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Mayor Asks Exemptions And Delays ForVoter Approved Decentralization Of City Servicesnv ro rw r VAN Cl \\HLTX? A/ A 1 AMXt t+MJ M.Decentralization of city services in New York was the most hotly debated issue in the November 1975 election. Would decentralization bring city government closer to the people? Should there be little %u201ccity halls%u201d representing small areas throughout the city? Should each of these %u201cLittle city halls%u201d have a professional paid minimayor or manager to coordinate city services? Should this manager be answerable to a board of residents from neighborhoods of the area it covers?The officials of the Beame administration were largely against it; they said even if the voters said yes it would be too expensive and with the city near bankruptcy that year money for decentralization would be unthinkable.New York City voters, that November decided, in spite of the strenuous objection from politi cians and the city administration, they wanted the changes and they overwhelmingly approved changes to the City Charter, giving the Mayor until January 1980 to come up with a plan to implement it.The first step in decentralizing government was the creation of 59 community boards as the Charter stated %u201c to coincide with historic geographic and identifiable communities from which the city developed.%u201dAfter studies by the Planning Commission and city-wide hearings the Board of Estimate, with minor changes and relatively little acrimony, adopted the present boundaries for the community boards.Board members - fifty for each area -- settled in after their appointment by the Borough President and started hiring district managers, renting office space and hiring staff.The next step, decentralization of the city%u2019s agencies proved to be a much slower process. When Mayor Ed Koch took office in January 1978 a Community Board Assistance Unit (CBAU) was set up to study and report to the Mayor on how to implement the Charter.Three years after the Charter passed Mayor Ed Koch released his final report on how this decentralization will be implemented, leading off with a proposal to postpone it. In addition, Koch says that some services should not even be decentralized at all, and asks forthe City Council to overrule the 1975 vote by amending the City Charter once again.Amendments to and postponements of the implementation of the Charter may be done by either the voters or the Council.SIMPLIFY GOVERNMENTWhat had sold people on the idea of decentralization in 1975 were two features: (1) A feature that would build in the system greater responsiveness and accountability from city agencies; and (2) a feature that would simplify city government structure and improve communication between agencies and community groups. The proposals finally approved by the voters were created by a Charter Revision Commission begot by the State Legislature and headed by State Senator Roy Goodman.Simplifying city governmentl could be accomplished, the Charter proposal said, by creating \minolus service districts,%u201d to end the jumble of overlapping service area boundaries agencies had created. People who were at aloss to figure out which sanitation districts, police precincts, health districts, park districts or any other district served community would have instead, a single service district, creating accountability and accessibility.communication between city agencies and community groups and build in agency accountability by city agency personnel, each community board area would create a %u201c District Service Cabinet.%u201d Each city agency would then send an official with managerial responsibility to the cabinet who would be able to %u201c exercise independent judgment in the scheduling, allocation and assignment of personnel and equipment,%u201d as the revised Charter said.The Charter proposed that police patrol, parks and recreation, street cleaning and refuse collection and social services made coterminuous or have the same boundaries as the newly created community board areas. However, the Mayor%u2019s preliminary report, issued by City Hall%u2019s Community Board Assistance Unit (CBAU) in March, recommended to exempt the Parks and Recreation Department from coterminality.THE MAYOR%u2019S PROPOSALThe final report out last month states, however, that %u201c much publicreaction%u201d focused on the %u201c importance of strict adherence to the Charter%u201d so that now the CBAU is proposing coterminality for city parks but is asking a three year delay and a %u201c staged implementation%u201d for recreation services in the Parks Department because it does not have %u201c sufficient personnel.%u201dAccording to the final CBAU report %u201c Commissioners have presented compelling evidence that, either in some areas of the city or city-wide implementation of coterminality would result in diminished service by their agencies,%u201d and the report recommends four departments where exemptions to the Charter are necessary: Police, Housing, Preservation, Human Resources, and the Parks.For the Police Department, the Mayor%u2019s report predicts that coterminality can be achieved by the January 1980 deadline although delays are necessary in certain Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens precincts.For the Housing Preservation and Development Department (HPD) %u201c CBAU and HPD have concluded,%u201d according to the report, that %u201c there is no equitable or cost effective means of making either the Neighborhood Preservation Program or related housing rehabilitation services strictly coterminous.