Public Advocate's Office NYC

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Public Advocate's Office

1 Centre Street, 15th Floor

New York, New York 10007

(212) 669-7200, general inquiries

(212) 669-7250, ombudsman services

(212) 669-4701, fax number

News from

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

Communications and Publications, Stanhope Hall

Princeton, New Jersey 08544

Tel 609/258-3601; Fax 609/258-1301

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: Feb. 23, 1996

Contact: Coen (609) 258-5764

NYC Public Advocate Mark Green to Speak at Princeton

Princeton, N.J.--Mark Green, the public advocate for the City of New York,

will speak on ``Is Democracy Being Downsized? Why? And How Can We Reform

Money and Politics?'' on Tuesday, February 27, at 4:30 p.m. in Bowl 1,

on Hall.

Green is the first public advocate for New York City. His responsibilities

include serving as the City's designated ombudsman, answering more than

10,000 annual complaints and investigating city services on behalf of

taxpayers. He also presides over the City Council, and has the power to

introduce legislation. He won his position with 60% of the vote in a 1993

election.

Before becoming public advocate, Green served as New York City's Consumer

Affairs Commissioner for three years, was the Democratic nominee for the

U.S. Senate in 1986, and worked with Ralph Nader in Washington for 10 years.

He is the author or co-author of 15 books on government, business, and law,

including the million-copy best-seller Who Runs Congress and his most recent

publication, The Consumer Bible .

Green's talk is being sponsored by the University's Woodrow School of

Public and International Affairs.

http://www.princeton.edu/pr/news/96/q1/0223advo.html

P. A. Green Excoriates Commission For Carrying Out Rudy's Revenge

Public Advocate Mark Green testified at the Charter Revision Commission's

first hearing. Excerpts from his testimony appear here. (If you would like

to read the full version, write to the P.A.'s office or go to

www.pubadvocate.nyc.gov.)

" I'd like to thank Mayor Giuliani and Chair Mastro for launching an

unprovoked, unprincipled and unprecedented attack on the office of the

Public Advocate because it's given me an unexpected opportunity to explain

a) why five prior Charter revisions this century kept intact the current

system of mayoral succession and why the Mayor is using you as a Show

Trial to satisfy a political vendetta.

" As for the value of the Office of Public Advocate, I refer you to our

'Summary of 30 Initiatives and Accomplishments' that make the City a better

place, as well as to our 70-page law review article which describes the

history and role of this office [publications available on the P.A. web

site]. In the article, we describe how the 1975 Charter Commission put a

proposal on the ballot to create the equivalent of a Vice Mayor who would

run with the Mayor and succeed to a mayoral vacancy; it was rejected by the

voters, 73% to 27%. The 1989 Charter Commission, appreciating that the

City Council President had lost its role on the abolished Board of

Estimate, voted 9-4 to keep the office as the successor to a mayoral

vacancy.

" I cite these materials because, although the Commission's staff report

neglects to say so, it effectively eliminates the P.A.'s power to introduce

legislation when it seeks to end his role as the City Council's presiding

officer ­ a function my predecessors, who have included Al and

Fiorello LaGuardia, have filled going back to 1831. And because

legislation I introduced has directly led to the laws reforming campaign

finance rules, breaking up mob control of waste hauling and ending gender

price discrimination, it's hard to see the public benefit from your

proposal. " In my remaining time, I'll focus on how Rudy Giuliani and Randy

Mastro are using you commission members as fig leaves to hide their

ulterior motive and methodology: the motive is to exact revenge on me for

being too independent and critical of a Mayor notoriously intolerant of any

independent criticism; the methodology is Government-by-Enemies-List.

" Let's face it. Would we be here today if I had been more complacent and

less independent? Would we be here today if the Comptroller were

next-in-line rather than the Public Advocate?

" The answer is no and my source is ­ Rudy Giuliani! On the day the

Commission was named, he candidly acknowledged: 'This is politics. That's

what I do,' and 'I can't imagine there is anyone in the city that doesn't

know my opinion on Mark Green.' And The New York Times Magazine recently

wrote that Giuliani 'conceded that he might not be going though the whole

process if Mark Green... weren't Public Advocate.'

" I understand why the 107th Mayor may not want me to become the 108th

Mayor, just as I don't want him to become New York's junior senator in

2001. But the difference is that I don't urge a change in a Constitution

to stop him. And he does.

" Giuliani lieutenants have come up with fig leaves to hide the vendetta.

They say special elections fill vacancies for Public Advocate, Comptroller,

Borough Presidents and Council Members. Obviously, the Charter understands

while you can't have successors in place for all 58 offices below Mayor,

the City can and does have a predetermined successor in place for the one

chief executive who runs the City. That's identical to the federal and

state systems, where there is a next-in-line successor for President and

Governor but special elections for all legislators. They say no other city

does succession like NYC. This is true, if you don't count Albany, St.

Louis, Syracuse, Utica, Baltimore and others. The Mayor rightly reminds us

that NYC is incomparable; suddenly, when it comes to succession, we're

supposed to be more like... Houston?

" When you finally cast your vote in late August, remember that your real

audience is not today's Mayor but the next mayor, the next generation, your

peers and your children. When they ask why you agreed to disfigure the

City Charter, are you prepared to say you were just under orders? I urge

you to consider your civic responsibility and vote your conscience. "

http://www.retirerudy.com/charter/green/green45.txt

http://www.pubadvocate.nyc.gov

We've opened up city government for you. Use " Your Guide to NYC Government "

to help you get the most out of the government you pay for. Read the

investigations, alerts, and legislation we're working on. Find out What's

New. And if the government lets you down, Contact Us.

Public Advocate's Office

1 Centre Street, 15th Floor

New York, New York 10007

(212) 669-7200, general inquiries

(212) 669-7250, ombudsman services

(212) 669-4701, fax number