Monday, June 22, 2026, 10 a.m. (New York City time), 250 Broadway - 8th Floor - Hearing Room 2
Committee: Committee on Governmental Operations, State & Federal Legislation
The Committee on Governmental Operations, State & Federal Legislation, chaired by Gale A. Brewer, held an oversight hearing on community boards and heard five pieces of legislation: proposed Intro 12-A (AI disclosure in local elections, sponsored by the Speaker), Intro 320 (codifying a Staten Island flag, sponsored by Council Member Morano), a Morano bill on community board appointments (referred to as Intro 322/302), Intro 501-A (terms for community board district managers, sponsored by Council Member Williams, submitted in a written statement), and Intro 951 (barring policymakers and relatives from trading on prediction markets using insider information, sponsored by Council Member Thomas-Henry). The Conflicts of Interest Board testified that existing City law already prohibits much of the conduct targeted by Intro 951 and raised concerns about its disclosure expansion and enforcement against relatives. The Campaign Finance Board said it could implement Intro 12-A's disclosure regime but urged narrowing its scope, and described audit-timeline and resource challenges. The Civic Engagement Commission described its training and support for community boards. Numerous district managers and community board members testified in opposition to Intro 501-A, and the Manhattan Borough President's office submitted testimony opposing it on behalf of three borough presidents. No votes were taken.
0:16 Thank you good morning ladies
0:16 and gentlemen welcome to the
0:19 New York City Council hearing
0:22 for the committee on
0:23 governmental operations state
0:24 and federal legislation at
0:26 this time I'd like to remind
0:27 everyone to please silence all
0:29 devices and at no point during
0:31 the hearing I approach if you
0:33 if you wish to testify at
0:35 today's hearing please see a
0:36 sergeant at the back of the
0:36 room to fill out a testimony
0:38 slip even if you have already
0:41 registered previously online
0:42 chair we are ready to begin.
0:43 Thank you very.
0:44 Much I am gail Brewer I am
0:47 the chair of the governmental
0:50 operations state and federal
0:52 legislation I want to thank
0:54 everyone who's here I know
0:55 that there are those who are
0:56 going to be speaking from
0:58 campaign finance both
0:59 president's office civic
1:01 engagement commission conflict
1:02 of interest sport as well as
1:04 members of the public who are
1:06 . Very interested in community
1:07 boards and other topics we're
1:09 going to be talking about
1:10 community boards I think you
1:11 know they're the most local
1:13 form of government I certainly
1:14 know that they are
1:15 intentionally designed to give
1:17 people who live or work and
1:19 the neighborhood a voice in
1:20 governing they provide
1:22 valuable feedback to agencies
1:23 and other government bodies on
1:24 how services are being
1:26 delivered they also provide
1:27 local policymakers with
1:29 information on how their
1:30 decisions could affect a local
1:32 community district I think I
1:34 know I think I've been to more
1:35 community board members than
1:36 any other human being I know
1:39 borough presidents and I was
1:40 one of them appoint all
1:42 community board members half
1:43 of the members must come from
1:45 nominations made by the local
1:46 Council Member or members
1:48 . East borough president has
1:49 her own method for selecting
1:52 members but generally
1:54 applicants must fill out an
1:56 online application
1:56 . And appear for an interview
1:58 by a representative from the
2:00 borough president's office a
2:03 20 18 ballot proposal imposed
2:06 a requirement the borough
2:06 president seek out community
2:08 board applications from
2:10 diverse backgrounds council
2:11 members do not directly
2:12 appoint members which I think
2:13 is a good thing they can only
2:16 nominate members who then or
2:19 not be appointed by the
2:21 borough president actually I
2:21 think that's how it should
2:23 stay
2:23 . Community board members are
2:25 all volunteers they are unpaid d
2:29 monthly board meetings I used
2:29 to take people off who did not
2:32 do that
2:33 . In addition to serving at
2:33 least one committee most of
2:35 them meet monthly
2:37 . Board members served two
2:38 year terms the 20 18 ballot
2:41 proposal also imposed term
2:42 limits on board members I
2:44 thought that was a terrible
2:46 idea
2:46 . No members serve more than
2:49 four consecutive terms the
2:51 first members subject to these
2:52 New terms will be need to be
2:55 replaced by 20 20 17 which is
2:56 a brain drain while this will
2:59 create room for newer members
3:01 it will also mean the loss of
3:04 longtime members with
3:06 significant knowledge about
3:08 complex issues particularly
3:10 land use
3:11 . We want to make sure that
3:13 the community boards
3:14 themselves along with borough
3:15 presidents and the civic
3:18 engagement commission uh
3:19 benjamin knows how I feel
3:20 about that.
3:21 Are all prepared for this
3:24 unprecedented turnover I did
3:25 vote against that in the
3:26 charter to just so district
3:29 managers who are full time
3:31 paid employees are responsible
3:32 for the day to day operations
3:33 of the community boards there
3:35 duties include processing
3:38 complaints presiding over the
3:40 district service cabinet and
3:41 other duties assigned by the
3:42 board.
