Mayor Disappointed Council Has Retained ‘Lulus’
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Mayor Bloomberg has scolded the City Council for not eliminating the stipends it gives to committee chairmen and leaders, saying yesterday he was disappointed that lawmakers did not act on a recommendation from his advisory commission.
Nonetheless, the mayor said he would sign off on the 25% raises the council members voted for themselves on Wednesday.
The mayor’s three-member commission recommended salary increases for the city’s elected officials, but it also concluded that the system of stipends — often called “lulus” — was “ripe for reform.” The panel also urged “further examination” of the council’s current part-time status, which allows members to receive outside income. Civic groups and other reform advocates have long criticized these practices, which have been repeatedly endorsed by the current speaker, Christine Quinn.
“I think the speaker feels that they are appropriate, and that’s her judgment. I don’t happen to agree with that part of it,” Mr. Bloomberg told reporters yesterday in Midtown. He said he agreed with “virtually all” of the commission’s recommendations. Of the stipends, which range between $4,000 and $28,500, the mayor said, “If you got rid of those, it’d probably be better.”
At a council meeting on Wednesday, Ms. Quinn defended the system, saying members who serve as committee heads or in leadership positions deserve additional compensation for the added responsibilities they assume.
Critics say speakers use the stipends to reward loyalty and control members.
Ms. Quinn is also hearing calls for reform from within the council. A Queens lawmaker, Hiram Monserrate, yesterday called on the mayor to appoint a Charter Revision Commission that would recommend stripping the mayor and the council of the power to approve their own salary raises. Mr. Monserrate was one of five council members to vote against the raise. He and another lawmaker, Tony Avella of Queens, called the move “unethical.”
Under Mr. Monserrate’s proposal, the mayor-appointed advisory commission, which is usually impaneled every four years, would have the final say on salaries for elected officials.
The mayor’s chief spokesman, Stuart Loeser, said it was “far too early to discuss any charter revision recommendations that might go on next year’s ballot.”
The City Council also has the power to appoint a Charter Revision Commission, but such a move would be highly unlikely, given Ms. Quinn’s strong push for the salary increase vote. In a rebuke to Mr. Avella, who introduced a failed amendment to the bill, she said there was “nothing unethical” about the vote. The measure passed, 41-5.