The City Council’s new speaker, Christine Quinn, said yesterday that allowing members to publicly debate proposed legislation, which rarely happened under her predecessor, is a “good thing.”

“Active debates on the floor and in committees is a good thing,” Ms. Quinn told The New York Sun yesterday. “It leads to more creative legislation.”

She said the previous speaker, Gifford Miller, did not “stifle” debate, but that “it just wasn’t what happened.”

In fact, according to a report released last week by Citizens Union, an advocacy group pushing for increased transparency in the council, all 206 bills brought to the floor of the body since 2001 have passed and all but five were approved with veto proof margins.

During an interview in her new City Hall office, which is filled with congratulatory bouquets of fresh flowers, Ms. Quinn shied away from picking any legislative fights with Mayor Bloomberg.

When asked which issues she expects to flare up between the council and the administration, she said, “I don’t think it’s useful for me to say I’m going to butt heads with the mayor on X, Y, and Z.”

“Hopefully,” she said, “there will be less time when we butt heads, but if we have to, I have a hard head, so it will be okay.”

If she chooses to extend or overturn term limits, as she has indicated, she will undoubtedly have a fight on her hands. She said her legislative agenda is still being “fleshed out,” but that health care and affordable housing will be priorities.

The new speaker planned to be out with Local 1199 and several other elected officials today, less than a week into the job, calling on health care facilities to sign contracts only with home health agencies that pay their employees a “living wage” and pay for their medical insurance. Local 1199 is launching an advertising blitz over the next few weeks to raise awareness about the issue and put pressure on facilities to increase wages.

A spokeswoman for Ms. Quinn, Maria Alvarado, said there is no corresponding legislation planned on the matter.

Ms. Quinn, the first female speaker of the council and its first openly gay leader, said yesterday that she is getting used to the job, which comes with more responsibility and new perks like an “advance” staff that shows up at events to prepare before she arrives.

She has had a frenzied schedule since she was elected last week. She is in the process of meeting privately with all 51 members of the body to talk about committee assignments and leadership positions that will be divvied up on January 18.

In the last few days, there has been much speculation about who will be chosen to head several key committees, including education and buildings. Almost all members are jockeying to get new posts or to maintain the ones they had. Political observers are watching to see whether Ms. Quinn will reward the colleagues that supported her in the race for speaker and penalize those who didn’t.