CM James Appointed Chair of NYC Council's Sanitation Committee

**For Immediate Release**

January 25, 2010

Contact: Aja Worthy-Davis at (212) 788-7081

Council Member Letitia James accepts new Chair appointment of Council’s Sanitation Committee; she leaves her post as Chair of Contracts Committee with satisfaction

“At the Stated Council meeting this past Thursday, January 21, the City Council voted 47-1 to appoint committee chairs to over forty committees and subcommittees. During this re-shuffling, I was named chair of the Council’s Sanitation Committee, having formerly chaired the Contracts Committee.

During my tenure as chair of the Contracts Committee, my overall goal was to strengthen the power of small businesses to do business and contract with the City. In that regard, I consider one of the most important bills to ever come before the Contracts Committee during my time at the New York City Council to be Local Law 129, (signed by Mayor Bloomberg in 2005). This law established the City’s goal to buy more goods and services from certified minority and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs). This represented more opportunities for certified MWBEs to bid on public contracts, increase their capacity, and effectively contribute to the City's economy.

Additionally, under my chairmanship, the Contracts Committee held hearings on compliance with and expansion of MWBE programs; the outsourcing of public services to the private sector, especially as it affected both service workers throughout the City of New York, as well as the City costs for potentially unnecessary private labor; the effectiveness of HRA back-to-work programs; and the City’s contracts in regards to the procurement of public educational materials. Most recently, the Contracts Committee held a hearing regarding the Office of Payroll Administration’s CityTime contracts, a payroll system that has been criticized as being overly costly and difficult to manage.

My plans are to apply the same kind of intense focus in my position as Chair of the Council’s Sanitation Committee. I look forward to developing a better understanding of the issues regarding sanitation throughout the City of New York, as well as working with the administration and sanitation experts to concentrate on new and innovation ideas regarding Citywide sanitation, and improving upon quality of life issues for constituents.

It continues to be my pleasure to serve as the 35th District Council Member in the New York City Council, for Brooklyn residents, and for every person residing in the five boroughs that my office is able to help.”