Eric Adams Hosts City Employee Town Hall
Mostly a political stunt, remote work pilot likely to be extended
On Monday July 22nd Eric Adams took pre-screened questions from various city employees over an hour long session. The whole thing started out with a canned video going over some of Eric Adams accomplishments as Mayor, and after the first few questions it held on to that feeling of a campaign town hall.
This is a step in the right direction for Eric Adams as he has previously not wanted to engage directly with constituents, employees and reporters. When he became mayor he did not keep up the tradition DeBlasio started of taking weekly questions from callers on the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. He also cut back on taking off-topic questions from reporters to only once a week, a choice for which he was widely criticized..
Some Question Highlights:
The first question was from a DOE employee who asked what Eric Adams is doing for herself as a teacher, her husband and other city employees to bring down the cost of childcare. This is a tricky issue as many city employees make too much to qualify for low income benefits, but do not make nearly enough to survive in New York City. Eric Adams touted a plan he introduced a year ago that does not seem to have panned out considering 2,400 3-K applicants were left without a seat this past May. He stated he brought the cost of childcare to under $5 a week, which is true for a household making less than $55,000 a year but has no relevance to this teacher whose title starts at $64,789. He then went on a tangent about settling the labor agreements including raises (thanks for the bare minimum) followed by a vague promise to identify and help out middle income people.
The next question he was asked whe he was going to do about the illegal weed stores and got a bizarre answer. His reply was that they are in fact hiding really well and that is why they have been slow to crack down. Anyone with eyes can see otherwise but regardless what relevance does this have to city employees?
Eric Adams then told a Department of Youth and Community Development employee asking about any new mental health initiatives that he “start[s] [his] day with prayer, meditation, and a green smoothie”. It might be important to mention he also cut DYCD’s budget by 188.2 million. The City Council released a well written report on that department’s budget which is worth looking at.
After some nonsense about ghost cars, he got a question about a fireman unable to afford to buy property within the city. An issue many employees face, to which Adams gave 90% of his answer about renting in the city. This answer highlights a trend where people ask what the city is doing for city employees specifically and Adams replies with some political rant or subsidy/benefit that most middle income city employees do not qualify for. Workers want to know what the city is doing for them specifically, city employees stay for so long not because they are paid well they do it for the specific benefits they receive like healthcare, union protections and the coveted pension.
DC37 is finally mentioned after around 44 minutes and questions start to get more labor related. Sadly our contract agreements were used to partially explain the budget cuts, when in reality they were some that just had to be done. Following that one positive note (after saying he personally did not like it of course) was that he will most likely extend or make permanent the remote work pilot. This is great news for Local 375 members, many of whom qualified and took advantage of this pilot. It is an important aspect of work flexibility allowing people to stay home with a child, save one commuting costs and stay healthy if they are immune-compromised. One thing that needs to be expanded is compressed schedules for employees who cannot work from home or think it would not work with how they personally fulfill their duties.
“There will always be some form of remote work, we are clear on that… A happier worker is a better worker” -Eric Adams
Another Local 375 relevant question which would have been interesting to hear a thoughtful answer on was; “Would it be possible to offer more inter agency training opportunity for inspectors, it'd be great to have the chance to broaden the knowledge of conditions we should look for when out inspecting by collaborating more with other agencies?”. Unfortunately Adams did not seem to understand the question but wanted more info. This question is interesting for inspectors with 375 as oftentimes different city agencies do not communicate with each other and if a DOB inspector observes illegal tree damage while certifying electrical for example, there is no avenue to internally get that report to the other agency. They must rely on the same public and often overwhelmed 311 system. While no specific inspector should have to learn how every other inspector does their job, their basic expertise as city employees puts them leagues ahead of your average citizen in efficiently reporting an issue. Every inspector deals with the business end of 311 complaints and most city agencies use somewhat standard language for describing locations and issues. Hopefully that employee follows up with the office and something does come of it to better cross train inspectors. Unsuprisingly Adams does not seem to understand outside of law enforcement what different city inspectors work under him from DOB, forestry, DOT, DSNY to even health inspectors.
All in all it was a boiler plate politician response to most questions which I am sure left the people who asked unsatisfied. It was interesting to note that this town hall differed from other town halls Adams has attended in that it was completely virtual. Was this so employees did not have to take off to attend or to avoid confrontations? Previous town halls held in specific neighborhoods were interrupted during the peak of the NYC protests of the Genocide in Palestine. Was he trying to avoid a DeBlasio incident where hundreds of police turned their back while he spoke? Whatever it was, why this was not held in person and why people were not allowed to follow up should be asked.
On the bright side he did announce that there will be more town halls and they will be held “more specifically by subject area” whatever that means.
“I am you” -Eric Adams
