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  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 11, 2002
PR-188-02
www.nyc.gov


MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES FORMATION OF NEW YORK CITY CHARTER REVISION COMMISSION


Robert J. McGuire to Chair 13-Member Commission


Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced the formation of the New York City Charter Revision Commission and appointed thirteen members to the Commission, which will be chaired by former Police Commissioner Robert J. McGuire. The Mayor has directed the members to review the entire Charter to determine whether revision is needed. The Commission will hold a series of public meetings and hearings in all five boroughs and to issue a final report of its findings and recommendations. The bipartisan Commission will decide by early September whether to propose any amendments to New York City voters on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5th.

"New York City's citizens deserve an efficient government where its officials can be held accountable and where every individual has the opportunity to participate," Mayor Bloomberg said. "These thirteen individuals represent the very best of New York: independence, intelligence, and integrity. I am certain they will do an excellent job in evaluating whether civic improvements are needed, and if they are, in proposing amendments to the voters this November."

"The Mayor has assembled an outstanding group of New Yorkers representing the best the City has to offer," Mr. McGuire said. "I am honored to work with a group as dedicated, capable, and knowledgeable as this one and I promise to give my all to this very important endeavor."

The Charter Revision Commission members are:

Robert J. McGuire
At 41 years old, Mr. McGuire was the youngest Police Commissioner in New York City history, a position he held from 1978 to 1983. Mr. McGuire is currently Counsel to the law firm Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason, and Silberberg. He is President of the Police Athletic League and a former President of Kroll Associates, Inc., an international corporate investigations and security consulting firm. Mr. McGuire is a graduate of Iona College and Saint John's University Law School. He resides in Manhattan.

Herman Badillo
Mr. Badillo has an extensive career in public service, having served the citizens of New York City as Commissioner of Housing Relocation under Mayor Robert F. Wagner and subsequently as
Bronx Borough President. Mr. Badillo made history as the first Puerto Rican Member of Congress and later as Deputy Mayor for Management under Mayor Edward I. Koch. As Special Counsel for the Fiscal Oversight of Education to Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mr. Badillo was an outspoken advocate of education reform. Governor George E. Pataki later appointed him Chairman of the City University of New York Board of Trustees. Mr. Badillo, a founding partner in the New York City law firm Fischbein, Badillo, Wagner, Harding, is a graduate of City College and Brooklyn Law School and a Certified Public Accountant.

Richard I. Beattie
Mr. Beattie has a long record of public service on the City and national level. In the 1980's, Mr. Beattie served on the New York City Board of Education. During the administration of President Jimmy Carter, he was General Counsel at the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and, as Director of the Transition and Counsel to the Secretary of Education, he led the effort to organize the U.S. Department of Education. Mr. Beattie is the Chairman of the Executive Committee of Simpson, Thacher, and Bartlett, as well as Chairman of the Board and founder of New Visions for Public Schools, a not-for-profit organization that develops and implements programs to affect system-wide improvements in public education in New York City. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. He resides in Manhattan.

Wellington Z. Chen
Mr. Chen is Senior Vice President of TDC Development Corporation, a design and building firm in Queens. He started his career with the architectural firm I.M. Pei & Partners and later served as a Commissioner of the New York City Board of Standards and Appeals. Mr. Chen was also the first Chinese-American ever to serve on a Queens Community Board (7) and held that position for 13 years. He is a Trustee of City University of New York and serves on the Board of Directors of the Flushing YMCA. He resides in Queens.

Jerry E. Garcia
Mr. Garcia is Vice President of Investor Services at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., where he manages a staff of over 200 professionals and has global client management responsibilities. Mr. Garcia is a graduate of the City University of New York and received an Executive MBA from Columbia University. He resides in Brooklyn.

Patricia L. Gatling
Ms. Gatling is Commissioner and Chair of the New York City Commission on Human Rights. Prior to that, she was First Assistant District Attorney in Kings County, where she was in charge of the Major Narcotics Investigations Bureau, Community Relations Bureau, Legal Hiring, Inter-Agency Training, and Governmental Affairs. She is also a former President of the National Black Prosecutors Association. Ms. Gatling is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland School of Law. She resides in Manhattan.

