Chancellor’s new role

Matthew Goldstein, chancellor of the City University of New York, was named the chair of the charter revision committee on Wednesday, March 3, after Mayor Bloomberg announced the 15 members of the panel.

This comes after weeks of the possibility of Goldstein's new position becoming public.

Goldstein will head the panel that determines how the city's government will operate. According to the New York Daily News, it is "a 357-page document specifying everything from the mayor's powers to the rules for buying property."

 "The selection of CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein to chair this Commission is an inspired choice," said Dick Dadey, executive director of the Citizens Union in the mayor's press release announcement. "His leadership in successfully turning around CUNY is tailor made for this commission and speaks to his ability to restructure large institutions to reach a higher level of performance and achievement."

While this committee will require a lot of work from Goldstein, he still will keep his day job as CUNY's chancellor.

"I want to thank Mayor Bloomberg for assembling a distinguished and talented commission to conduct a review leading to the development of recommendations on the venerable Charter of the City of New York and the further strengthening of City government," said Goldstein in the appointment press release.

The charter was last revised in 1989, and the mayor wants the new committee to review these two-decade-old changes. The mayor set aside $800,000 in next year's budget to finance the committee's operations the Daily News reported.

According to the press release, Bloomberg also brought this panel together to conduct an extensive outreach campaign that solicits ideas and recommendations from a wide variety of civic and community leaders, and that encourages the public to participate in hearings that will take place in all five boroughs.

On Feb. 9, Baruch hosted an event in which former Comptroller William C. Thompson joined a panel to discuss the important topics that need to be addressed by the new committee.

The Ticker reported that a major issue was to strengthen the power of borough presidents because they have limited ability to create changes in their borough due to restrictions under the legislature of the mayor and city council.

Upon being announced as the chair, Goldstein spoke with the Daily News about his intentions for the committee. While he did not express any specific issues he wanted to address, he said he wanted to focus on "a lot of things people have been talking about."

The Ticker reported that at the Baruch panel event, Stephen J. Fiala, a member of the 2005 charter commission, felt that the biggest concern was public advocacy and preventing city council from passing laws that do not have a positive impact on the people, but still should confirm laws while knowing where the funding will be coming from.

According to the Daily News, Goldstein hopes to hire an executive director in the next few days after consulting with the mayor.

"I think it reflects very well how respected CUNY is in the city," said Jay Hershenson, senior vice chancellor and secretary of the Board of Trustees of CUNY. "To be asked by the mayor is a great statement [for the University]."