Contact: Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958 or Jennifer Chait (212) 788-8479
The Mayoral Commission will review the Charter to ensure that New York City government remains responsive and efficient. The Mayor has asked the Commission to focus particularly on ways to make the Charter more business friendly, to help the City maintain and expand its job base and remain a magnet for national and international business. Accordingly, the Commission will review Charter rules regarding procurement of goods and services by the City to pinpoint where improvements can be made. It also will review the provisions governing land use and economic development in order to streamline and refine the handling of those procedures, while at the same time maintaining appropriate community input.
"I am proud to appoint Peter Powers as Chair of the City's Charter Revision Commission," Mayor Giuliani said. "Peter has proven himself as an exceptional leader and organizer. As I have said in the past, the goal of this Commission is to make New York City government more efficient and better organized. The City is fortunate to have Peter to accomplish this very important mission."
"In order to have an impact on the way City government operates and delivers services today, this Commission will include a forward-thinking, reinvention agenda as part of its function to ensure taxpayer dollars are well-spent and that taxpayers get better services. The City has been well served by the allocation of powers and responsibilities in the current Charter, but I believe that we have an opportunity to make the Charter reflect the City government's ability to more effectively address the concerns of the City. I would like to thank Peter Powers for giving his time and years of experience to this Commission," the Mayor concluded.
Peter J. Powers said, "I am looking forward to working with the Commission to come up with new ideas and to examine issues, with the end result of improving the functioning of our City."
In addition, the Mayor has asked the Commission to review existing Charter provisions concerning campaign finance to decide if they can be improved upon, including banning corporate contributions and to review whether the Charter should authorize non-partisan elections for Mayor or other City offices.
Under State law, the Mayor of New York City is empowered to create a Charter Review Commission. Any proposed Charter amendments must be voted on at a general or special election held no later than November 1999. The most recent Charter Revision Commission amendments were voted on as part of the November 1989 general election.