2017 municipal election cycle.

While the system is already robust and held up as a national model by many, these bills aim to make it stronger. Among other things, the bills would prevent lobbyists who do business with the city from bundling contributions to candidates, provide public matching funds to candidates at earlier dates in the campaign cycle, and improve disclosure of donations from entities that do business with the city. The bills came out of recommendations that the New York City Campaign Finance Board made in its comprehensive 2013 post-election report.

“Council Member Treyger has to vote for land use, we have four hearings that all of us have to be at at the same time,” Council Member Ben Kallos said during a Feb. 29 hearing held by the Committee on Government Operations.

Council Member Ben Kallos, chair of the Committee on Government Operations, told Gotham Gazette that during the upcoming budget hearings, “the first item that folks can expect to see is following up on waste in government contracting. In my first year, I identified $4 billion in potential contract overruns.” Kallos added he looks forward to “getting to the bottom of that waste.”

Given the likelihood of an economic downturn, Kallos said he is “concerned about the city’s capital reserves,” and will be advocating to increase the amount of money put aside in the Capital Stabilization Reserve Fund, which received $500 million last year.

Regarding his goals as committee chair (the government operations preliminary budget hearing is March 14), Kallos said he’ll be looking at “outsourcing and provisionals,” and estimated there are roughly 21,000 provisional employees in the city - civil service positions that are filled non-competitively.

“We need to crack down on provisionals. That falls under the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which I oversee,” Kallos said. Thousands of provisional employees were hired during the Bloomberg years, creating something of a city workforce crisis under de Blasio, with questions about which managerial-level city workers have to take civil service exams and make their employment fit requirements.

“I’m focusing on removing outsourcing where possible,” Kallos added, referring to the hiring of outside contractors and consultants by the city to do work that could be done by government employees.

With four election dates scheduled this year, Kallos will also “focus on making sure the Board of Election has all the funding they need…this is going to be the most expensive year for the Board of Elections.” Millions could be saved by consolidating election dates to hold the state primary on the same day as the congressional primary, which Kallos has called for in a resolution.

With the support of our members spanning decades and the leadership of key reform-focused members of the city council, Citizens Union achieved some long-championed city policy reforms.

This achievement would not have been possible without the support of many reform-minded members of the city council. Three stand out: City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Rules Committee Chair CM Brad Lander and Government Operations Committee Chair, CM Ben Kallos.

The New York City Council is now full time with outside income banned, following the signing of legislation authored by Council Member Ben Kallos by Mayor Bill de Blasio. This new legislation paired with ending the practice of doling out stipends known as "lulus" to certain members, which the Daily News has called "legal bribery" will go a long way in keeping the Council free of corruption.

Councilman Ben Kallos, a Democrat who represents the Upper East Side of Manhattan and is one of the four other council members besides Mr. Torres who are sponsors of the bill, called it a step toward “transparency and reform at the boards.” New Yorkers, Mr. Kallos said, deserve to know “the demographics of who represents them at the community board level, their voice in city government.”

“There are serious problems with a mayor’s Management Report that is setting goals that go against the direction we want our city to go,” said City Councilman Ben Kallos of Manhattan, who oversaw a hearing on the report. “We’re disappointed by their failure to address the broader issue over the past two years.”

But as city agencies spend more money and hire more people in the de Blasio era, Ben Kallos, a Manhattan councilman holding an oversight hearing on the city Monday, said questions should be asked when tougher targets aren’t set from year to year.

Here are the local heroes ... Ben Kallos ... of Manhattan, all of whom relinquish $8,000.

“Navigating a Bureaucratic Maze to Renew Food Stamp Benefits” (news article, July 24) vividly demonstrates that it is still far too difficult for many struggling New Yorkers to get federal SNAP benefits (the new name for food stamps) to which they are entitled. That’s why we strongly support thebill proposed by City Councilman Ben Kallos that would ease the burden.