Wakefield News: Cleaner politics II

Wakefield News: Cleaner politics II: Wakefield Area News By Mary V. Lauro BRONX, NEW YORK, April 11-  It's an old story. The innocent always suffer for the guilty. But...

Cleaner politics II

Wakefield Area News

By Mary V. Lauro

BRONX, NEW YORK, April 11- It's an old story. The innocent always suffer for the guilty. But if we don't say it, who will? No! We are not going to conclude that all longtime political figures are crooks, but we are going to suggest that most political crooks are longtime political figures. It seems that sleaze, bribery, political malfeasance and sex are more commonly associated with having been elected too often.

But the fault is not only that of the political entrepreneur. It is part of a laziness which envelops us all. Yes! Yes! We make all sorts of noises regarding our veneration of freedom and liberty but the truth is we'd rather be left alone.

Most residents in Wakefield, and we dare say in other communities as well, have not the foggiest notion of whom their elected officials are. Part of that reason is because the district lines are changed every 10 years after the Census. They are not changed to benefit us. They are changed to benefit politicians.

It is a sad fact that in our diverse society, just as they cluster in neighborhoods, citizens tend to vote their own backgrounds. Thus Italians tend to vote for Italians, Jews for Jews, Hispanics for Hispanics and African Americans for African Americans. When district lines are redrawn the political entrepreneurs tend to draw their own lines. Keep in mind that in New York political entrepreneurs swore to Mayor Koch that they would not do so in 2010.

Of course, even with district lines drawn in their favor, a strong favored incumbent can win over a strong opponent, but that is rarely the case. But that is rarely the case. The incumbent is re-elected even though he may be suspected of malfeasance. This is not to say that all elected officials having been elected three or four times are unworthy of their positions. Many are honest capable, caring and effective.

Does that mean that no one else can do their job or that no one else is capable of doing their job? That great and far-sighted American, George Washington, our first president thought two four year terms were enough for a president. Except for Franklin D. Roosevelt, every other president followed that precept. In it is now ingrained in our Constitution.

The political sleaze that was uncovered last week raises once again the price of leaving the number of terms unlimited for an incumbent. Term limits will not got rid of sleaze. It will control it.

That great and far-sighted American our first President, George Washington, thought two, four-year terms were enough for one man. Other than Franklin Delano Roosevelt, no other President has served as long. If two, four-year terms are good enough for our Presidents, why are they not good enough for lesser political entrepreneurs?

Wakefield News: Wakefield Area News

Wakefield News: Wakefield Area News: The peoples’ work By Mary V. Laura BRONX, NEW YORK, April 4-  If men were angels," wrote James Madison in Federalist Paper No. 51...

Wakefield Area News

The peoples’ work

By Mary V. Laura

BRONX, NEW YORK, April 4- If men were angels," wrote James Madison in Federalist Paper No. 51 back in 1788, "No government would be necessary," Well and good. But does that mean they are devils?

It certainly seems so. Almost on a daily basis, through the news media, we learn of another elected official being accused of or indicted on criminal behavior. Wakefield has already suffered the conviction of State Senator Guy Velella. And for which we thank God, the conviction of Councilman Larry Seabrook.

The list of elected officials who are being investigated, or who leave much to be desired is long, but we concentrate on those closest to us keeping in mind that an accusation or an investigation does not mean guilt. We repeat that. An accusation does not mean guilt. On the other hand, where there is smoke, there usually is fire. We mention Pedro Espada because we had one of his clinics right here in Wakefield. He has been convicted on at least one count.

Sadly, earlier this year The New York Post ran a news story insinuating foul play by Senator Jeffrey Klein. Nothing further has been heard which is good news, more for him than for the electorate. And now, we have Congressman Engel being criticized for taking a mortgage from one of his highest donors. Not illegal, but not right. Even so and above all, let's not forget the Spitzer debacle.

When one considers that this nation was forged by men who pledged their "sacred honor," one wonders how that honor was lost in so short a time. Consider that at the urging of former Mayor Ed Koch, the majority in both houses of our state legislature pledged to reject any gerrymandering made on a partisan basis. Seventy five of those lawmakers broke their promise, four of them from New York City and one of them none other than our own Senator Klein!

The prevalence of all sorts of hanky-panky in our government led to the formation of the Center for Public Integrity which has been around for some time. This year it ranked our state government 15th from the bottom of the 50 states. Can you imagine? That is worse than getting a D. It is almost an F.

Well, it should be no surprise. We know that we have some sterling legislators working for us whether it be in the City Council, the Assembly or the Senate, but we also know we have some duds who do very little else but work on getting re-elected usually by spreading our tax dollars to reward favorite persons or causes and taking advantage of every photo opportunity. The sad thing is that, we, the voters permit this to go on. But that is another story.

In any case, we are asking all our legislators to look into three problems that the average citizen is dealing with. They should not be difficult to solve if they put their heads together. First is the parking problem. Left unchecked, road rage will take second place to parking rage. Lives will be lost. By the same token, Muni meters should be brought to the attention of the Supreme Court as a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Second, adjustment is needed in rental laws for two and three-family houses. Eviction of problematic and non-paying tenants is entirely too long, too cumbersome and costly.

And third, how about bringing some order to our zoning ordinances and our building regulations? The City is harboring hundreds of fire traps in illegal conversions.

