Bronx Council Members & Committee Assignments

[Updated, Jan. 29, 10:10 a.m.]

City Council members were appointed to their respective committees and chairmanships last week and we thought we would give you an idea of what issues the Bronx delegation will be focusing on and in which areas they will hold some sway.

Click "Read more" at the bottom of this post for a listing of all your Bronx Council Members and their assigned committees and chairmanships.

A few quick notables:

Oliver Koppell of District 11 kept his position as chair of the Mental Health Committee, continuing a streak that dates back to 2006. Also, newly-appointed District 14 council member Fernando Cabrera has become chair of the Drug Abuse Sub-committee. (Drug Abuse is a sub-committee of the Mental Health Committee; it's one-person subcommittee formerly chaired by Annabel Palma.).  Meanwhile, Larry Seabrook (District 12) has maintained his place as chair of the Civil Rights Committee.

Each Council Member receives an additional stipend for those expenses related to the committees which they chair, and yet another if they hold office (although, in the Bronx's case, the only applicable member is Joel Rivera of District 15, who is also Majority Leader).

Praise and Prayers for Cabrera on Inauguration Day

Fernando Cabrera's ceremonial inauguration last night at Bronx Community College played out like a star-studded spiritual revival as a small army of city politicians lined up to offer congratulations and predict a bright future for the Bronx's newest City Council member.

Although the night was ostensibly about Cabrera, who unseated two-term incumbent Maria Baez last fall, it was also bigger than him.

Speakers, from U.S. Senator Charles Schumer to new Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio to Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., hailed Cabrera's induction into the City Council as another big step in the positive reshaping of the Bronx political landscape.

"Something wonderful is happening in the Bronx," said DeBlasio, going on to praise the "new and dynamic leadership" in the borough.

DeBlasio and others said new B.P. Diaz and new Bronx Democratic Party leader Assemblyman Carl Heastie had made great strides in uniting the borough's historically-fractured gaggle of elected officials.

This manifested itself at the end of 2009 with the Council's nearly unanimous rejection of a Bloomberg-backed plan to turn the Kingsbridge Armory (which sits in the middle of Cabrera's 14th District) into a shopping mall. That wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the Bronx Council delegation's cohesion during the failed negotiations of a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with the Armory's designated developer, The Related Companies.

During his rousing speech, Diaz, who opposed the Armory plan without a CBA that would include guarantees of good-paying jobs, heaped praise on Cabrera for showing "leadership and courage" in stepping up during the negotiating process in December, though he had yet to take office. That was partly due to Baez's inexplicable absence (she's reportedly ill, but never made an official announcement about what's happened to her), but it was also because Cabrera offered his services and proved to be an asset during the process.

"It was there that he showed that over the next four years, we're going to have a productive time," Diaz said.

Baez and Bronx not showing up for work

Real quickly, here's some disconcerting numbers put together by the NY Times about council members' attendance records following Helen Foster's conspicuous absence during the congestion pricing vote. Here's a quick breakdown. (Numbers are from 2004 on)

-The northwest Bronx's own Maria Baez has the worst attendance record of any city council member. She missed exactly one-third of her meetings, for a 66.6% attendance record.

-Four of the bottom six attendance records come from the Bronx: Baez, Larry Seabrook (67.86), Foster (71.14%), Anabel Palma (72.47%).

-Carmen del Arroyo had the best record (93.9%) of any Bronx CM, Jimmy Vacca came in a close second with 91.94%.

-Borough President hopeful and Democratic Majority Leader Joel Rivera showed up 77.21% of the time, while Oliver Koppell clocked in about 84% of the time.

Please discuss.