Another Council Member Knocks Quinn's Appropriation Reform

Just as Christine Quinn began addressing City Council members in a closed-door meeting at City Hall about the appropriation-process reforms she proposed, another member released a statement criticizing those changes as ceding too much power to the mayor.

This is from Jimmy Vacca of the Bronx, and follows last week's sharp rebuke from John Liu and criticism from Lew Fidler:

“The Mayor already has the lion’s share of power in framing this city’s budget. To surrender even more authority to the executive branch would reduce our capacity to address the needs of seniors, youth and other groups that are often systematically shortchanged or overlooked. The Mayor and the Council have been at odds in the past and may very well be in the future. That’s why we have a system of checks and balances, and it would be dangerously shortsighted to weaken them.”