New York City Public Advocate
.jpg)
The Public Advocate for the City of New York is a public office elected by the people of New York City for a four-year term. The public advocate acts as the ombudsman of the population and monitors the actions of the mayor, the city council and the administration.
history
As a result of the dissolution of the New York City Board of Estimate by the Supreme Court in 1989, the position of President of the City Council remained little more than a ceremonial meaning. Only in the case of a rare tie in the city council did he have the casting vote. Therefore, the office was up for grabs in the early 1990s.
However, instead of abolishing it, the New York City Council decided in 1993 to rename and redefine the office. The Public Advocate , as it was now called, was still chairman of the City Council, but now also had the role of ombudsman for the population. He was charged with dealing with citizens' concerns and complaints and making suggestions for improving public services.
The task of ombudsman was retained when the Public Advocate was deprived of the chairmanship of the City Council and even the right to vote in a further charter change in 2002. From now on he was only an advisory member of the City Council, but was able to exert a great influence on municipal decisions thanks to his high-profile and citizen-friendly role.
choice
The election takes place every four years, at the same time as the elections of the mayor, the members of the City Council and the City Comptroller as a direct election . As for the office of mayor, so-called primaries take place in the major parties in the run-up to the election , in which the respective nomination is decided.
Official
Since the establishment, the office has always been held by representatives of the Democrats , most recently by Mark Green (1994-2001), Betsy Gotbaum (2002-2009) and Bill de Blasio (2010-2013).
De Blasio's successor was also nominated by the Democrats: civil rights attorney Letitia James won the election on November 5, 2013 with 83% of the vote, after the Republicans had not even nominated a candidate. In the primaries, she was only able to prevail on October 1, 2013 in a casting vote against the favorite, State Senator Daniel Squadron .