Are these three items really so difficult to accomplish?

Wakefield News: The latest rules for precinct councils

Wakefield News: The latest rules for precinct councils: Wakefield Area News By Mary V. Lauro We don't know why, but every 10 or 15 years the NYPD decides to change the format (By-laws of...

The latest rules for precinct councils

Wakefield Area News

By Mary V. Lauro

We don't know why, but every 10 or 15 years the NYPD decides to change the format (By-laws of its Precinct Councils). We don't know whether it is because all organizations have a tendency to break down, becoming more and more deliberate and less and less structured as they age or whether money finds its way to the wrong places. We thought of that possibility when we realized that Chief Phillip Banks III, Commander of NYPD Community Affairs Unit does not want Precinct Councils to fund raise more than $50,000 each year.

Fifty thousand is a nice sum. One would like to know which Precinct in this City can collect all that money in one year. In the Bronx it would take at least 10 years. It hardly seems fair.

Membership in the Council is free so long as one is over 18 years of age, crime free, lives or works in that particular precinct and applies by filling out the Personal Data Sheet. In order to have voting privileges, one must have attended 4 meetings prior to the vote. This is decidedly different. It used to be 3 meetings. Attendance is marked by one's signature on a special NYPD hard cover book which is kept at the Precinct.

Interestingly, we note that the new By-laws are being repaired especially where they were last time. This time, instead of seven executive members, Councils will have a choice of five or seven. They are President, Vice President, Treasurer, Recording Secretary, Sergeant-at-Arms, (Corresponding and Assistant Secretary are not required for executive boards having less than seven members).

Now here is a nice touch and different. We have term limits. The president and other board members can only be chosen for consecutive two year terms. Even so, after a hiatus of a year, should that person want to run again and the members wish to re-elect him, that individual may run again.

Another interesting twist is the role envisioned for the Sergeant-at-Arms should partner with the president to keep order during the meeting and enforce any rules that seem to be going astray. The Sergeant-at-Arms will also be the bearer of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised 11^th edition.

Much in fact, most of the previous adjustments to the Precinct Council By-laws remain central in the newly revised By-laws. We understand that currently there are 85. Precinct Councils in the City. We have come a long way since 40', 50's and 60's. At that time it seemed rude to criticize the police and besides we didn't have as much crime then.

The entire set of new rules is available from the internet or by calling, the Community Affairs Unit.

The sieve

Wakefield Area News

By Mary V. Lauro

BRONX, NEW YORK, March 22- If we had our way, we would forbid the City Council and the State Legislature to enact new laws until all the current ones are enforced. 

To begin, enforcing our current ones would assist us in our current financial difficulties. It is not something which can not be done. Con Edison did it for years. If one did not pay one's bill in a timely manner, one's gas and electricity would be shut off. While in some cases it was sad, in most cases, it was just.

We have always noted that when there is an NYPD Patrol Car close by, other cars do not double park or park near a hydrant or slip though a red light. In fact, whenever we inadvertently drive through a red light, most of us automatically look behind us to ensure that a patrol car is not in our wake. Why are we so nervous?

It is not that we are ashamed of the summons. Not at all. We have witnessed entirely too many traffic infractions to think we have done something shameful. It is the fine we do not want to pay; which is interesting since we pay so many other fines without a struggle, probably because we call them something else. Think of auto license, drivers license, tax of all kinds, etc. . The difference between the fee for a driver's license and a red light summons is that one's (driver's license) is universally applied while the other is not.

It is the, haphazardness of our law enforcement that leads to an escalation of disrespect, for our regulations. (Crime is another story.) Last month, The Daily News ran a story on one of our favorite topics: Illegal conversions. The story praised John Liu, our current controller and contender for Mayor for excoriating the Buildings Department (DOB) on its poor showing after the city had vowed, years before to crack down on illegal landlords that chopped up apartments creating firetraps.

While the Daily News seems to think that Queens has the most illegal conversions, we disagree. If it is so, the Bronx is a close second. But it really does not matter. The Bronx has had its share of lost lives due to the fact that its buildings also burn. In any case the trend to illegally convert is growing city wide. In the article, John Liu is quoted as saying, "The Buildings Department is just dysfunctional and incapable of improving itself.”

In April 2011, here in the Bronx, a fire in a converted house took the life of a 12-year-old boy and his parents. It turned out that DOB inspectors had gone to the building twice but was not let in, so they dropped the case. We know that story. In response to Liu's investigation, DOB responded that landlords had become more vigilant about letting inspectors enter their houses. An audit showed that from July 2010 to June 2011 the failure rate of inspectors to gain access to buildings rose to 80 percent. We all know that Inspectors can and should get judicial clearance to force access. Lots of Luck! Consider that in 2008, DOB requested and received 13 judicial permissions to enter illegal conversions. In 2011 it rose to 80, but in view of the 5,577 conversions to which the inspectors could not gain access, that increase amounted to nothing or more that 1.4 percent!

Meanwhile during World War II when all one and two-family houses were asked to convert so as to house returning soldiers and moving families, a house on Bronx Boulevard converted the basement. That was 60 years ago. With the war and the emergency behind them, they rented the little apartment to a relative. That was 50 years ago. When a DOB inspector knocked on their door, they thought they had nothing to hide. Little did they know. According to the law the owners must now return the basement to its original condition! Go figure.