News from Melissa Mark-Viverito

On January 10th, the NYC Council, through the Committees on Health, Governmental Operations, and Oversight & Investigations (the Committees), in connection with its oversight of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s (DOHMH),  launched an online survey to collect information from City restaurants regarding the DOHMH food safety inspection process.

If you are a restaurant, please fill out this survey ASAP. It will remain open until January 31st, 2012.

The survey seeks background information about the food establishment and solicits views on DOHMH’s inspection process and the letter grading system, and requests details about violations issued during each inspection from 2008 to the present, along with costs accrued in connection with the payment of fines, consultants and improvements.

The survey results will provide a foundation for an upcoming oversight hearing, where the Committees intend to further explore the inspection process and possible areas for reform.

If English is not your preferred language, you can also find the survey in:

Spanish (www.surveymonkey.com/restaurantinspection_spanish);
Chinese Traditional (www.surveymonkey.com/restaurantinspection_chinesetraditional);
Russian (www.surveymonkey.com/restaurantinspection_russian);
Korean (www.surveymonkey.com/restaurantinspection_korean);
Italian (www.surveymonkey.com/restaurantinspection_italian); and
Haitian Creole (www.surveymonkey.com/restaurantinspection_haitiancreole).

Yesterday, Melissa traveled to the Capitol to discuss the destructive impact of the Citizens United decision on our democratic process. You can see the whole panel and read select comments below.

Don’t forget to comment!

PFAW Panel: Constitutional Remedies to Overturning Citizens United

By Justin | January 24, 2012 – 6:47pm

People For the American Way’s Marge Baker moderated a panel discussion on Capitol Hill about the necessity of a constitutional amendment to address out-of-control corporate spending on elections made possible by Citizens United. A rapidly growing constellation of elected leaders, grass roots organizations and by a 48 point margin Americans believe that deep-pocketed corporations should not be able to overpower the will of the American people. Supporters of constitutional remedies to restore the balance of power to the people have reached a “movement moment”: ten constitutional amendments have been introduced in the 112th Congress, and dozens of state and local resolutions opposing the decision have been adopted in towns, cities and states across the country.

Marge Baker, Executive Vice President of People For the American Way, was joined by Senator Tom Udall, Representative Ted Deutch, Representative Keith Ellison, Maryland State Senator Jamie Raskin, New York City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito and Colorado Activist Elena Nuñez for the discussion.

“Money, lobbyists and special interests have too much influence and we’ve got to get control of it.” –Sen. Tom Udall

“At this moment, we have to amend the constitution to clarify that for-profit corporations cannot spend their money, every dollar of which they raised for commercial purposes, to influence the outcome of elections.”–Rep. Ted Deutch

“I introduced my constitutional amendment because I believe America should be a democracy, not a plutocracy.” –Rep. Keith Ellison

“This is not an anti-business thing. We want corporations to thrive, but we don’t want them to govern.” –Maryland State Senator Jamie Raskin

“Money can drown out our voices…we have to take it out of the court’s hands and give it back to the people – and now is the time to do it.” –NYC Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito

“Once people understood that there was something we could do, that a constitutional amendment was a way to regain the people’s voice…people really gravitated to it.” –Elena Nuñez, Colorado Common Cause

After the City Council passed the Progressive Caucus’ Anti-Corporate Personhood Resolution, Dylan Ratigan invited Melissa to speak about the issue on MSNBC. Click below to see the clip.

 http://video.msnbc.msn.com/dylan-ratigan-show/45991377

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2012, City Year and our office’s Youth Violence Task Force will be hosting a joint Youth for Change Conference  to teach the practices of non-violence that Dr. King cherished. The workshops are exclusively for middle and high school aged youth, but parents and friends are encouraged to join City year’s over 200 volunteers. They will be moving about the community, working on different improvement projects throughout the day. Please, bring yourself, your family, and your friends. What better way is there to honor the life of Dr. King?

Melissa’s NY Daily News got the notice of more than a few transportation advocates:

Welcome to the inaugural “Winners and Losers,” your guide to the week’s heroic and villainous actions in tri-state transportation and smart growth.

This week’s winners (who did things we like):

Senator Chuck Schumer— New York’s stalwart Senator is leading the fight to restore the federal transit tax benefit, which lapsed at the end of 2011. Currently, public transit commuters can spend up to $125 per month in pretax income on their commute, while drivers can spend up to $240 in pretax income on parking at their job. Chuck Schumer sees the insanity of such an arrangement.

The Genting Group— the Wall Street Journal reported that the private backers of Governor Cuomo’s proposed convention center would “work with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to fund uninterrupted subway service between Midtown Manhattan and the proposed convention center.” The jury’s still out on the plan itself, but we can get behind developers that think seriously about transit access (are you taking notes, Triple Five?)

Melissa Mark-Viverito— the NYC councilwoman wrote a editorial for the New York Daily News in support of an East Harlem bike lane. We’re all fans.

Not everyone won Tri-State’s praise. Check out the losers here: Winners and Losers.