Copyright New York Daily News
It is difficult to stop focusing on NYC’s next mayor. Zohran Mamdani must now appoint his senior staff and be ready to begin governing New York City in less than 60 days. But that doesn’t mean we should forget that there is another branch of government in NYC. The City Council, our legislature, has significant legal authority over the city’s budget, land use, and regulatory policy and a new speaker is about to be elected. Even though we do not directly elect the speaker, the Council members elect their speaker, we should be knowledgeable about this race. The speaker has an important formal role in city governance appointing committee chairs, determining the legislative agenda, and negotiating with the mayor. However, our system of district-based representation makes the speaker even more critical. Our Council members are elected to represent districts, which are geographic units that vaguely reflect the city’s diverse neighborhoods. District based representation ensures that Council members focus primarily on the interests of their neighborhoods and this often leads to parochial decision-making and a failure to look at policy from a citywide perspective. There are of course some exceptions; but it is the speaker who has the greatest responsibility to ensure that the Council fairly addresses citywide issues, as she works with, but sometimes must check the power of the mayor. It is a difficult balancing act. As New York continues to face serious challenges from Washington we will need a speaker with leadership skills, experience, and deep knowledge of policy to help us work through our differences and make difficult policy choices. The Trump administration has already cut funds for infrastructure projects and threatens our most vulnerable populations with the loss of food, shelter, child care and even arrest and deportation. There are few public servants that are as well prepared for this challenge as one of my former students, Julie Menin. I first met Julie in 1986 when she was an undergraduate at Columbia University. Julie was in my American Parties and Elections class and even then, she focused on how government could work better to represent the interests of the people and improve the quality of daily life. Julie understood that democracy is not a spectator sport; effective and equitable government policy depends on getting involved in your community and holding elected officials accountable, and not just on Election Day. I kept up with Julie’s career and was so impressed, I invited her to return to Columbia SIPA as an adjunct professor. She taught a course, When Cities Take the Lead. That course asked the critical question: when the federal government retreats, defunds or deregulates, how can cities use their legislative, regulatory and legal tools to protect their residents, manage rights and advance equity? In the face of a combative national government, she taught her students that cities are not powerless in the federal system. New York City has consistently led with innovations in the economy, education, human rights and public health when other levels of government failed to act. How prescient was this course. An ethos of collaboration in the face of challenges has defined Julie’s entire career in public service as she has taken on corporations, the Trump administration and entrenched political interests. Throughout her time as a three-time city commissioner, as Community Board chair and now as a Council member, Julie has delivered for New Yorkers. She led the city’s census effort, ensuring that every neighborhood received its fair share of federal funds. She passed the Healthcare Accountability Act, which brought transparency to opaque health care pricing. She expanded access to child care, championed small business reform, improved sanitation services, brought free internet access to NYCHA residents, and strengthened protections for survivors of domestic violence. I have been teaching and doing research for decades and spent four years on a public service leave at City Hall. I can say without a doubt, Julie is ready to bring her knowledge, indefatigable energy, proven record and vision to the role of speaker. As leader of the Council, Julie will work with Mayor Mamdani to address the real economic and political challenges we face and help every community in our city thrive. There are many in the Council who could be speaker, but Julie Menin is the Council speaker we need in New York City now.
