| Releases
& Statements
For Immediate Release
Contact: Frank Sobrino
O: (212) 669-4193
Statement by Public Advocate Betsy
Gotbaum
On the Mayor’s State of the City Address
"I applaud the Mayor for calling
to put tax dollars back in the pockets of taxpayers. I'm in full
support of the sales tax cut. Property tax relief, even if only
temporary, is also welcome. Homeowners have been socked over the
past few years by the spike in the property tax rate and soaring
assessments.
“I’m hopeful that in this
time of plenty for the City that dollars can be found to help
our city’s most frail and vulnerable. We need more judges
for our Family Court system to help ensure the safety of children
in danger of abuse. We need more caseworkers to help seniors,
children and the helpless.
“I also agree with the Mayor
that our schools, as he put it, still have ‘a long way to
go.’ Unfortunately, unlike the courses of action outlined
in other policy areas, the latest education reform initiatives
are neither clear nor confidence-inspiring. Hopefully, this will
change as proposals are fleshed out, but the Administration seems
to be at a loss for the kinds of creative ideas and energy that
it has shown in taking on other problems, including illegal guns,
for example.
“In the area of school reform,
we seem to be going around in circles, obsessing over what an
organization chart should look like, waffling back and forth between
old and new.
“While there was much to applaud
today, the state of our schools and the future of public education
in our city remain troubling.”
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