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1 **+ /v *r>m W JT 7 %u2014 M m l JT W %u2022 *m. W~\\ . ^ __jT ~ \\ %u201e Keagan would Ha ve Been (Juried If Siopers Were TheU.S. Congress t t rBY MARY JO NEUBERGERIf the Park Slope Forum were the U.S. Congress, President Reagan might well havebeen impeached Friday night. The mood wasstrongly anti-Administration among those inthe standing room only crowd who gatheredat the St. JME Community Center on 7th St.to discuss U.S. press coverage of events inCentral America and the ramifications of thecurrent Iran/Contra crisis at the WhiteHouse. The program, which offered comments by press critic Alexander Cockbumand the Rev. Phil Wheaton of the EcumenicalProgram for Inter-American Communication and Action (EPICA), was sponsored byBrooklyn CISPES (Committee in Solidaritywith the People of El Salvador) and the ParkSlope Forum.Those who arrived early were luckyenough to get seats, the rest of the 200-pluspeople who attended sat on the floor or leanedwhere they could. As work-day worries wereput aside, other concerns were picked up.Heads were scratched, nails bitten and eventhe dozen infants in the audience took a breakfrom sobbing, as rapt attention was focusedon the stage. Although most of the crowd wasyoung, there were people from all age groupsthere to express concern and try to makesense out of the arms tangle they have seenuncovered in Washington.Alex Cockbum%u2019s satirical remarks, spicedwith incisive jabs at Republican andDemocratic politicians alike, was continuallyinterrupted by bursts of laughter from the audience. The writer for The Nation and otherprogressive periodicals, who regularly applies his verbal whip to other members of hisown trade, demonstrated his way with words,illustrating why he is the only left-wing journalist to appear regularly in the Wall StreetJournal.Information suggesting the government%u2019sinvolvement in contra funding was therefrom the beginning, said Cockbum. The pressdidn%u2019t see it, he says, because they were toobusy playing %u201chandpersons%u201d (a feministvariation on hand-maidens) to the Administration. Cockbum also offered his prophecy of future repercussions from the crisis,including revelations of drug smuggling bycontra leaders, Vice-President GeorgeBush%u2019s confession of his involvement and theresignation of CIA head William Casey. Thislast drew enthusiastic cheers from the audience.While the majority of the audience wasclearly supportive of Reagan%u2019s downfall,many want more than an end to U.S. intervention in Central America. The bannertacked to the wall of the center reflects thissentiment: %u201cPeople in solidarity with thepeople of El Salvador.%u201d Members of theSister City project, who have a declared relaCockburn also offered hisprophecy o f future repercussionsincluding vice-president GeorgeBush's confession o f involvementand the resignation o f CIA HeadWilliam Casey.________________tionship with the town of San Juan del RioCoco in Nicaragua, and other groups presentat the meeting want to go beyond a change inpolicy. More than just angry, they werevisibly concerned about the welfare of peoplein Latin America.The laughter in the crowd died down andfaces wrinkled with concern when the secondspeaker, Phil Wheaton, an Episcopalminister returning from El Salvador,described the havoc wreaked upon that country, including thousands dead, from the recent earthquake. But when Wheaton described the %u201creal earthquake%u201d as the Salvadorangovernment%u2019s U.S.-supported military armwhich, he said, continues to terrorize thepeasants, the room was again awash withgrumbling.By the end of the addresses, the crowdseemed ready to act on the minister%u2019s concluding advice: %u201cStand people to people;stand up to Reagan.%u201d Although they may below on organized political power, the peopleat the Forum this night seemed to reflect awillingness to do what they can to expresstheir views, whether it is giving up a Fridayevening to leam more or contributing $3 eachto help pay the cost of sponsoring moreforums on the subject.To a reporter who has ever voice doubtabout the depth of knowledge or interest incurrent issues on the part of his readers, itwas an important sight to see. The knowledgethat a substantial number of people are taking time to become more aware of eventsthat are happening in another hemispherecan soften occasional cynicism and encourage a journalist to work to higher standards.Verdict Finally In: Board O f Estimate Voting Is Ruled UnconstitutionalBY CHRIS ARCHERTo look at the front page headlines over thispast year, you%u2019d think that, if it could happenin New York City%u2019s government, it alreadyhad. The corruption scandals this year outdistanced most other stories (and forms ofcorruption) for attention in the media.It%u2019s ironic then, that perhaps the mostsignificant event of the year for municipalgovernment