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Office of the Public Advocate 
The Public Advocate's powers are laid out in Section 24 of the City Charter and include the following provisions.
Section 24(f)
"...the public advocate shall... review complaints of a recurring and multiborough or citywide nature relating to services and programs, and make proposals to improve the city's response to such complaints... receive individual complaints concerning city services and other administrative actions of city agencies; and investigate and otherwise attempt to resolve such individual complaints."
Section 24(i)
"...The Public Advocate may, on the request of a resident, taxpayer, community board, council member or borough president, or on his or her own motion, inquire into any alleged failure of a city officer or agency to comply with any provision of the Charter..."
Section 24(j)
"... the Public Advocate shall have timely access to those records and documents of city agencies which the Public Advocate deems necessary to complete the investigations, inquiries and reviews required by this section."
The Public Advocate presides over all stated meetings of the City Council, a locally elected body with 51 members representing communities across New York . As the presiding officer, Public Advocate Gotbaum is an ex-officio member of all committees in the Council, and in that capacity has the right to introduce and co-sponsor legislation.
The Public Advocate is a Trustee on the Board of the New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS) which is New York City 's largest retirement system, serving 200,000 current employees and 130,000 retirees. As of December 31, 2004 the fund had 34 billion dollars in assets. As a Trustee the Public Advocate's fiduciary responsibility consists of ensuring that members' retirement benefits are available upon retirement and that the fund maximizes its return on investment at appropriate levels of risk.
Public Advocate Gotbaum sits on an appointments committee to select the Director of the Independent Budget Office (IBO). The IBO is a publicly funded agency dedicated to enhancing understanding of New York City 's budget by providing non-partisan budgetary, economic, and policy analysis for the residents of the city and their elected officials. In September 2002, an appointing committee consisting of the Comptroller, the Public Advocate, a representative of City Council, and a representative of the Borough Presidents selected Ronnie Lowenstein to be IBO's director for a four year term.
The role of the Voter Assistance Commission (VAC) is to encourage and facilitate voter registration and voting by all eligible United States citizens residing in New York City . VAC is strictly nonpartisan. Public Advocate Gotbaum is one of seven commissioners who serve as ex-officio members on the Commission.
Public Advocate Gotbaum serves as an ex-officio member of the Board of Trustees at the Museum of the City of New York. BG is an ex-officio member meaning she attends the board's quarterly meetings but does not vote.
Finally, Public Advocate Gotbaum serves as an ex-officio member of the Board of Trustees at the Queens Borough Public Library.
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