Common Sense: A cloudy dawn

If you knew nothing of New York City, listening to Scott Stringer and Leticia James’s inaugural remarks as well as the remarks of Harry Belafonte and others on New Year’s Day would lead you to believe that the city is in shambles and they are rescuing us from the misery.

Frankly, their remarks in some ways were callous and certainly inaccurate. Mayor Bloomberg, whom I did not support or consider myself a fan of, regardless does deserve credit for many positive developments in the city over the last 12 years.

Let us just hope that our three new musketeers are able to keep the forward momentum that has made our city one of the most economically viable urban areas in the nation, a remarkable accomplishment considering the effects of 9/11 and Sandy over the past dozen years. It is also worth noting that the streets of New York are some of the safest big city streets in the nation and the public schools are noticeably better. I almost never quote President Clinton, yet I think he got it right when he said New York City’s greatness is reflected by the fact that many more people come here than leave each year.

The tactics and strategies that put us in this position have been criticized numerous times, sometimes with merit, often without. Unfortunately, listening to Stringer, James and some of those around the new mayor, you would expect them to spend the next four years attempting to unravel all that the Bloomberg and Giuliani administrations accomplished.

New York is a long way from becoming a Detroit. Nevertheless, every journey starts with a first step. I fear that the de Blasio, Stringer, James trifecta might have come out of the gate on the wrong foot.

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Governor Cuomo has given an indication that he might wait a lengthy period of time or actually not even call special elections for the seven Assembly seats and two State Senate seats that are presently vacant.

In practical terms, that means that approximately one million New Yorkers will be unrepresented as the New York State budget is unveiled and negotiated. That cannot be allowed to happen. The governor should not have this absolute authority to call special elections. It is an area that shouts for reform.

New York State special elections should work on a calendar similar to New York City special elections with the executive branch (governor or mayor) calling the election within a statutory period of time. Thus, once a vacancy occurs, the governor might be required to call the election no sooner than six weeks after the vacancy becomes official, but no longer than 10 weeks.

The governor represents a different branch of government from the legislature. Our separation of powers would argue that the governor having the absolute power to call special elections gives him too much of a say in the legislative branch’s workings. With at least 10 vacancies as of this writing, we are faced with a prime example of the shortcomings of our present system.

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Who says government agencies are not religious? The recent inspector general report on the New York City Board of Elections proved that there is life after death. It certainly seems that when it comes to voting in New York City, being deceased is not an impediment.

The report offered countless well-documented examples of illegal voting taking place in 2013. Although in no case would it have affected the final outcome, it must come to an immediate end.

The IG offered many recommendations. Some require study with many pros and cons to be discussed. Others would take no more effort than using new equipment already available to the Board of Elections. The simple things we should implement now. The more difficult things we need to put front and center for discussion.