Name of Council Member: G.

Oliver Koppell Name and Title of Person Completing Questionnaire: Drew Gabriel, Legislative Director

2013 CITY COUNCIL HUMAN RIGHTS QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Many in the United States think of international affairs when they think of human rights. Our work emphasizes the applicability of the human rights framework here in the United States. Please share your thoughts on the domestic applicability of human rights, and discuss why human rights are important to you in the context of New York City and the City Council. Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that all people are entitled to regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, race, religion or other status. It should by the role of the fundamental legislative body making policy for the City of New York to hold human rights as a priority for its work. Because New York City is such a heterogeneous place, the City Council must, when crafting policy and legislation, consider the rights of all its diverse citizens regardless of their status. 2. Please share how you used your tenure in Council to advance human rights. With regard to the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act, I have worked tireless to engage the support of my colleagues, met with the Speaker on numerous occasions, and worked in coalition with various stakeholders to organize rallies, meetings and other events in support of the bill. Although the bill that ultimately passed (over the Mayors veto) is not as broad in scope as I would have hoped, it is a landmark piece of legislation that will require, for the first time in our citys history, developers who accept large taxpayer funded subsidies to pay their employees a living wage. The Accessible Taxi Mandate, Int. 0433, has 37 sponsors and that is due to my strong advocacy with my colleagues on this bill. I have worked in coalition with advocates for people with disabilities to promote this bill. I have met with the Speaker and her staff on several occasions to argue for the bill to be enacted. I have also attempted to bring the City and advocates together to resolve differences and although, we have not been successful yet, I will continue to urge the parties to work together to create an accessible yellow taxi fleet. I have strongly supported, Int. 0072, which authorizes the Civilian Complaint Review Board to prosecute cases of police misconduct the board has substantiated as well as Res. 0648 and Res. 1096, which, respectively, call on the Department of Homeland Security to provide asylum for victims of the Haitian earthquake and their families. Additionally, I have sponsored numerous resolutions pending or adopted by the Council that call for an end to discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity. 3. Please list your top 3 legislative priorities for 2013. 1. Int. 0251-2010, Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act 2. Int. 0433-2010, Accessible Taxi Mandate

3. Int. 0218-2010, Idle reduction technology in ambulances 4. Please list your top three budget priorities of 2013. 1. The Children Under 5 Mental Health Initiative 2. The Geriatric Mental Health Initiative 3. Civil Legal Services 5. Have you used participatory budgeting to allocate your discretionary funds? Why or why not? I do not use participatory budgeting to allocate discretionary funds. We live in a representative democracy and, therefore, I believe that constituents place trust in their elected officials to make decisions, such as where to target resources in their communities, in an appropriate manner. That being said, I meet with many different constituencies during the budget process to ensure my discretionary funds will be utilized for the greatest good of my Council District. I am also concerned that in the participatory budgeting process the neediest organizations may not necessarily have the loudest of voices or have the most engaged advocates. This could lead to a situation where larger, more institutional non-profits can overwhelm and ultimately deny access to funding for smaller groups. 6. Please list recent legislation in Council that you believe promotes human rights. Int. 0251-2010 - The Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act, Int. 0018-2010 - Establishing a prevailing wage requirement for building service employees, Int. 0056-2010 - Posting of notices of provisions of the Citys Human Rights Law that relate to housing discrimination, Int. 0656-2011 - In relation to persons not to be detained, Res. 1260-2012, Calling on the United States Congress to pass and the President to sign the States' Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act, which seeks to reclassify marijuana as other than a Schedule I or Schedule II substance 7. Legislation is only one of many ways in which Council Members can work to advance human rights. What ways other than through legislation have you advanced the human rights of New Yorkers as a City Council Member? In my budget advocacy I have fought for the reinstatement of programs which are targeted toward individuals living with mental illness and other disabilities as well as programs directed toward other vulnerable populations. I have held hearings in the Committee on Mental Health, Mental Retardation, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse and Disability Services, which I chair, on issues including, access to New York City businesses for people with disabilities, medical marijuana and the DOEs overreliance on EMS and NYPD in dealing with children with behavioral issues . I have marched with and spoke on behalf of unions in support of fair contracts. 8. Some advocates contend that the position of the Council Speaker has too much power over the progression of legislation. Please use this space to respond to that critique. I think the Speaker has exercised too much control over the movement of legislation. In practice, bills not favored by the Speaker have not been promptly drafted. More importantly, rarely do bills move through committee without the Speakers support. The committee system must operate independent of control by the Speaker. The Speaker is not the CEO of the Council. The Speaker has acted as though she is. For more information, please visit www.urbanjustice.org.