Speaker Johnson Releases Statement on Fake Budget Letter
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D-Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Greenwich Village, West SoHo, Hudson Square, Times Square, Garment District, Flatiron, Upper West Side) released a statement on Saturday about a fake budget letter that was circulated:
“A letter is being circulated that purports to be from my office and signed by me, Finance Chair Danny Dromm and Subcommittee on Capital Budget Chair Vanessa Gibson identifying city agency cuts through layoffs. This letter is fake. We support the workers who have kept our city running through COVID, and want to work with them to help NYC rebuild even stronger.”
Koo Hosts City-Issued Summonses Webinar
Councilmember Koo (D-Downtown Flushing, Murray Hill, Queensboro Hill) also with Joni Kletter, Commissioner of NYC Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH), will host a “Comm-Cam” event for Flushing area residents and small businesses on August 26.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has made doing business in NYC more difficult than ever, and we want to be sure to offer as much clarity as possible to those who are struggling. This special event will help our small businesses understand how to correct violations received by the City of New York without succumbing to the common pitfalls that can turn small fines into long-term problems, ” said Koo.
OATH is the city’s independent administrative law court where all city agencies file their enforcement summonses for hearings. OATH receives approximately 850,000 summonses each year from agencies such as the City’s Departments of Sanitation, Buildings, Environmental Protection, Health and Mental Hygiene, Consumer Affairs and Worker Protection, among many other agencies.
Comm-Cam, is short for “Commissioner’s Community Web-Cam Series” and is OATH’s new, innovative community outreach event. Through the initiative, OATH partners with civic leaders to schedule an accessible webinar at which the Commissioner explains the changes in services, policies and procedures that have been implemented at OATH during the COVID-19 outbreak. Commissioner Kletter will also explain how OATH has been able to continue to provide all of its services remotely while all OATH office locations are closed.
This Comm-Cam informational event will be on Wednesday, August 26 from 2 to 3 p.m.
The event will be open to up to 100 people and will utilize WebEx web conferencing technology.
Join by emailing your RSVP to RSVPOATH@oath.nyc.gov. Participants will receive the video conference meeting link via email the day before the event.
Schumer Demands USPS Election Mail Report
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer announced Sunday, acknowledging that the USPS remains in a precarious crisis, that he is pushing the Chairman of the USPS Board of Governors new Election Mail Committee to hand him a report in two weeks that outlines how November election mail will be delivered on time—without question.
“In the past several days, Postmaster DeJoy has had to walk back some of his efforts to undermine and dismantle the post office ahead of the November election, but today we are here to say: actions speak louder than words and that those actions will come from sharp oversight,” said Schumer. “There will be no rubber stamp on the postmaster’s talking points, because, quite frankly, he has lost credibility in Congress and with the American people. That is why I am demanding a report be handed to Congress in two weeks that outlines just how election mail will be delivered on time. We have to protect the election, the mail itself, and hold this postmaster accountable, which is what I told the Chairman of the new Election Mail Committee must be accomplished.”
According to the USPS Board of Governors, the establishment of a bipartisan Election Mail Committee will actively oversee the United States Postal Service’s support of the mail-in voting process. The committee will be chaired by Governor Lee Moak, a Democrat whom Schumer appointed. Moak will be joined on the committee by Governor Ron Bloom and Governor John Barger. Schumer said this just-created postal unit will have the ability to investigate changes, and that this is very important, because it acts as a check on DeJoy. Schumer also announced he has spoken with Governor Moak on his request for a report and that with the USPS still enveloped in crisis, independent oversight will be key to repairing the damage that has been done. Schumer says Governor Moak will heed his request for the report and deliver it in two weeks.