Judah Gribetz
Mayor Bloomberg is the sixth New York City Mayor to call on Mr. Gribetz for public service. Mayor Robert F. Wagner appointed him Buildings Commissioner, and he later served as Regional Administrator of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during President Lyndon B. Johnson's administration. During Mayor John V. Lindsay's administration, Mr. Gribetz was Impartial Chairman of the Conciliation and Appeals Board. He was also Deputy Mayor for Governmental Relations under Mayor Abraham D. Beame and Mayor Edward I. Koch appointed him to the New
York City Charter Revision Commission. Mayor David N. Dinkins selected him for the Distribution Committee of the New York City Community Trust. In 1975, Governor Hugh L. Carey selected Mr. Gribetz as his Counsel. From 1979 to 1989, he was a member of the State Law Revision Commission of New York and served as President of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York from 1992 to 1995. Mr. Gribetz is a lawyer with Bingham McCutchen, LLP. He resides in Queens.

Patricia M. Hynes
Ms. Hynes served as law clerk to Joseph C. Zavatt, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District from 1967 to 1982. Ms. Hynes is a lead trial lawyer at the firm Milberg, Weiss, Bershad, Hynes, and Lerach, LLP. She has served on the Advisory Committee to the Federal Judicial Code Revision Project, currently chairs the Merit Selection Panel for Magistrate Judges for the Southern District of New York, and has also served on the Commission on Government Integrity. Ms. Hynes has been included in the list of "Best Lawyers in America" since 1993 and has been included in the National Law Journal's "Survey of The Fifty Most Influential Women Lawyers in America." She received her law degree from Fordham Law School, where she was a member of the Law Review. She resides in Manhattan.

Harry Kresky
Mr. Kresky is a lawyer specializing in election, employment, and criminal law. He is Counsel to the New York County and State Independence Party. Mr. Kresky is a graduate of Columbia Law School, where he served on the Board of Editors of the Columbia Law Review. He has been in private practice since 1972. He resides in Manhattan.

Loretta Lynch
From 1999 to 2001, Ms. Lynch served as U.S. Attorney for New York's Eastern District. She is currently Chair of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York's Criminal Law Committee. Ms. Lynch is a Partner in the New York office of Hogan and Hartson, LLP, and a member of the firm's Litigation Group. Ms. Lynch is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, where she was a member of the Legal Aid Bureau and the Harvard Black Law Student Association. She resides in Brooklyn.

Cecilia E. Norat
Ms. Norat is Director of State Relations for the American International Group, Inc. Prior to that, she served as Executive Director of the New York State Insurance Fund. She has received numerous professional awards including the Social Issues Award of the Public Employee Federation of the AFL-CIO. In 2000, Business Insurance selected her as one of the 100 women leaders in the insurance industry. Ms. Norat is a graduate of Fordham University and Fordham Law School. She resides in Manhattan.

Marlene Springer
Dr. Springer is the President of the College of Staten Island of the City University of New York. Prior to her appointment, she was Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at East Carolina University. A specialist in nineteenth century British and American literature and women's literature, Dr. Springer earned her Ph.D. in English Literature and her M.A. in American Literature from Indiana University in Bloomington. Dr. Springer is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Council on Education and numerous other professional and civic organizations. She resides in Staten Island.

Herbert Sturz
Mr. Sturz is a Trustee of the Open Society Institute, a member of the Soros Foundations Network that supports an array of activities dealing with educational, social, legal, and health care reform. He is the Chairman of the After-School Corporation and served as Founding Director of the Vera Institute of Justice. Mr. Sturz also served New York City as Deputy Mayor for Criminal Justice and Chairman of the New York City Planning Commission under Mayor Edward I. Koch. Mr. Sturz received a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and an M.A. from Columbia University. He resides in Manhattan.

 

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