home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
TIME: Almanac 1990
/
1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
/
time
/
040389
/
04038900.032
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1990-09-22
|
1KB
|
22 lines
NATION, Page 27American NotesNEW YORK CITYRuling Out The Board
Hard-pressed New Yorkers have long maintained that there ought
to be a law against their local government. Last week the U.S.
Supreme Court agreed, ruling that the powerful eight-member board
of estimate violates the constitutional principle of one person,
one vote. The decision technically leaves the nation's largest city
without a legally constituted government.
Wielding considerably more authority than the city council,
the board votes on the budget and controls such matters as zoning,
municipal contracts, and water and sewer rates. Three elected
officials (the mayor, comptroller and city-council president) and
the president of each of the city's five boroughs sit on the panel.
But the boroughs have widely varying populations. The member
representing Staten Island's 377,600 residents has the same voting
power as the one representing the 2,309,600 people of Brooklyn, the
most populous borough.
A Charter Revision Commission is expected to propose a new form
of government in time for a voter referendum in November.