A Plan for a Better Advocate's Office
A Plan for a Better New York City

NEWS: He spoke about reforming the office of public advocate and the need to "put someone in the office that understands the position." ~ Epoch Times

Strengthening our independent voice in government…making government work for you

“It’s about the person and the ideas, not the politics” – Alex Zablocki

The Public Advocate is an independent voice in city government.  The office is a watchdog over the Mayor and City Council.  Beyond that, there are many defined duties of the Public Advocate.


Click the above image for a flow chart (PDF) of Alex's plan

On day one, Alex Zablocki will call for a Charter Revision Commission to look at this office and government as a whole to improve the way our government functions.

 The following are duties and polices that Alex will seek to change and enact once elected:

 Ø      Change the line of succession to the Mayor, making the Comptroller next in line to the Mayor

Ø      Give the Public Advocate subpoena power

Ø      Decentralize the office

Ø      Set the budget of the Public Advocate's office independent from the Mayor and City Council

Ø      Change the way NYCERS is structured

o       Eliminate the seat of the Public Advocate and the five Borough Presidents on the board of NYCERS and replace them with appointed qualified investment professionals

 The following 10 points outline a plan for the future of the Public Advocate’s office.   The Public Advocate holds government accountable and our next Public Advocate has to be held to the same standards.

 A better New York City.  The Public Advocate’s office under the leadership of Alex Zablocki. 

[ ombudsman services and the office ] [ legislation and the city council ] [ city planning ]
[ nycers ] [ commission on public information and communication ]
[ independent budget advisory board ] [ voter assistance commission ]
[ queens public library board ] [ museum of the city of new york board ]
[ citywide council on special education ]

  1. Ombudsman Services and the office
    1. The Public Advocate is charter mandated to serve the people independently, answer complaints against city agencies and work to resolve those complaints
    2. The Public Advocate is charter mandated to investigate city agencies and suggest ways to make government work more efficiently and improve access to city services

 As your Public Advocate, Alex will:

  1. Work everyday to ensure that your voice is heard at City Hall. 
  2. Work to improve access to city services and seek ways to make government work more efficiently.
  3. Decentralize the office and open an office in every borough, including a satellite office in northern Manhattan.
  4. Appoint an independent representative for each borough (Borough Coordinator).
  5. Hire a staff of legal experts, social workers and trained professionals.
  6. Start a “Volunteer Advocate’s” program that include pro-bono attorneys.
  7. Start a “Mobile Office” program to reach out to constituencies that often times are forgotten by government like immigrant communities, senior citizens and the residents in the outskirts of the outer boroughs.
  8. Extend office hours to make staff available when working people are available.
  9. Work closely with Community Boards, the City Council and 311 to integrate information on complaints and issues in every community in one central place.
  10. Organize monthly “Advocate Field Trips” to visit Business Improvement Districts, Civic Associations and community based organizations to cleanup communities, remove graffiti, beautify neighborhoods and improve our quality of life.
  11. Improve the Public Advocate’s internet presence and open up a 24-hour online help center.
  12. Hold civic and small business roundtables every month to discuss the future of New York City.
  13. Create an advocates network which will allow us to quickly get a message throughout the community.
  14. Call for a Charter Revision Commission on the first day of taking office to:
    1. Require this office be independently funded
    2. Give the Public Advocate subpoena power
    3. Achieve other goals in the interest of taxpayers and for the betterment of New York City
  15. Form a “Traffic and Transportation Task Force” in every borough to analyze traffic and transportation problems locally and make recommendations to the Department of Transportation and the MTA to improve traffic and transportation.
  16. Continue raising funds for the “Fund for Public Advocacy” to improve and implement programs and initiatives out of the Public Advocates office using private money.
    1. Set fundraising goals to stabilize the value of this fund by the fourth year after taking office.

 

  1. Legislation and City Council Committees
    1. The Public Advocate can submit legislation to the City Council
    2. The Public Advocate can sit on any City Council Committee

 As your Public Advocate, Alex will:

1.      Introduce and cosponsor legislation that makes sense for New Yorker’s.

2.      Listen to residents for suggestions on legislation and submit that legislation on behalf of taxpayers for consideration by the City Council. Create a “Citizen Legislative Panel”.

