New York City borough president
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The five boroughs are coterminous with their respective counties, but the counties do not have actual county governments. Each borough elects a Borough President by direct popular vote. Under the current city charter, the Borough President's powers are limited.
Borough presidents advise the Mayor on issues relating to each borough, comment on all land use items in their borough, advocate borough needs in the annual municipal budget process, administer a small discretionary budget for projects within each borough, appoint Community Boards, and chair the Borough Boards.
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[edit] Boroughs
The five boroughs are coterminous with their respective counties, but the counties do not have actual county governments. Each borough elects a Borough President, but under the current city charter, the Borough President's powers are limited—he or she has a small discretionary budget to spend on projects within the borough. (The last significant power of the borough presidents—to appoint a member of the Board of Education —was abolished, with the board, on June 30, 2002.) Currently, borough presidents serve as ex officio members of various boards and committees.
[edit] Borough Presidents
The Borough Presidents are elected by direct popular vote from each of New York City's five boroughs (see below). Though they were powerful in the past, today, borough presidents have little influence. The borough presidents are seen mainly as ceremonial leaders of their boroughs and borough cheerleaders. The last major responsibility of the borough presidents was their power to appoint a member of the Board of Education, which was abolished in 2002. The two major remaining appointments of the Borough President, is one member of the city Planning Commission and one member of the Panel for Educational Policy. Currently, their responsibility is to advise the mayor on issues relating to each borough, to comment on all land use items in their borough, to advocate borough needs in the annual municipal budget process, to administer a small discretionary budget for projects within each borough, to make certain political appointments for intra-borough offices, to appoint Community Boards (see below), chair the Borough Boards (see below) and to sit as ex officio members on various other boards and committees. Each of the borough presidents has certain pet projects they push while in office. The current Borough Presidents are:
- Bronx: Adolfo Carrión Jr., a Democrat,
- Brooklyn: Marty Markowitz, a Democrat
- Manhattan: Scott Stringer, a Democrat
- Queens: Helen Marshall, a Democrat
- Staten Island: James P. Molinaro, a Conservative
In 1989 the U.S. Supreme Court abolished the New York City Board of Estimate on which each borough president had an equal vote. The court ruled that Board violated the principle of one person-one vote because the boroughs vary so much in population. A new city charter eliminated the Board and distributed the Board's powers between the Mayor and an expanded City Council.
[edit] Borough Boards
Each Borough has a Borough Board consisting of the Borough President, the City Council members from the borough, and the chair of each of the borough's Community Boards. The Borough Boards meet monthly to serve the needs of the local communities. They may hold public hearings, make inquiries into the performance of public services, and make recommendations about city owned land use and sales within the borough.
[edit] Community Boards
New York City is divided into 59 administrative districts, each served by a Community Board. Community Boards are local representative bodies that serve as advocates for New York City residents and communities. Each Board has up to 50 voting members, with one half of the membership appointed each year for two-year terms; there are no term limits. Additionally, all city council members whose council districts cover part of a community district are ex-officio Board members and may participate in all Board activities. However, council members may not vote on Board issues. Borough Presidents appoint the voting Community Board members, with half of the appointees nominated by council members representing the district in proportion to the percentage of the community board's population they represent. Broadly assigned by the city charter to "Consider the needs of the district which it serves," the Boards have been limited in their ability by ineffective local communication channels, minuscule budgets and archaic technology. As a result, many residents have concluded that they have little impact on the operation of their communities or their lives. The BeyondVoting Wiki and the Community-Based Planning Task Force have begun to address the limitations. See Community Board 3, Queens' website and Livable Neighborhoods Report to learn more about a typical Board's operation and how these efforts hope to make improvements in the future.
