Mayor Bloomberg and the engineering community

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's re-election is undoubtedly a positive outcome for those favoring development and infrastructure investment, but the close election results should be a call to renewed participation in public affairs by the engineering community. All of the mayor's considerable business and political acumen will be necessary for him to successfully navigate a third term in which resources will be limited, growth cannot be projected to mask underlying structural financial issues, and opponents are likely to be emboldened by Bloomberg's narrow win against City Comptroller William Thompson. With more than a quarter of the city council being new members, he faces contentious battles as he seeks to resolve a looming $5 billion budget crisis for the coming year alone and a continued inability to rely on substantial support from an even more financially strapped state government. Nonetheless, Bloomberg still commands considerable power as mayor. Freed from re-election worries, he has the opportunity to pursue his agenda with the same determination that underlay his previous political and personal successes. During the campaign, the mayor pledged to stay the course in several areas: additional improvements to education; maintaining and reducing if possible the historic low crime rates; and, germane to the engineering industry, progress on his priority built-environment efforts. Bloomberg's impact on development Bloomberg's focus on infrastructure and development efforts is based on three guiding principles. First is his belief that the city's value proposition lies in the texture of its places to live, work and play. His administration has consistently demonstrated its commitment to this philosophy in the city planning commission's ambitious array of rezoning actions under the leadership of chair Amanda Burden. As pointed out by Mayor Bloomberg in his pre-election comments at a Crain's New York Business breakfast in October, the commission rezoned over 20% of the city in more than one hundred separate actions, leading to the revitalization of areas such as Greenpoint-Williamsburg and Flushing while protecting neighborhoods throughout the city from over development. The greening of New York City, announced in the mayor's 2007 Earth Day speech and contemplated by his PLANYC 2030 action plans, is the second standard (http://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/html/home/home.shtml). This includes programs under his administrative control, such as an expansion of bicycle lanes and tree planting, as well as legislative initiatives to green the Building Code and Zoning Resolution. The third touchstone is the execution of legacy redevelopment projects such as Willets Point and Hunter's Point in Queens, and Coney Island in Brooklyn. With credit markets likely to constrain new construction for the next few years, the Bloomberg administration will want to get as many sites as possible development-ready in order to be prepared for the city's continued population growth. In addition to the mayor's commitment to development, an immediate benefit to the engineering community of his re-election is that reforms and modernization of the Buildings Department and of the city's contracting procedures, especially with respect to change orders and retainage, is likely to continue. Challenges on several fronts Many of the projects to which the city has committed, however, require the cooperation of decision makers at other levels of government, complicating Mayor Bloomberg's ability to move them forward. These include the World Trade Center site, Governor's Island and Brooklyn Bridge Park, Moynihan Station, Hudson Yards and the Javits Center. Through this prism, the challenges facing the mayor are considerable. Already, the administration's five-year capital plan has been spread to six years and runs the risk of further cuts in June, as the interest rate burden of previous bond issues consumes a larger and larger share of the city's operating budget. Federal stimulus money, while helpful, has been a drop in the bucket compared to what is needed to maintain existing facilities in a state of good repair, let alone pay for future schools, transportation improvements and the need to configure infrastructure assets for climate change. The mayor's pro-development agenda is likely also to be resisted by an emboldened city council encouraged by the response to comptroller Thompson's and the union-driven Working Families Party's affordability agenda and emphasis on living and prevailing wage rates, as well as a widespread backlash against gentrification and change. Moreover, many elected officials have not yet internalized the full extent of the Great Recession's impact on construction, estimated to be down 20 percent for 2009 and forecast even lower next year by the New York Building Congress. Consequently, pressure to review the city's 421-a residential development incentive program, which was restricted by the council and state legislature in 2007, may take considerable time to build. Involvement produces results Given these challenges and the various interests competing for scarce budget dollars, it's more important than ever for the engineering community to play an active role in setting the city's public policy agenda. ACEC New York has made substantial progress in having its voice heard by actively participating in council deliberations and by working closely with the relevant capital agencies, the Buildings Department and Mayor's office on numerous issues, often in concert with the New York Building Congress and other industry organizations. This year, the ACEC New York City political action committee significantly ramped up its exposure and activity by successfully backing council candidates in five races out of eight in which it endorsed, after an extensive review of their records and positions as well as a comprehensive ACEC New York specific questionnaire. The winning candidates were incumbents Gale Brewer, Inez Dickens, Dan Garodnick and Jessica Lappin, a well as newly-elected Ydanis Rodriguez. Perhaps the highpoint of the political season for ACEC New York was that each of the four major candidates for city comptroller campaign came in to be personally interviewed, allowing for a comprehensive discussion of issues of concern as well as a reflection of the role the organization has assumed. It was this process that led to the endorsement of comptroller-elect John Liu. Going forward, ACEC New York will continue to advocate for robust development, sustainability and infrastructure investment. Future success, however, requires more than just issuing statements. It takes a willingness of members to participate in the political process by meeting with officials, testifying at public hearings and supporting candidates who share the values and priorities of the engineering community through contributions to ACEC New York's political action committee. NB: In New York City, PAC contributions can only be made by individuals, not by firms or corporations. Kenneth Fisher is a member of Cozen O'Connor and is municipal affairs counsel to ACEC New York/Metropolitan Region. The views expressed are his own.