After nearly two months of revealing little to nothing to the public about how it will pick a new Board of Elections commissioner, the New York City Council on Tuesday promised it will make a pick with unprecedented transparency.
“The City Council takes its role in appointing new commissioners to the Board of Elections extremely seriously and the reforms the Council has put in place will ensure the appointment process is fair, transparent and public,” Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said in a statement.
The vow comes one day after the Daily News reported that the co-leaders of the Manhattan delegation, Councilwoman Margaret Chin and Councilman Corey Johnson, threatened to shut out lawmakers who leaked details about the group's private, split vote on a nominee for the job.
The Daily News ran a series of reports on the power struggle between Mark-Viverito and Manhattan Democratic Party Chairman Keith Wright for control of the appointment, which comes with the opportunity to make patronage hires at the Board.
Those reports included stories on Mark-Viverito wresting control of the pick from Wright; his nomination of a replacement for former Board Chairman Gregory Soumas (attorney Lenore Kramer, who later withdrew); the names and bios of those competing for the job; and an account of last week's secret vote to recommend Board supervisor Alan Schulkin to the full Council.
The Council's new open-door process will include, according to Mark-Viverito's office:
- Convening a public hearing of the Council’s Committee on Rules, Privileges and Elections, at which candidates will testify and answer questions, and where the public will have an opportunity to testify.
- Providing potential appointees with a detailed written questionnaire which will be available at the public hearing.
- Asking nominees to review and analyze the NYC Department of Investigation's report on problems at the Board of Elections.
The hearing is scheduled for Sept. 17.
Said Councilman Brad Lander (D-Brooklyn), head of the Rules Committee, in the same release:
“I’m proud of the reforms the City Council has put in place to make the Board of Elections appointment process more transparent, including the first-ever public hearing. These reforms show how serious the Council is about fair elections, and will help bring long overdue changes to the BOE."
Good-government groups have pressed the Council to open the selection process to the public, including offering suggestions for questions any nominee should have to answer before a confirmation.
CLICK HERE to read NYPIRG Statement on the Appointment of New BOE Commissioners.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!
Michael H. Drucker
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