Overview
- The Commission on Government Efficiency released five final charter proposals and voted Thursday to place them on the November ballot so voters can approve the changes directly.
- One proposal would combine sidewalk and roadway dining permits, eliminate mandatory hearings and remove the City Council’s ability to call up sidewalk café approvals, cutting the outdoor dining timeline from about eight months to roughly two months.
- A broad measure would let the Department of Transportation limit multiple intra-agency sign-offs and fast-track street-safety projects, which COGE says could speed bike- and bus-lane work by about one-third, while also expediting sales or leases of small city-owned parcels and office leases.
- Procurement reforms would let the Procurement Policy Board tailor pre-contract questionnaires, allow mayoral delegation of approvals and use written public comment in place of some hearings to shave up to about 30 days from some contracting timelines, and a separate proposal would create a single hub to manage roughly 40 construction permits now handled by 18 agencies.
- A fiscal measure would set a rainy day fund target at 12% of prior-year tax revenue, a level lower than the comptroller’s 16% recommendation, and COGE estimates expedited land and transferable development rights could raise more than $200 million while critics say reduced hearings and bundled questions cut public oversight and force voter trade-offs.