Former council member Ydanis Rodriguez, who made about $148,000 in that function, now makes over $243,000 as town's DOT commissioner.
William Farrington
Mayor Eric Adams has rewarded 10 ex-Metropolis Council members with plum management posts in his administration since taking workplace in January.
The brand new hires – which embrace 4 division heads and different high advisors who principally traded in council seats for higher-paying, six-figure gigs at Metropolis Corridor – have been tapped from each side of political aisle by the previous Brooklyn borough president. Political pundits say their marketing campaign help was essential in serving to Adams prevail in a extremely contested Democratic mayoral major earlier than coasting to victory in final November’s basic election.
Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime Democratic political marketing consultant, mentioned it’s widespread for brand spanking new mayors to repay “political debt” by handing out patronage jobs however there’s a rising concern that Adams has already gone too far by bringing in too many cronies who aren’t certified or could be in over their head.
“Ten ex-council members looks like an terrible lot,” he mentioned. “It makes the [Adams] administration look much less like an administration and extra like a political hiring corridor.
“They every supported Adams for mayor, so they aren't going make any bother and can do what they’re instructed, nevertheless it’s … not one of the best ways to run a authorities as a result of it doesn’t convey high managers in to run a metropolis that’s in disaster.”
The pols-turned-bureaucrats embrace Ydanis Rodriguez, a term-limited Manhattan Democrat who parlayed his get-out-the-vote efforts for Adams with the Latino group and his expertise as former chairman of the transportation committee right into a $243,171-a-year job as commissioner of the Division of Transportation.
Council members make $148,500 yearly.
Rodriguez has inherited a pressure-cooker submit overseeing an embattled division scrambling to fight hovering traffic-fatality charges.
Former Council members Dan Garodnick (D-Manhattan) and Eric Ulrich (R-Queens) are additionally now incomes $243,171 as Planning Division director and Buildings Division commissioner, respectively. Each now have main say within the metropolis’s highly effective development trade regardless of having little expertise within the space.
Ulrich served on the Council from 2009 by means of the top of final 12 months. He briefly labored as a senior advisor to Adams for 4 months this 12 months earlier than being bumped as much as buildings commissioner final week and getting a $42,171-a-year — or 21 p.c — pay hike.
Garodnick, a lawyer who served on the Council from 2006 by means of 2017, most just lately headed the Riverside Park Conservancy.
Different ex-council members who’ve joined the Adams administration embrace:
- Laurie Cumbo, a Brooklyn Democrat incomes $227,786 as commissioner of the Division of Cultural Affairs.
- Fernando Cabrera, a Bronx Democrat and pastor pocketing $227,786 as Adams’ senior religion advisor within the newly created Workplace of Religion-Based mostly and Group Partnership.
- Republican James Oddo, who most just lately served as Staten Island borough president earlier than touchdown a $211,150 job as chief of workers to Deputy Mayor of Operations Meera Joshi.
- Peter Koo, a Queens Democrat incomes $201,000 as senior advisor to Deputy Mayor of Public Security Philip Banks. Koo owns a series of pharmacies and has no reported expertise in legislation enforcement.
- Mark Treyger, a Brooklyn Democrat and former college instructor making $195,000 because the mayor’s senior training advisor.
- Paul Vallone, a Queens Democrat incomes $190,000 as deputy commissioner of the Division of Veterans’ Companies.
- Darma Diaz, a Brooklyn Democrat and former social employee making $170,000 as assistant deputy commissioner of the Division of Homeless Companies.
Republican Curtis Sliwa, who misplaced the mayoral election to Adams, ripped the hires, saying the Koo appointment is very troubling contemplating town’s rising crime charges.
“It reveals New York Metropolis is on the market,” mentioned Sliwa, founding father of the Guardian Angels crime-prevention group. “Peter Koo is aware of nothing about public security. He’s a businessman – a pharmacist.”
Koo didn’t return messages.
The hiring of Cabrera and Cumbo additionally haven’t been nicely obtained – however not over lack of expertise.
Adams was broadly criticized for hiring Cabrera due to previous anti-gay remarks the pastor made. Critics, together with former Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, ripped Cumbo’s choice as a result of she’s beforehand made polarizing remarks about Latinos and different immigrants.
Each Cabrera and Cumbo have apologized for his or her divisive remarks, and Adams has mentioned they deserve second possibilities.
When requested concerning the 10 ex-legislators now working for town’s government department of presidency, an Adams spokesman insisted the mayor “has dedicated to hiring the perfect individuals for the correct jobs, and this group of individuals meets and exceeds that aim.”
“They carry a variety of life, authorities, and personal sector backgrounds, and the mayor is proud to have them on board, bringing recent views and experiences to their roles,” he added.
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