%u201d HPD further argues that %u201c housing needs%u201d rather than %u201c %u201c Community districts boundaries%u201d should define its program.The Human Resources Department (HRA) which provides the city%u2019s social services also asked for exemptions from the coterminality mandate of the Charter as did the Parks Department, mentioned earlier, leaving only the Sanitation Department to comply wholly with the coterminality law.THE AGENCY REPRESENTATIVESOne of the most important issues in the redrawing of boundaries is the assignment of an agency representative to local community boards who have managerial responsibility.It is not clear from the present City Hall plan how much authoritv. if any, some of the agency representatives will have.The Health Department, for example, will have a %u201c wide variety of officials%u201d assigned to represent the Department at community board meetings who might have%u201cIf Stoops Could Speak%u201d: First St.Block History Tells It As It WasBY JEAN STERNLIGHTWhen Continental troops and militiamen fled down the old Porte Road to escape from the British, little did they know that it would soon become solid American soil and more than 200 years later be called First Street in Park Slope.Indians, wampun, the Dutch town of Breuckelen, the American Revolution, the Brooklyn Dodgers who used to dodge trolley cars and George Washington%u2019s retreat in Brooklyn take on a new meaning and reality when you see them all laid out together with many fascinating pictures in the First Street Block Association%u2019s newly arrived history display at the Greater New York Savings Bank on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope.Inspired by the country%u2019s bicentennial, the First Street Block Association (for the block between 5th and 6th Aves.) not only put together the exhibit now on display at the Greater, but also created a professional looking 20 page booklet called %u201c If Stoops Could Speak.%u201dIt traces the history of First Street back to the 1600%u2019s and discusses its purchase from the Indians, its importance as the siteof the Porte Road along which Washington and his men retreated, and the development of the block (and the building of brownstones), in the 1800s. Such nearby points of interest as the Gowanus Creek, the Old Stone House (now a community center), the Washington Ballfield, and the former Garfield Theatre are also mentioned. The use of extensive quotes and anecdotes from old First Street residents brings the historical descriptions to life.One interesting discovery was that the block's residents haven%u2019t changed much. Mary Ann Policastro, a First Street resident, says: %u201c We%u2019re still basically a middle class block,%u201d and %u201cwe%u2019re even from similar backgrounds. It was even ethnically mixed back then.%u201dThe listing of original First Street brownstoners, compiled by the Block Association showed that they were plumbers, surveyors, shoe manufacturers, auctioneers, miikmen, bookkeepers, conductors, and clerks, and were in businesses such as mining, plateglass, clothing diamonds, and lumber.Researching the block history turned out to be a huge projectwhich %u201cgot more and more exciting as it went on,%u201d says Policastro. Rosalie Montemarrano, another block resident noted that %u201c it started out with just a few people involved, but everyone on the block then started getting involved in it.%u201dResearch for the project included collecting old photographs and documents, compiling oral histories of old block residents, searching in archives for old maps in histories, and doing extensive reading on the history Brooklyn as a whole. Policastro pointed out that while %u201ca core of 10 people%u201d did much of the work, %u201c at least 60 people had some level of input into the project.%u201dFinancing for the project was acquired by putting together an ethnic cookbook and through receipt of a Brooklyn Educational and Cultural Association (BECA) grant. The book is now on sale for $2.00 at the Community Bookstore, Wo- * * %u25a0 r %u00bb r - %u2014*t_ A _IUC11 a TTUIA3 VII JCVtlllli nvuiuC ,and Julie%u2019s Card Shop on Fifth Avenue. It is also available by mail from lauree Hickok, 326 First St., Brooklyn 11215 for $2.34. It is well worth the wait.authority over certain services but not over others. The Highways Department, it seems might only send it superintendent to Boroughwide meetings, while in the HRA the report says, %u201c coterminality will not have quite the same effect on line authority...as it will have on other agencies.