Showing posts with label autonomy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label autonomy. Show all posts

Friday, January 17, 2014

Councilmembers Criticize Speaker, Mayor Over Lack of Transparency On Paid Sick Day Deal

This is the tricky part, and it shouldn't even have to be "tricky" to understand : people vote for Councilmembers for their own, respective Council district, and however compromised that elections are by the corruptive role of money and lobbyists, those Councilmembers become disempowered when things get rammed through City Council based on an agenda that solely politically-expedient for the leadership. How is this any different from what Speaker Quinn did, other than she did it to appease Mayor Bloomberg, whereas Speaker Mark-Viverito does it to appease Mayor de Blasio ? What of all the other Councilmembers ? Don't they matter to the democratic, deliberative process of the Council ? What of their constituents ?

I whole-heartedly support expanding paid sick leave, but, shit, how are these machinations meant to empower people, who had been shut out of the Council legislation process under Speaker Quinn ?

RELATED --> Bill de Blasio, New York Liberals, and the Veal Pen (Updated)

Several New York City Council members, including supporters of Mark-Viverito, were not consulted about the expansion of paid sick leave legislation until late last night after it had been reported, Politicker writes.