The Voice of the Human Services Community

December 19, 2018

Board of Directors

Chair
Dear 2019 Charter Revision Commission:
Jeremy Kohomban
Vice Chair
Shortly you will decide on the focus areas of the Commission for the coming
Frederick Shack
year, leading up to the 2019 election. We strongly urge you to make
Treasurer
procurement reform a focus of the Commission and to revise the City Charter to
Mitchell Netburn
create a standardized time frame for City agencies that review and approve
Secretary
contracts as well as a publicly-facing contract tracking system. This will help
Dianne Morales
level the playing field for all vendors, improve transparency, and ensure that the
organizations who contract with the City can perform work in a timely manner.
Louisa Chafee
Margaret Crotty
New York City’s procurement process is notoriously slow, bureaucratic, and
Nathaniel Fields
opaque. Vendors often wait months, or in some cases more than a year, for the
David Garza
contracts they have been awarded to be registered. During this time they have
Katy Gaul-Stigge
little visibility into the status of their contract and no way of knowing which
Christina Greer
City agency is reviewing their contract and how long that review might take.
Mark Hoenig
Karen Spar Kasner
The City’s procurement problems have long been felt by vendors. But
Damyn Kelly
Comptroller Scott Stringer’s report, Running Late: An Analysis of NYC Agency
Thomas Krever
Contracts, documented that in Fiscal Year 2017, 81% of all new and renewal
Maria Lizardo
contracts were sent to the Comptroller’s Office for registration after the contract
Sr. Paulette LoMonaco
start date had already passed, and 10% of these contracts were late by more than
Ronald Richter
a year. For nonprofit human services organizations, delays in contract
Gustavo Schwed
registration create administrative headaches but also have real financial costs;
Ariel Zwang
providers are not paid until the contract is registered so often have to take out
lines of credit or delay payments to third parties while waiting for payment.
Executive Director
Vendors across the City experience similar issues.
Allison Sesso
The slow pace of contracting creates financial hardships for vendors and deters
nonprofits, small businesses, and minority- and women-owned firms from
competing to do business with the City. The status quo is unacceptable and new
solutions are needed to ensure the City’s procurement process not only delivers
the best value to the City, but the fairest system for our vendors.
That’s why we believe the Charter Revision Commission 2019 should ask voters to approve
reforms to the City Charter that would institute a strict time frame for City agencies to complete
their contract review work, and create a publicly-facing contract tracking system to monitor the
progress of contracts through each stage of the review and registration process. These changes
would introduce real accountability to the City’s oversight agencies.

We are confident that creating these reforms in the City Charter would improve our City and we
hope that you will put this proposal to voters in November 2019.

Sincerely,

Abbott House
Academy of Medical & Public Health Services
Arab-American Family Support Center
ARC XVI Fort Washington, Inc.
ARTs East New York, Inc.
Bangladesh American Community Council (BACC)
Barrier Free Living, Inc.
Bergen Basin Community Development d/b/a Millennium Development
Bergen Beach Youth Organization, Inc.
Boro Park Jewish Community Council
Bronx House
Bronx Jewish Community Council, Inc.
BronxWorks
Brooklyn Community Services
Brooklyn Kindergarten Society
CAMBA, Inc.
Carroll Gardens Association, Inc.
CASES
Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York
Catholic Charities Community Services, New York
Center for Urban Community Services
Chhaya CDC
Children's Aid Society
Chinese-American Planning Council
CHJCC
Citizens For A Better Community
COJO Flatbush
Community Agency for Senior Citizens, Inc. (CASC)
Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies
Day Care Council of New York
East Flatbush Village, Inc.
East Side House Settlement
Educational Alliance
Encore Community Services

2
ENYUCC, Inc.
ExpandED Schools
Food First, Inc.
FPWA
Gateway Housing
Goddard Riverside Community Center
Good Shepherd Services
Graham Windham
Harlem Dowling-West Side Center
Heights and Hills, Inc.
Henry Street Settlement
Homeless Services United
Human Services Council
ICL
Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement
JASA
JCC of Marine Park
JCC of Washington Heights
JCCA
Jewish Board of Family & Children's Services
Jewish Community Council of Canarsie
Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island
Jewish Community Council of the Rockaway Peninsula
Kingsbridge Heights Community Center
Lantern Community Services
Legal Action Center
LiveOn NY
LSA Family Health Service
Met Council
Mosholu Montefiore Community Center
New York City Employment and Training Coalition
New York Legal Assistance Group
New York United Jewish Association, Inc.
NMIC
Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York
Nontraditional Employment for Women
Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow
Pakistani American Youth Society
Pearl 31 Inc. Foundation
Phipps Neighborhoods
Project Renewal, Inc.
Providence House, Inc.
Public Health Solutions
Queens Community House

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Queens Jewish Community Council
Safe Horizon
Samaritan Daytop Village
SCO Family of Services
Selfhelp Community Services
Shapla Welfare Associates NY, Inc.
Sheltering Arms Children and Family Services
Shorefront JCC
South Asian Fund For Education, Scholarship and Training (SAFEST)
Spanish Speaking Elderly Council-RAICES
Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center
Supportive Housing Network of NY
Tamang Samaj America
The Actors Fund
The Children's Village
The Fortune Society
UJA-Federation of NY
Union Settlement
United Jewish Council of the East Side, Inc.
United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn
United Neighborhood Houses
Urban Pathways
Victory Music & Dance Company, Inc.
Violence Intervention Program
We Stay/Nos Quedamos, Inc.
Yemeni American Merchants Association