%u201dIt remains to be seen how community boards will see the recommendations and if the City Council will approve them.Herbert Kramer, Vice Chairman of the Citywide Coalition of Community Boards says of the City Hall plans: %u201c The report does not deal with the real issues of charter reform,%u201d and continues to say that he thinks that %u201c the Commissioners are reluctant to share power with community boards. If this is the best the administration can do there are some very serious problems with the desire and ability Jo implement what the voters wanted,%u201d he added.CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL?City Council members who need to vote approval of delays andexemptions are not all ot one mind on them. Abe Gerges, who represents West Brooklyn says he is not in favor of the recommendations. Mary-Pinkett, representing Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, on the other hand, said that she would like %u201cto take a good look%u201d and if there were good reasons%u201d she might vote for them. Council Majority Leader Thomas was out of town and not available for comment.One of the strongest comments on the proposed exemptions and delays came from the Borough President Howard Golden%u2019s office. Gina Holmes, press secretary to the Borough President said: %u201c The City Charter allowed three years for the implementation and we feel that the City should stay on schedule.\As to any agency exemptions, she said %u201c the intent of the Charter Revision was to improve service delivery in communities and therefore agencies covered by the City Charter should become coterminous with community board boundaries.%u201dMayor Koch In Fort GreeneTakes Stock Of ProblemsMayor Koch came to Brooklyn and walked the streets of Fort Greene on Tuesday July 31st. Tour leader Howard Weiss, head of the Pratt Area Community Council, says that %u201c the Mayor%u2019s office contacted us%u201d , and asked us to give Koch a chance %u201c to walk and talk io the people.%u201d The tour began at about 5pm on Tuesday afternoon, reports Weiss, and lasted a little over an hour. The mayor was accompanied by about five aides and 20 or 30 community people as he strolled through the neighborhood. Sites viewed and specially discussed on the tour included the now empty Brooklyn Eye and Ear Hospital building, Cuyler Park, the Mohawk Hotel, the playground in back of PS 11, Underwood Park, and various good and bad buildings in the neighborhood. Weiss says that as various problems were pointed out to the Mayor, such as the question of whether it is the Board of Education or the Parks Department which has responsibility for the PS 11playground, Koch%u2019s aides furiously scribbled down notes as Koch said to his aides, %u201clook into this,%u201d or %u201c look into that.%u201dThe Community Liaison office is responsible for following up on the problems that are discussed in these tours, says Denise Scheinberg. Director of the Mayor%u2019s Liaison Office. Weiss reports that some follow-up discussion will be arranged, and said that Koch felt that the neighborhood %u201ccould use some technical assistance to help create more co-op buildings.%u201d Scheinberg says that the mayor %u201c was clearly impressed with what a community can accomplish when it works together.%u201dScheinberg described the walk as %u201c part of an ongoing program.%u201d \said. \not notified in advance%u201d because we %u201cwant to give a neighborhood group a chance to be the host, to show what they%u2019ve been doing, and to discuss any problems.%u201dN . Y t P . D .DOUBLE TROUBLE %u2014 A 54year old motorist, Robert Campos, of 41 Cumberland Street, was issued a summons by Officer Ralph Millard, for allegedly failing to stop at a stop sign at Navy and Concord Streets on July 27th. Compos then allegedly attempted to give Officer Millard $10 to forget the violation. The motorist was placed under arrest, taken to the 84th precinct and charged with bribery.HAD A GUN: Officer George Klingberg of the 76th Precinct arrested Victor Negron, 21, of 279 Kosciusko St., at 1:20am July 17 at Smith and Baltic Sts. Negron was allegedly carrying a .22 calibre revolver loaded with eight live rounds; he is charged with criminal possession of a dangerous weapon.AIR GUN: For carrying a .38 calibre Daisy air pistol and allegedly having in his possession a set of stolen license plates. Juan Quiles, 31, of 336 51st St., was arrested at 7am on July 17 by Officer Jim Dennedy of the 76th Precinct. He is charged with criminal possession of a loaded gun, possession of a gun, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal possession of an air pistol.BROKEN DOOR: Emilio Ortis, 19, of 40 Third St., was arrested at6:30am on July 18 by Officer Douglas Lithgow of the 76th Precinct, after he allegedly broke the front door of his building. He is charged with criminal trespass, criminal possession of a dangerous weapon, criminal mischief and harrassment.0 OVER THE FENCE: After a burglary was reported in a nearby house. William Ramos was arrested at 4:10am July 19 when he was spotted climbing over a backyard fence on Sackett St. off Smith St. Ramos. 20. of 46 12th St., was nabbed by 76th Precinct Officer Fred Terrone, and is charged with burglary.TOSS: For allegedly throwing an unidentified object at the head of a train operator in the Smith-9th St. train station, William Martinez. 16, of 241 46th St., was arrested at 10:15 pm July 19 by Officer Vaughn Banks of the Transit Police. He is charged with reckless endangerment.BULLETPROOF VEST: Residents of the Turner Towers at 135rV. Tfr:%u2014 nrnrontnH Pnlipp IVA JL ftk ,, _Officer James Most of the 77th Precinct with a bulletproof vest as a token of their appreciation and admiration for his performance on August 9.Aug. 9. 1979, The PHOENIX, Page 5