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The Commission strives to make our local government more accountable to New Yorkers. This means ensuring public officials are transparent about their actions and decisions. Public servants should be accountable and accessible to the people they serve; otherwise, corruption and abuse of power can thrive. Here are some key topics to understand when it comes to holding your government accountable.
Government Accountability
Advice and consent is a tool in our system of checks and balances that allows the New York City Council to approve or disapprove of officials appointed by the Mayor to lead city agencies and gives the public the ability to voice their opinions on proposed appointees at public hearings.
A duly elected mayor shouldn’t easily be removed from office. However, there are instances when it may be appropriate. Currently, New Yorkers do not have the power to remove a mayor they deem unfit for office, nor does the City Council. Ultimately, there are very few ways NYC’s mayor can be removed.
New York City’s budget for Fiscal Year 2025 is $118.5 billion — greater than the budget of 46 states! When dealing with such a tremendous sum of money, proper budgeting and accountability are crucial to ensuring city services are properly funded. Transparency is the key to good budget-making and the cornerstone of a well-functioning democracy. Here are the essential terms to know when discussing how the government spends our money.
Budget transparency
New York City’s budget is divided into units, or building blocks, called units of appropriation (U/As). According to the City Charter, each U/A should represent the amount appropriated “to a particular program, purpose, activity or institution” within a City agency. In practice, however, many U/As encompass a wide range of programs and purposes, and the New York City Council can only appropriate funds to U/As, not the specific programs within them. This makes it impossible for the public to see — and for the City Council to control — exactly where money is going. Should the City Council have the ability to break apart existing U/As into smaller, more programmatic units?
Impoundment refers to the executive power to withhold or prevent legally appropriated funds from being sent to their destination. Even appropriations that the City Council has democratically approved, can be prevented from being spent through impoundment by the Mayor. As currently stated in the City Charter, the mayor’s ability to impound is broad and does not specify permissible grounds or guidelines. Should there be tighter regulations on when impoundment is permissible — like in times of fiscal emergency — versus when it's used as a political tool to override a democratically negotiated budget?
Land Use
Land use refers to the way space and buildings are developed, particularly in the context of urban planning. In a city where land is scarce, policies and processes that promote holistic planning are essential to support New York City’s constantly evolving needs. Here are some key terms to understand when thinking about land use and housing in our unique city.
"Land Use" is a term that can simply mean, "how land is used," but can also encompass a range of planning issues about our city, such as housing, zoning, community planning, infrastructure (such as sewers and open space), public facilities (including schools and libraries), transportation, economic development, and historic preservation. In the City of New York, there are rules for the way that our land is used, most of which can be found in the City’s Zoning Resolution. In order to change the rules for how a piece of land can be used (for example, to build a taller building than is allowed), the landowner must go through an approval process.
The Fair Housing Framework Law was created to help combat the City’s housing crisis by ensuring that every neighborhood does its fair share in developing affordable housing. Under this law, the City must conduct an analysis of housing needs, which includes production targets for developing different types of housing. While the City proposes strategies for meeting these housing targets, there is nothing in the Charter that places accountability on specific agencies to fulfill them.