did not occur in New Haven,Connecticut, the Bronx, or even in Queens. Ittook place in Brooklyn, in Federal DistrictCourt on November 19. Judge Edward R.Neaher ruled that the structure of the City%u2019sBoard of Estimate violates the constitutionalprinciple of one-man, one-vote. He orderedthe City to change the way the board votes.Indeed, it%u2019s important to realize that, longbefore rhetoric decrying political corruptionsprang up like weeds, there was the suit filedby the New York Civil Liberties Union onbehalf of a handful of Brooklyn citizensagainst the Board of Estimate in 1981. Now,\Charter Revision Commission that willsearch for the mandated changes, it%u2019s safe tosay that the effects of Neaher%u2019s decision willhave greater ramifications than any of the indictments or convictions handed down thisyear or next.Actually, it%u2019s two years from now that%u2019s important. The commission%u2019s recommendationsmust be on the ballot for a referendum in thegeneral election in 1988. The outcome of thecommission%u2019s work, plus the subsequent voteon the matter will effect the way New YorkCity and its individual boroughs are run foryears to come.EFFICIENT OR TOO POWERFULThe body of elected officials in question is,for the record, composed of three city-wideofficials, including the Mayor, the Comptroller and the City Council President, eachwith two votes apiece. The other fivemembers are the borough presidents, eachwith one vote apiece. The board meets twicea month, and has, in addition to thebudgetary powers it shares with the CityCouncil, the power to approve or deny majorcontracts and franchises, and to decide onoften critical issues of land use and city planning.Called efficient by some and denounced byothers as too much concentration of power inone group of people, the board is no strangerto controversy. But the problem that must besolved in this particular case is representation. The oft-cited example is that both StatenIsland and Brooklyn have one vote each onthe board. Yet Staten Island%u2019s population isonly about 352,000, while Brooklyn%u2019s is nearlyz.o minion. Consequently, Staten island isstatistically more powerful per voter thanBrooklyn. The overall question, then, is howdo you make representation of New York Cityresidents in government more fair andequitable?Like any question of this sort, none of theproposed options or their consequences is 100percent attractive, a fact illustrated this pastweek at two events in Manhattan that addressed the subject of what to do about theboard.The Association of the Bar of the City ofNew York sponsored a forum December 3 entitled: %u201cDoes the Board of Estimate Have A *Future?%u201d The panel included, among others,Manhattan Borough President DavidDinkins, Henry Berger of the Association ofthe Bar, and Robert F. Wagner, president ofthe Board of Education and former CityCouncil Member at Large, who all discusseda number of possible options to the way inwhich city government in general is structured.Some of the suggestions put forward, inbrief, included: weighted voting, whichwould assign some borough presidents morevotes on the board than others, based on thepopulations of each respective borough;dividing the city into so-called %u201csuperdistricts,%u201d which would conceivably cutacross the borough lines; expanding theBorough President Howard Goldendelivered these remarks on Dec. 3 at apublic hearing of the N.Y. State AssemblyCommittee on Cities, held in Manhattan.BY HOWARD GOLDENI come here today with great concern overthe fact that you are being asked to participate in the New York City Council%u2019s graspfor power.* Bill A111999 and its memorandum in support says, in essence, that the City Council issick and tired, after 80 years, of sharingbudget adoption with the Board of Estimateand therefore the State Legislature shouldgrant such power to the Council alone. Thisrequest is not buttressed by any argumentsuggesting that the current Charter procedures, adopted after much study only adecade ago, are ill serving the public. In fact,the reasoning behind calling for the involvement of fewer elected officials in budgeting isthat it will somehow permit greater public involvement. The rationale behind this eludesme.Other jurisdictions do function without aBoard of Estimate. The conclusion drawnthat we should too, however, does not logically follow. No other city has New York%u2019sCuinic composition, geography, anu government. Nothing has been presentedthat shows other cities%u2019 budget processesfunction better or more efficiently than NewYork%u2019s. The only thing that comes clear is theCity Council%u2019s desire to disrupt the delicateBoard of Estimate to include more than onerepresentative from some or all of theboroughs; appointment of the Board ofEstimate by the City Council; and the simpleelimination of the Board of Estimate, andputting the city government solely into thehands of the Executive (Mayor) andlegislative (City Council) branches.Disagreeing with the proposed billthat would give budgetary powerssolely to the City Council, Goldenstated that %u2018the rationale behindthis eludes me.