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Corey Johnson Outlines Plan for Comptroller Bid
Out gay speaker calls for audits of city agencies, pitches recovery plan
BY ARIAMA LONG
Speaker Corey Johnson,
who’s battling to be the
city’s next comptroller,
released his blueprint
calling for closer audits
of three city agencies in the de
Blasio Administration that have
been considerably less than stellar.
Johnson’s plan includes aggressive,
more frequent, and impactful
oversight and audits for key
agencies, like the Department of
Education (DOE), NYPD, Department
of Housing Preservation and
Development (HPD), and Department
of Homeless Services (DHS),
as well as a special audit to identify
areas to reform the city’s affordable
housing programs.
The plan aims to conduct audits
of these agencies’ fi nances and issues,
like document retention and
equipment policies, annually at a
minimum.
The DOE has been rudderless
during the COVID pandemic
with its mixed messages of openings
and closings. HPD was behind
the city’s attempts to take dozens
of Black-and Brown-owned properties
and giving them to favored
non-profi t developers, and the
DHS continues to run amid growing
numbers of homeless on city
streets.
“Growing up, my mom taught
me a simple motto that guides me
to this day: do the most good for
the people who need it most,” Johnson
said. “As New York City’s next
Comptroller, that’s exactly how I
intend to govern.”
“Since I became Speaker, we’ve
used transformative public policy
ideas to take on the big issues and
fi ght the big fi ghts. I’m going to
bring that same approach to the
Comptroller’s offi ce: energy and
passion, knowledge and experience,
Council Speaker Corey Johnson is running to succeed term-limited Comptroller Scott Stringer.
all in the service of getting
results for New Yorkers,” he added.
Johnson also outlined plans to
bolster racial and gender diversity
and create an offi ce for equality
and inclusion, though he did not
mention the LGBTQ community in
the blueprint.
Johnson’s plan proposes weeding
back the NYPD budget by conducting
a risk assessment of behavior
in the NYPD to recommend
changes that would reduce costs
and possibly misconduct in the
long run.
The NYPD costs taxpayers upwards
of $200 million each year
from settlements of more than
6,000 claims of misconduct, said
Johnson, and the comptroller has
the authority to settle these cases.
Johnson said that he would
also work to identify patterns and
trends that will lead to informed
conversations on reforming policing,
reducing tension and violence
between police and civilians, and
just as importantly, saving the city
money.
Johnson said he would use auditing
authority to closely review
the city’s emergency procurement
and loans disbursed by the Department
of Small Business Services
DONNA ACETO
(SBS) to ensure small businesses
actually have access to
recovery funds.
Johnson’s plan is also proposing
to launch a public, online
COVID-19 relief dashboard so
people can track city spending
of federal aid, stewardship of the
city’s pension system, and support
for affordable housing, good
jobs, small business and green infrastructure.
He also commits to protecting
public pensions, enforcing
prevailing and living wage laws,
and creating a portable benefi ts
fund for freelance and gig workers.
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