3:43 District managers are
3:44 responsible for organizing
3:45 both committee and full board
3:47 meetings
3:48 . The civic engagement
3:49 commission created by the 2
3:51 018 charter revision commission
3:55 was formed to provide provide
3:56 assistance to community boards
3:57 that assistance seemed to come
3:59 primarily in the form of zoom
4:02 trainings.
4:03 Designed for community board
4:04 members with some additional
4:06 trainings it appeared to be
4:07 designed for the boards
4:09 executive leadership.
4:10 There are past trainings
4:11 that are available on the
4:13 website site have included
4:15 parliamentary proceedings the
4:16 budget land use and equity
4:19 planning
4:19 . As the bald president know I
4:21 did all that just so you know.
4:22 In addition to doing
4:25 oversight we will also be
4:26 hearing five pieces of
4:27 legislation will be hearing
4:29 proposed intro number 12 a
4:32 sponsored by the speaker which
4:33 would require the disclosure
4:35 of digitally altered content
4:37 in local elections also intro
4:41 three to o sponsored by
4:43 Council Member murano which
4:44 would codify the official flag
4:46 of staten island I think
4:46 that's a good idea.
4:49 Introduction hundred 2
4:51 2sponsored by Council Member
4:52 murano which would give
4:52 council members the power to
4:53 make appointments at community
4:54 boards you know how I feel
4:56 about that into 5 501 a
4:59 sponsored by Council Member
5:00 Williams which would alter the
5:02 terms of employment for
5:03 district managers I don't like
5:04 that one
5:04 . At intro 9 5 5 1 by by
5:08 council Thomas Council Member
5:09 Thomas Henry which would
5:11 prevent policymakers and their
5:12 relatives from trading on
5:14 prediction markets using
5:15 insider information thank you
5:17 . I'd like to thank the
5:18 following staff from the
5:20 government operations
5:21 committee djuhari fraser erika
5:24 cohen and seymour hamid and
5:26 everything working in the
5:29 background I would like t
5:30 ofirst call on Frank Morano who
5:32 is also the chair of the
5:35 veterans committee and he
5:36 needs to go so he should start
5:38 first in terms of his comment
5:40 . Thank you very much chair
5:43 for the opportunity to speak
5:45 and as much as I would love to
5:47 stay and devour every minute
5:50 of today's testimony I am
5:53 chairing a meeting that began
5:55 10 minutes ago so I'm going to
5:56 run next door and then
5:57 hopefully come back if this
5:59 meeting goes on a bit I
6:01 appreciate the chair's
6:02 generous introduction and I
6:03 also appreciate the open
6:06 mindedness with which you're
6:06 approaching all the pieces of
6:09 legislation today and I
6:11 certainly concur that there is
6:12 not a human being alive that
6:14 has attended more community
6:15 board meetings than gail
6:17 Brewer I do want to say a bit
6:20 about intro 320 which is my
6:23 bill which is sponsored by the
6:25 entirety of the City Council
6:28 delegation from staten island
6:29 and a good portion of the
6:31 chunk of the City Council as a
6:33 whole which would give staten
6:35 island an official flag
6:38 currently while every borough
6:39 has at least an unofficial
6:41 flag there are only two
6:44 boroughs that have official
6:46 flags codified in the law
6:47 those are brooklyn and the
6:50 bronx the staten island flag
6:51 which has been our unofficial
6:53 flag since 20 19 and we're
6:55 really honored to have the
6:57 director of visual design from
7:00 staten island borough
7:02 presidents office m o micah
7:04 here and to speak about how
7:05 this flag was created some of
7:06 the incredible imagery some of
7:08 the symbolism some of the
7:09 this bill for over a year the
7:17 resounding complaint against
7:18 and really the only one
7:20 against it is don't you have
7:21 anything else better to do and a
7:25 complaint from everybody about
7:27 everything anything but the
7:29 answer really is no and I'll
7:31 tell you why this bill is so
7:34 meaningful to staten island
7:36 and to me in one swoop namely
7:39 adopting and giving us a flag
7:40 this City Council has the
7:42 ability to do two things one
7:47 celebrate recognize borough
7:47 identity and to make staten
7:49 island feel like we're
7:50 actually a part of this City
7:52 and I can tell you both of
7:53 those things from time to time
7:56 are in short supply and we'll
7:58 get into why and I'll I'm
8:01 eager to hear um oh micah
8:02 staten island betsy ross in
8:04 his testimony a bit later
8:06 . Then intro 300 to to my bill
8:09 on the community board
8:11 appointment process this is
8:13 basically just codifying what
8:14 I believe was always intended
8:17 to be the law where instead of
8:20 council members recommending
8:21 half of the community board
8:24 members council members would
8:25 get to pick and nominate and
8:29 binding binding manner half of
8:30 the board members
8:31 . Why is this important well I
8:34 think it's important for a few
8:35 reasons one on a practical
8:37 level we've seen borough
8:38 presidents in multiple
8:39 boroughs not just mine simply
8:41 refused to act on community
8:43 board nominees from council
8:45 members the people in many
8:47 cases dedicated community
8:48 activists that are nominated
8:50 by the council members are
8:51 never told that their accepted t
8:54 they're rejected they just
8:55 stay in this perpetual limbo
9:00 additionally by ignoring
9:01 . Nominations from local
9:02 council members these are
9:04 often the people that know the
9:07 individual neighborhoods best
9:08 and adding people from these
9:10 neighborhoods that understand
9:11 the unique concerns that they
9:12 have rather than simply allow
9:15 the only binding appointment
9:17 to be a borough wide voice
9:19 . It adds to a diversity not
9:22 just when it comes to gender
9:23 race age or anything like that f
9:27 experience a diversity of
9:29 worldview which is sorely
9:31 lacking now and the best thing
9:33 about this bill if the council
9:34 adopts it is all it does is
9:37 give the voters the right to
9:40 choose for themselves whether
9:41 council members should have
9:42 this appoint mint process and
9:44 to me that's the best
9:45 situation.