________________Dinkins, speaking on behalf of the Board ofEstimate, argued for retention of the Boardof Estimate, stating that each of the boroughsin the city %u201ccould comprise cities inthemselves.%u201d Disagreeing with the CityCouncil%u2019s recent call to strip the Board of itsbudgetary powers, Dinkins stated that the%u201csize and complexity%u201d of the budget processis an argument in itself for a process that centralizes the procedure to a certain extent infive borough executives, as well as individualbalance of power that now exists in ourbudget adoption process. I suggest that this isnot sufficient reason for you to change NewYork City%u2019s Charter.The five Borough Presidents on the Boardof Estimate speak for the needs of all the people in their respective boroughs. Brooklyn,with its 2.5 million residents, is the mostpopulous county in New York State, and withmore than ninety ethnic groups, it is certainly the most diverse. Its budgetary needs canOther jurisdictions do functionwithout a Board o f Estimate. Theconclusion drawn that we should,too, does not logically follow. Noother City has New York's historyethnic composition, geography,and government.not be equitably reflected by Councilmembers whose considerations areprimarily parochial. Major economicdevelopment projects and cultural programswould suffer without a borough-widelegislator whose vote would represent the interests of everyone in that county.According to the New York City Council,pi upei representation is tiie guai of uiis uiii.If that is so, then the detailed knowledge andbroad wisdom of borough-wide elected officials, directly responsible to all the people,is absolutely necessary to ensure equitabledistribution of the city%u2019s scarce resources.City Council representatives.Saying that he welcomes the Charter Revision Commission, Dinkins neverthelesswarned of a %u201cclimate of hysteria%u201d that hesaw as being created by the recent City corruption scandals. %u201cThere%u2019s great confusion inthe minds of the people,%u201d he said, stressingthe need for not only a completely opencharter revision process, but one that is wellinformed about what the issues really are.Dinkins%u2019 concerns were echoed by his colleague on the board, Brooklyn BoroughPresident Howard Golden, who spoke thatsame day at a public hearing held indowntown Manhattan by the State AssemblyCommittee on Cities. Disagreeing stronglywith a proposed bill that would givebudgetary powers solely to the City Council,Golden stated that the %u201crationale behind thiseludes me.%u201dLIKE NO OTHER CITY%u201cOther jurisdictions do function without aBoard of Estimate,%u201d he said. %u201cThe conclusiondrawn that we should too, however, does notlogically follow. No other city has New York%u2019shistory, ethnic composition, geography andgovernment. He characterized the City Council%u2019s desire as one designed %u201cto disruptdelicate balance of power that now exists inour budget adoption process.%u201dSaying that the borough presidents %u201cspeakfor the needs of all the people in their respective boroughs,%u201d Golden argued that the City%u2019sneeds %u201ccannot be equitably reflected bycouncilmembers whose concerns areprimarily parochial.%u201d Major economicdevelopment projects and cultural programswould suffer without a borough widelegislator whose vote would represent the interests of everyone in that county.%u201dIndeed it would seem that the question,ultimately, is one of balance. What is the proper balance between the legislative and executive branches of city governmentWhile the 1977 charter revisions gave theCity Council greater oversight and input intothe budget process, most observers of citypolitics would say that the Council has been ashadow to the Mayor and the Board ofEstimate. It was only this year, in fact, thatMajority Leader Peter Vallone exercised forthe first time the Council%u2019s full powers underthe revisions in formulating the budget.The stage, then, has been set for change incity government. Certainly, most wouldagree that the process needs to be open andinformed. Revising the constitution of anygovernment is a potential Pandora%u2019s box.And the current revision process is notlimited to just the Board of Estimate.The implications of the process are bevondthe most erudite imaginations now. But thatfact illustrates that the only certainty rightnow is the magnitude and gravity of theissue. Not only should the process be openand informed. It suould be an exhaustive examination of every possible avenue.Borough President Says The Board O f EstimateStill Knows New York City Better Than CouncilD ecem ber 11, 1986, THE P H O E N IX , Page 35