March 11, 2005

You might remember me as president of the Riverside-Inwood Neighborhood Garden.  As a Ph.D. in environmental science, adjunct professor in environmental studies at CUNY, steering committee member of solid waste advisory boards, and proponent of a number of environmental bills, having co-authored some (the successful intro in 1989 to close 2200 apartment building incinerators, and the unsuccessful bills on environmental procurement in 1995, 1998, 2000, and 2002) and testified on more, I note with interest that you put Peter Vallone in such an innocent light insofar as his oppressive role in suppressing the votes on most bills that were discussed in the Environmental Protection committee.  Miller has done the same having to be shamed and bullied by a protracted struggle to do the right thing with regard to lead.  We had over half the Council endorse a simple resolution about a long-term zero waste goal, but guess what?  It never came to a vote (which would have meant we would have actually had a forward-looking goal similar to that in many advanced countries, states and cities).  But nooooo.  It doesn't matter whether a committee has the votes to pass any legislation.  It's a game.  They hold the hearing so they can say they held it.  They don't even try if Miller or Vallone doesn't like it.  They can't even bring bills they might like up for a vote within committee.  What kind of government is this?  You condone this?  The media are also partly at fault as none of them covers most hearings at the Council anymore, not even NPR so all is done in secret and nobody knows the sorry state of affairs.  I, and so many well-meaning, educated and experienced people, have testified at City Council hearings on so many bills, budgets, and plans to just one or two councilmembers who bother to hang around.  It's a travesty and this is how things are.   I wish you would report the truth so that more people will know it.

M.C.
 

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