3.      Sit on every committee in the City Council as an active member or have staff actively speak for or against legislation.

4.      Be an independent voice in the City Council and fight tax increases and new fees that will hurt lower and middle class residents and small business owners in New York City.

5.      Notify the public when important legislation is before the City Council to get more people involved in the legislative process.

6.      Start a “Young Legislatures and Advocates” program for high school and college students so that they can learn firsthand how New York City government works.

7.      Work with the Mayor and City Council when they are right and fight them when they are wrong.

 

  1. City Planning
    1. The Public Advocate appoints one commissioner to the City Planning Commission

 As your Public Advocate, Alex will:

1.      Appoint a commissioner that will be a strong voice on the City Planning Commission against overdevelopment, for more green development, smarter zoning and more affordable housing.

2.      Direct my appointee to explain the land use process (ULURP) to every Community Board in New York City as well as civic associations.

3.    End the "pocket veto" power of the City Planning Commission when it comes to certifying ULURP applications. 

 

  1. NYCERS (New York City Employee Retirement System)
    1. The Public Advocate serves as a trustee on the board of NYCERS

 As your Public Advocate, Alex will:

1.      Hold NYCERS accountable to the taxpayers who continually bailout poor performance.

2.      End the investment goal of NYCERS that seeks to achieve a negative annual return.

3.      Work towards putting an end to poor performance by seeking changes in investment structure and mission.

4.      Revamp the board of NYCERS to remove the seats to be held by the Public Advocate and Borough Presidents and replace them with investment professional appointees.

5.      Utilize his power to introduce legislation to work towards these goals.

 

  1. Commission on Public Information and Communication
    1. The Public Advocate sits on the Commission on Public Information and Communication which seeks ways to make information more available to taxpayers and ways to better communicate with the public

 As your Public Advocate, Alex will:

1.      Discuss with other commission members ways to make all government documents available online, in one place.

2.      Create “MailboxNYC” to deliver city documents, water bills and property tax bills directly to taxpayers at personalized mailboxes at NYC.gov, reducing paper and postage costs and carbon emissions.

3.      Work with the Department of Education to improve communications between school administrators, teachers, parents and students.

4.      Make 311, City Council and Public Advocate complaints open to the public in real time.

5.      Notify Community Boards about new permits filed at the Department of Buildings and the Department of Environmental Conservation (State) as well as land use applications at City Planning.

6.      Introduce text messaging to 311.

7.      Work with corporate partners to create wi-fi webs across New York City.

8.      Work with community groups, Police Precinct Councils and the Police Department to discuss race relations and better ways to communicate with regards to NYPD policy (i.e. stop and frisk).

9.      Create reporting programs that hold CouncilStat accountable.

10. Create a universal FOIL process, including making more documents available online and set a mandatory response time for city agencies and officials.

11. Submit legislation, with the approval of this commission that would require the Public Advocate to disclose accountability reports to the public, through this commission, quarterly.

12. Put all cellular antennas on the DoITT maping program at NYC.gov, along with a coding system to watch for potential saturation of these antennas.

13. Commission a voluntary health study, along with the Department of Health, in the surrounding areas of cellular antennas/towers to determine if there are long term health risks.

14. Work with the private sector, like Facebook, to create GOVBook where city employees from all branches of government could interact, share data and resolve problems in government, virtually.

 

  1. Independent Budget Advisory Board
    1. The Public Advocate is a member of the Independent Budget Advisory Board, which selects the director of the IBO.

 As your Public Advocate, Alex will:

1.      Select a well qualified fiscal watchdog that will be truly independent and accountable to the taxpayers.

2.      Increase the frequency of meetings by the Advisory Board to four times a year from three.

3.      Direct members to look into government waste and ways to save money by reducing and/or merging agencies and city services.

4.      Use the tools that the IBO offers in a more effective way to save money and identify waste in government.

5.      Call on the IBO to look at the tax burden placed on the middle-class and small business in New York City.

6.      Call on the IBO to issue a report on the affects of property tax increases on all residents, not just property owners.

