Council Member Avilés Discusses Community Hiring and EDC Accountability Bills
Council Member Alexa Avilés advocates for her bills, Intros 860 and 861, which aim to increase transparency and accountability regarding community hiring and benefits in EDC-led economic development projects.
Recognizing Councilmember Aviles, followed by Gennaro.
Thank you, Majority Leader.
I'm urging my colleagues to vote yes on two pieces of legislation, intro 860 and 861.
Both of these bills get to the heart of challenges faced by my community when economic development projects led by our city are dropped on us without care, consideration, or involvement.
Intro 860 will require entities that contract with the EDC to publish an annual report concerning community hiring.
For years, we have heard all EDC make promises to our communities, touting an app an opportunity for significant economic and workforce development opportunities, and have yet to see so many of those promises materialize, including the thousands of jobs promised through the Made in New York project.
Intro 860 will make transparent key measurements around community hiring, including performance metrics for a community hiring compared to previous fiscal years, and a description of efforts undertaken by the contracted entity to employ community members.
Through this legislation, we will have an ability to better monitor and understand how projects may contribute to or extract from our local growth and development.