9:46 Put it on the ballot let
9:47 those of us that think council
9:48 members should have binding
9:51 appointment our argument let
9:52 those that think that the
9:53 borough president should get
9:54 to appoint everybody make
9:56 their argument and let the
9:58 voters decide so I'm very
10:00 excited about both bills being
10:02 heard today I'm grateful that
10:04 dozens of my colleagues in the
10:06 council in both parties and
10:07 all five boroughs have
10:09 sponsored both bills and I'm
10:10 eager to see them voted on by
10:12 this body and by the council
10:13 as a whole thank you chairman
10:14 . Thank you very much I just
10:16 want to talk about your secon
10:17 dbill to point out that the
10:19 borough president if there
10:20 good and they're not all have
10:21 a process that says this
10:24 person is qualified this
10:26 person isn't I worry that I
10:27 Gale Brewer.
10:28 If given the opportunity
10:30 would not have the ability t
10:32 oput that person through a
10:32 process because I don't have
10:33 the staff to do it.
10:35 That's what my concern is so
10:36 that there not vetted so
10:38 that's why I have a concern
10:39 now the borough person has no
10:41 process that's a different
10:42 story maybe there should be
10:43 mandated to have one so I am
10:46 concerned about people who are
10:47 not vetted and who are
10:49 politically interesting to the
10:51 Council Member that could
10:51 happen to me and I want that
10:53 not to happen to anybody
10:54 . So that's where my concern
10:55 is about I have great respect
10:56 for you sir I will tell you
10:58 . Council Member Thomas Henry
11:00 to give a statement on your
11:01 bill until 951
11:03 . Good morning and thank you
11:05 chair Brewer thank you for
11:07 holding today's hearing we
11:09 often think of insider
11:10 information in the context of
11:12 stock market of the stock
11:14 market but as technology
11:16 evolves so do the ways that
11:18 privileged information can be
11:19 used for personal gain.
11:20 Prediction markets and event
11:22 pit based trading platforms
11:25 have created a New frontier
11:26 where individuals can place
11:28 financial wagers on the
11:30 outcome of elections policy
11:33 decisions regulatory actions
11:34 and other events that be
11:36 influenced by government
11:37 activity the question before
11:39 us today is straightforward
11:41 should public officials or
11:43 policymakers be allowed t
11:44 oprofit from information that
11:45 the public does not have
11:47 access to I believe the answer
11:48 is no public service is built
11:51 on trust New yorkers expect
11:53 that decisions made by elected
11:56 officials and government
11:57 policymakers are guided by the
11:58 public interests not by
12:00 personal financial
12:01 opportunities tied t
12:03 ononpublic information that's
12:05 why we're here today until 951 r
12:10 ethics laws keep pace with the
12:12 times this bill would prohibit
12:15 elected officials policymakers
12:16 and their their immediate
12:17 family members from using
12:20 nonpublic government
12:21 information to profit through
12:23 prediction markets and event
12:24 based trading
12:25 . Because public service
12:26 should never come with a
12:28 private advantage New York
12:29 er's trust us with information
12:31 responsibilities and decisions
12:32 that impact their lives every
12:34 day they deserve to know that
12:36 people serving them are not
12:38 also looking for opportunities
12:40 to personally profit from
12:41 information that the public
12:42 does not have and while
12:44 prediction markets be New the
12:46 principal behind this
12:48 legislation is not we already
12:50 understand that insider
12:52 trading undermines trust we
12:53 already understand that public
12:55 service carries a
12:56 responsibility to avoid even
12:57 the appearance of self dealing
13:00 this bill applies those same
13:01 basic values to a rapidly
13:04 emerging emerging marketplace
13:05 . At a time when trust in
13:07 government is fragile we
13:08 should be doing everything we
13:10 can to strengthen it that
13:13 means being proactive it means
13:15 anticipating challenges before
13:16 they become problems and it
13:17 means ensuring that our laws
13:19 reflect not just what is legal t
13:22 from those who serve them this
13:24 legislation is about fairness
13:27 it's about transparency and
13:28 it's about protecting the
13:29 integrity of public service I
13:31 want to thank chad Brewer and
13:32 the members of the committee
13:34 on governmental operations for
13:35 hearing this issue today and I