Comptroller Stringer: Mayor Must Rescind Emergency Powers and Restore Full Charter-Mandated Oversight of Contracts and Procurement
Following the Mayor’s calls to revoke the Governor’s emergency powers, Comptroller Stringer calls on Mayor de Blasio to apply the same principle to his own administration by rescinding Emergency Executive Order 101, Section 2, which suspends procurement laws and regulations
Since March 2020, the City has entered into 1,238 contracts under EEO 101, Section 2 totaling more than $5.2 billion of City funds committed without appropriate oversight
Comptroller Stringer: “As we approach the one-year mark of the suspension of the checks and balances that govern our City’s emergency procurement process, the Executive can no longer use the pandemic as a shield to circumvent the independent oversight enshrined in long-standing statutes and rules.”
(New York, NY) — Today, New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer sent a letter to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio calling on City Hall to rescind Emergency Executive Order (EEO) 101, Section 2, which suspended laws and regulations related to procurement in the city since the shutdown on March 17, 2020. Following two letters sent to the Administration in August and October of 2020 yielding no results from the City, Comptroller Stringer underscored the need to finally rescind the Mayor’s emergency powers granted to City Hall just as the Mayor recently called on the New York State Legislature to immediately revoke the Governor’s emergency powers. The City has entered into 1,238 contracts under Mayor de Blasio’s emergency powers, totaling more than $5.2 billion in City-funded contracts since March 2020 — without the statutory oversight of the Comptroller’s Office.
As the one-year anniversary of the citywide shutdown approaches, Comptroller Stringer urged the Mayor to rescind EEO 101, Section 2, and restore the City’s system of checks and balances in the contracts and procurement process to ensure full accountability, transparency, and to protect taxpayers.
The full text of the letter can be found below and here.
Dear Mayor de Blasio:
I am writing today to urge you to finally rescind Emergency Executive Order (“E.E.O.”) 101, Section 2, which has suspended laws and regulations related to procurement in New York City since March 17, 2020. On August 25, 2020, and again on October 21, 2020, I wrote to you to express my concern that the City was circumventing the Office of the Comptroller’s mandated oversight role of approving and registering contracts pursuant to the New York City Charter (“Charter”) and Procurement Policy Board Rules.
This weekend you stated that “[t]he State legislature must immediately revoke the Governor’s emergency powers that overrule local control.” I could not agree with you more. I was heartened to see you taking a hard stance on the overreach of executive power and believe that it is long past time to apply this same principle to your own administration by rescinding E.E.O. 101, Section 2.
As of February 25, 2021, your administration has entered into 1,238 contracts under E.E.O. 101, Section 2 totaling $5,208,375,548, with $2,740,116,428 spent to date. It is shocking that over five billion dollars of City funds have already been committed without the Charter-mandated oversight of this office. Furthermore, this office has been made aware of (i) vendor integrity issues; (ii) partial or complete non-performance; and (iii) the overextending, overpaying and over-purchasing in emergency contracting that has resulted in millions of taxpayer dollars being lost.
I did not agree with your decision to invoke E.E.O. 101, Section 2, but I understood the need to act swiftly to procure necessary life-saving goods and services in the earliest days of the pandemic. However, as we approach the one-year mark of the suspension of the checks and balances that govern our City’s emergency procurement process, the Executive can no longer use the pandemic as a shield to circumvent the independent oversight enshrined in long-standing statutes and rules.
I therefore urge you to heed your own call and rescind E.E.O. 101, Section 2 without further delay. To do otherwise would not only be hypocritical, but would continue to deprive taxpayers of the fiscal oversight guaranteed to them by the New York City Charter. Thank you for your immediate attention to this critical matter.
Sincerely,
Scott M. Stringer
New York City Comptroller
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