An Upper East Side councilwoman wants to crack down on the mayor’s ability to dole out controversial no-bid contracts after a series of high-profile boondoggles during the migrant and COVID crises.
Councilmember Julie Menin is proposing two new bills in the aim to curb financial fiascos tied to such contracts — like the controversial $432 million sweetheart deal with DocGo that had taxpayers footing the bill for uneaten meals and empty migrant shelters.
“It’s time for drastic change by reforming the city’s excessive emergency procurement practices that lack vital checks and balances,” Menin said.
The measures would cap the mayor’s emergency contracting powers at 30 days and force quicker audits of the deals.
Current law allows the mayor to dole out non-competitive contracts lasting up to one year during a declared emergency.
Menin said the frantic procurement process squanders billions in taxpayer dollars due to waste and malfeasance.
She pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic, when then-Mayor Bill de Blasio extended emergency declarations over 100 times, spending an eye-popping $7 billion on emergency supplies with little oversight.
It led to New York City loading up on mountains of the supplies, which became unnecessary when the crisis ended.
Under one COVID-era contract, the city spent as much as $7.50 per cloth mask, Menin said.
When city officials auctioned off $225 million leftover PPE supplies, they only recouped $500,000.
“These are reforms to a broken contracting system which has price gouged our government,” Menin said.
Mayor Eric Adams has also faced intense scrutiny over the emergency contracts handed out during the emergency he declared over the influx of migrants arriving to the city.
The Adams administration awarded DocGo contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars — without a bidding process to hear from other firms — to operate migrant shelters, despite the company having little experience on the matter.
Reports showed the contractor used unlicensed security guards, tossed thousands of uneaten meals and underutilized shelter space — eventually leading to an investigation by the state Attorney General’s Office and the termination of the deal.
“The failures surrounding DocGo for a critical service only reinforced the need for reforming our broken emergency procurement process,” Menin said.
One of Menin’s bills would also mandate public disclosure of subcontractors, with penalties of up to $100,000 for failing to report financial relationships.
“Recent mayoral administrations have shown no appetite for good government contracting practices and it’s time for the City Council to advance vital legislation to save taxpayer dollars, be fiscally responsible and root out corruption,” she said.