Moltner Gets Mayors Nod
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has selected a former chair of Community Board 8 to sit on a panel that will evaluate major changes for municipal government. Kenneth Moltner is one of 15 people appointed to the long-awaited Charter Revision Commission, the mayor"s office announced March 3. The commission, chaired by CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein, is tasked with examining changes that the 1989 commission instated. Before any recommendations become official, however, proposals must be approved by voters in the November election. The 1989 commission, convened by Mayor Ed Koch, undertook the last overhaul of New York City government. The resulting changes expanded the City Council to 51 members, stripped borough presidents of nearly all their power and altered the office of council president to become the public advocate. Bloomberg has so far called three charter review commissions's in 2002, 2003 and 2005's but few changes were made. In 2003, voters rejected a plan for nonpartisan elections for local office, an idea that was suggested by that year"s commission. As for this commission, Moltner wants to solicit advice from the public before discussing his goals for reshaping the charter. â??We want to understand what"s on people"s minds and understand what are the important issues, Moltner said. â??There"s no predetermined agenda here. I don"t have any one thing, I quote-unquote, â??want to achieve" other than hearing from everybody. Term limits, first enacted by a ballot initiative in 1993, are expected to be a major part of the commission. In order to run for a third term, Bloomberg proposed a controversial bill to extend the number of terms from two to three that city elected officials can serve. The Council approved the plan. As spokesperson for the group New Yorkers for Term Limits, Moltner was one of the public faces against the mayor"s plan. In 2005, when the Council also toyed with extending term limits, Moltner founded the group People to Stop a Self Serving Council. â??Term limits is an issue that I think ought to be on the ballot, he said. As an attorney and former board chair, he brings a legal perspective to ballot initiatives while understanding what communities expect from local government. â??What I bring to the commission from that perspective is a person who is sensitive to the needs of the community, Moltner said. Gale Brewer, an Upper West Side Council member, will also have a role in the process as chair of the Government Operations Committee, which oversees the commission. She said she already has concerns about ensuring an extensive public outreach period. â??[The commission] wants to do some referendums and recommendations by November. It"s a very short time period, she said. To increase public participation, she wants meetings webcasted and to have people comment by calling or writing in to a meeting. â??All that should exist's very, very extensive social networking technology and town halls, Brewer said. Brewer has also complained that recent commissions have done little to update city government. She wants this year"s commission to â??think outside the box, like the 1989 committee. Among the areas in need of examination, according to Brewer, are the role of the City Council and mayor. â??Obviously, as a Council member, I"d like the mayor in charge but see some more power for the City Council, Brewer said. â??We do need some more checks and balances.