DIVERSE ISSUES DEALT WITH IN CITY COUNCIL

The first was given by Councilwoman Tracy Boyland to Yvonne Graham, the newly appointed Deputy President of the Borough of Brooklyn. As the founder of the Caribbean Women's Health Association, Graham has been providing comprehensive, culturally sensitive health care to the people of Brooklyn for many years. Stated Boyland, "We need to recognize Ms. Graham for her achievements so that every person, women in particular, can fulfill their greatest potential and become the best that they are."

In accepting the award Yvonne Graham said, "As Deputy President of Brooklyn, one priority is to draw on my health care background and work in close partnership with City Council members on initiatives that will increase access to and improve the quality of health care services, and reduce cultural disparity in the health care of the Brooklyn population."

Next, Council Member Charles Barron presented an award to East New York's Mo' Better Jaguars, the Midget Football Team that won the 2001 National Championship. Undefeated in the regular season, it went on to win the Eastern Regional Championship, and then won the National Championship Superbowl.

Accepting the award were the men who coached the team to victory, as well as the Rev. Herbert Daughtry of the House of the Lord Church who has been a crucial motivating factor behind the league.

During the City Council meeting, many individuals rose to speak in favor of or against diverse Bills and Resolutions. Some concerned local issues like alternate side of the street parking and the duty of property owners to remove snow and ice from their sidewalks. Then there were things of national as well as local significance, like Councilman Phil Reed's Bill to prohibit racial or ethnic profiling by police. Council Member Leroy Comrie introduced a Bill concerning the storage and handling of hazardous substances.

Councilman Bill DeBlasio asked his colleagues to support his Resolution "urging Mayor Bloomberg not to reject a waiver offered by the federal and state governments that would expand access to food stamps for hungry New Yorkers." He spoke of the fact that a few days earlier the Bloomberg administration--without any consultations with the City Council--had chosen to turn down a waiver on work requirements for eligibility for food stamps.

DeBlasio explained, "The bottom line is this: historically New York City has not always been able to allow work requirements for people on public assistance because there are not enough placements available. Unless the Bloomberg administration accepts this federal waiver, we will have a situation where an individual who is willing to take a public service job cannot receive a placement from the city, and is therefore unable to get food stamps. And at a time of economic crisis when we are having a hunger crisis, it's unconscionable not to take this federal waiver so we can be sure people have food."

There were many issues regarding New York City's educational system. Council Member Oliver Koppell submitted a "Resolution urging the State Legislature to reject demands to dismantle or abolish Community School Boards in the City of New York," and various Council Members spoke in favor of School Boards.

Councilman James Sanders told of a situation in his district where there was a religious institution that they needed as a school, and the Central Board tried but failed to bring it about. But when School Board Members became involved, they were able to find out what the problem was and resolve it. Stated Sanders, "Now there are 100s of children attending this facility that would not have been there before. This could not have been without the School Board."

Also speaking very strongly was Council Member Dominic Recchio who said, "I hear people knocking the School Boards, and let me just set the record straight. School Boards are needed in the city because they give the parents a voice in their children's education. The local School Boards are not corrupt, they are not full of patronage, and they help the community. Yes, there are a few bad apples, but the majority of School Boards are excellent."

Councilman Miguel Martinez also submitted Resolution 67 opposing the fee changes at CUNY which force undocumented students to pay international rates--double the instate rate they paid before. "This will bring hardship on many undocumented students," Martinez stated. "We want to keep the door open to CUNY not just for certain groups but all groups, including undocumented immigrants."

Councilwoman Yvette Clarke rose in solidarity with Martinez, saying, "I find it really ironic that a school system would deny at the college level those whom they had educated all the way up through public school. The opportunity to complete your education should be open to all. I find it an outrage that it isn't, and I support whole-heartedly the work of Charles Barron, Chair of the Higher Education Committee, to correct this wrong."

Barron's Higher Education Committee had held a packed hearing on February 19th in the City Council Chamber at which School Chancellor Harold Levy was made to answer why he's raised the tuition. Giving testimony at it were lawyers from the Legal Defense Fund; Barbara Bowen, President of the Faculty Union; Professors such as Dr. Lawrence Rushing, head of the Education Committee at the National Action Network, as well as many students. They covered concerns from undocumented student issues, to open enrollment, to dealing with the budget cuts at CUNY, to the Tuition Assistance Program that Governor Pataki is trying to change.

During the City Council meeting, Councilman Barron asked his colleagues to support his Resolution calling upon the State Legislature to restructure the membership of the Central Board of Education so that the City Council has the majority vote, not the Mayor.

"The schools should be controlled mainly by those who have the greatest vested interest in them, and that's the parents," he said. "And there is no other elected official closer to the parents and children than us. Unless there is involvement by the City Council, the lives, the education of our children will continue to be a business deal rather than a quest for quality education and parent empowerment."

All of these Bills and Resolutions, and the many more that were submitted that day, are now under consideration in Committees.