Talk Bronx New York

The City Council’s Biggest No-Shows

After Councilwoman Helen Diane Foster, a Bronx Democrat, missed an important vote on congestion pricing this week because of a flight delay, a closer look showed that she has the fifth-poorest attendance record on the City Council — about 72 percent, not counting absences for medical reasons.

So who has the worst record? That distinction goes to another Bronx Democrat, Maria Baez. Ms. Baez, who chairs the Council’s State and Federal Legislation Committee and serves on about half a dozen other committees, has missed 203 of 608 hearings and full Council meetings since 2004. Only 19 of her absences were excused, for an overall attendance rate of 66.61 percent, according to Council records.

The average Council attendance was about 84 percent, the records show. Before joining the Council in 2002, Ms. Baez was a community activist and served as chief of staff to Assemblyman Jose Rivera, the Bronx Democratic party boss who was a former councilman.

Edging Ms. Baez for second worst was Councilman James Sanders Jr., a Queens Democrat, at 66.9 percent. Ms. Baez and Mr. Sanders did not immediately respond to requests for comment this morning.

The gold star for attendance goes to Councilman Tony Avella of Queens, who made 98 percent of his committee hearings and Council hearings. Interestingly, Mr. Avella — who is among the first announced candidates for mayor in 2009 — was one of only five members who in 2006 voted against bumping the Council’s base salaries to $112,500 from $90,000. Ms. Baez had an excused absence that day.

Here is a list of attendance percentages for all sitting council members. The records, supplied by the Council, are from 2004 on — or from the date the member joined the Council if it was after 2004 (as noted in parentheses next to the member’s name).

(Note: After this chart was initially published, Councilwoman Jessica S. Lappin of Manhattan pointed out that her 84.48 percent rating did not account for her maternity leave, which accounted for 35 absences. Remove those, she said, and her attendance record shoots up to 94 percent. Another Council member, Diana Reyna of Brooklyn, also took maternity leave, causing her to miss 28 meetings. With those meetings removed, her attendance record goes from 79.37 percent moves up to 83.7 percent. A third Council member, Thomas White Jr. of Brooklyn, had 13 medical absences; not counting those, his attendance record would have improved to 80 percent from 75.82 percent.)

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City Clerk Let’s Make Marrige Bureau Experience As Happy As Marrige

Freshly confirmed City Clerk Hector Diaz talks a good game about being a “hands-on” administrator when it comes to making public offices public-friendly.

But his first challenge could be the clerk’s Bronx offices, including the Marriage Bureau, which was hit with a mismanagement scandal last June.

Diaz, 63, was confirmed by the City Council Wednesday and will be sworn in Feb. 25. He is finishing up 12 years as the Bronx county clerk - a state court office - and was a Democratic assemblyman from the South Bronx from 1983 to 1995.

“I’m hands-on,” Diaz testified at a committee hearing before nailing his $185,700-a-year plum post. “I go behind each and every department, and I work with the staff because I feel that they should learn from whoever is their supervisor.”

His words may soon be put to a test, with City Hall insiders saying he is expected to shake up the Bronx Marriage Bureau.

Last June, several couples who wanted to be married were allegedly turned away by staffers who wanted to close early so they could have a retirement party.

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