Huge transparency advocate here who believes corruption flourishes in the dark. Like mold. So, as we watch City Hall implode, I thought it’d be worth posting a few recent opaque highlights from the current administration.
Charles Lane
5,806 posts
Charles Lane
@_charleslane
- Replying to @_charleslaneAfter a political stumble on a weather event, Adams drastically cut back on answering reporter Qs. As noted to @ndhapple "if you so openly admit you can’t handle the heat from the New York City press corps, it’s no wonder you can’t handle the rain.”
- Replying to @_charleslaneAdams literally ordered city agencies to be more transparent, Executive Order 6. @Annie_McDonough looked into how that was going… and got stonewalled
- Replying to @_charleslaneAdams halted the practice of publishing his public calendar. This forced the public to use legal remedies to see what the mayor was up to. Even then, the result wasn’t exactly a brilliant ray of disinfecting sunshine.
- Replying to @_charleslaneAdams is also having trouble turning over records to campaign finance watchdogs who tallied $2.3m in missing expense receipts, per @brigidbergin
- Replying to @_charleslaneDoggedly detailed by @Gregbsmithnyc and @yoavgonen, Adams refused to release both tax and conflict of interest records bucking long precedent.
- NYC smoke shops estimate they've had more than $2m in cash seized from their stores. City Council wants documents from Sheriff Miranda saying how much of it he has.
- Replying to @_charleslaneNYPD is spending $390m in tax dollars to keep taxpayers from listening to their radio calls. @BaharOstadan reported that this bucked a century-old practice of citizens keeping tabs on government
- City Dept. of Correction has missed federal deadlines for investigating sexual assault 45% of the time since Mayor Adams took office as @mattkatz00 reports.
- Replying to @_charleslaneThose legal remedies, btw, take years to play out. As NYC’s newly-resigned top lawyer probably knows.Replying to @C_Sommerfeldt.@JCColtin asks Adams if he will commit to clear his admin's enormous backlog of FOIL requests. He defers to his chief counsel Lisa Zornberg, who claims that some of the backlogs relate to reporters filing too many FOILs. "There are ways that you can help us help you," she says.
- Replying to @_charleslanePerhaps @SallyGold predicted the recent federal investigations into lobbying (two years ago!) with this piece on Adams unwinding the disclosure policy of agency heads meeting with lobbyists.
- Replying to @_charleslaneOh, and slow-rolling that same watchdog agency
- Replying to @_charleslaneThere’s the stonewalling of elected officials too, making them fill out a form to talk with department heads. These are folks elected to represent the city. @LincolnRestler just filed a bill to undo the requirement, as @giuliaheyward reported this week
- Replying to @_charleslaneIncidentally, even those lobbying City Hall have found it hard to get information from Adams and have had to stoop to nepotism to get information, as I reported Friday