7.      Call on the IBO to analyze the tax structure of New York City in relation to surrounding cities and states and issue a report on ways to make our tax structure more competitive.

8.      Analyze contracts by agencies (i.e. School Construction Authority, Parks, etc.) independently and compare these costs to the cost by private sector contractors.

9.      Work with the Comptroller to make the entire city budget available online, independent from the Mayor and City Council, in a way the public can understand.

10. Call for a complete independent study of the Public Advocate’s office to analyze redundancy and costs’ to the taxpayers as well as benefits.

11. Call for an independent review of New York City tax incentives given to businesses to gauge true economic activity and job creation.

12. Secure an independent budget for the IBO.

 

  1. Voter Assistance Commission (VAC)
    1. The Public Advocate sits on the board of the Voter Assistance Commission

 As your Public Advocate, Alex will:

1.      Revamp the entire VAC by working with other board members, the Mayor and City Council.

2.      Replace the VAC with CIVIC: Civic Involvement and Voting Improvement Commission.

3.      Use CIVIC to get more voters involved in the political process and assist candidates in running for office, as well as increase voter turnout.

4.      Form a task force to analyze election laws and make recommendations to the State Legislature to reform election laws and improve ballot access.

5.      Coordinate with the Campaign Finance Board and the Board of Elections in a non-partisan manner to publish a guide on running for office in New York City

 

  1. Queens Public Library
    1. The Public Advocate is an ex-officio member of the Queens Public Library Board

 As your Public Advocate, Alex will:

1.      Fight for better resources for the Queens Public Library.

2.      Work with text book publishers to make more text books available for use by college students, especially those attending CUNY.

3.      Improve electronic resources at all libraries.

4.      Use a portion of the money from the “Fund for Public Advocacy” to start an English Language class for non-English speaking residents.

5.      Use library locations for frequent mobile office events, not only in Queens, but all five boroughs.

6.      Use the position on the board to help start an improved volunteer program to reduce employee costs at every library.

7.      Fight for accessibility and resources for special needs students at every location.

8.      Fight to keep libraries open at least 6 days a week – in every borough!

 

  1. Museum of the City of New York
    1. The Public Advocate sits on the board of the Museum of the City of New York

 As your Public Advocate, Alex will:

1.      Raise awareness of the cultural resources available throughout New York City.

2.      Improve awareness of the resources at the Museum of the City of New York.

3.      Create a curriculum for junior high school students on local (borough) history and get it approved by the State Department of Education.

4.      Start a traveling exhibit out of the museum and host more events across the city to educated New Yorkers about our rich history.

5.      Ensure that not only our past is preserved, but also the most present history, like a collection surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

 

  1. Citywide Council on Special Education
    1. The Public Advocate appoints one member to the Citywide Council on Special Education

 As your Public Advocate, Alex will:

1.      Appoint a representative that will be an active member and a strong voice for special needs students and families.

2.      Investigate the Department of Education and District 75 on policies that help and hurt special needs students and families.

3.      Submit legislation that would require bus operators to check school buses of special needs students twice and then sign-off, before leaving a bus.

4.      Expand on the Council on Special Education and involve more parents and teachers in discussing the future of District 75.

5.      Direct my appointee to the Council on Special Education to discuss the needs of special needs students with every community board in New York City.

 The above referenced points in this contract are a blueprint and a foundation for the next four years.  Alex will execute this plan and fulfill all of his obligations and duties of the Public Advocate to the best of his ability.  He will be truly independent of the Mayor and City Council and bring new ideas, energy and commitment to this office.

 Alex will fight for lower taxes, less red tape for small businesses, improved access to city services and a better quality of life for all New Yorkers in every borough. Alex will be an advocate for all people and always put people before politics.

Alex will create an “Independent Report Card” for city services and elected officials.  These results will be made available, independent from any government office, to the public and media to hold all government officials accountable.

Learn more about the office

Where Alex stands on the issues - complete with ideas, issues and independent questionnaire responses

What is the Public Advocate, in condensed form, with informative links.

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