An investigation by the New York Times revealed that many City Council members have incredibly poor attendance records. According to the report, the average Council member attends 84 percent of all full Council meetings and hearings.
Maria Baez, a Democrat who represents the Bronx’s 14th District, recorded the poorest attendance record of any member. The Times reported that “Ms. Baez…has missed 203 of 608 hearings and full Council meetings since 2004. Only 19 of her absences were excused, for an overall attendance rate of 66.61 percent, according to Council records.”
Calls to Baez’s offices in Manhattan and the Bronx seeking comment were not immediately returned.
Including Baez, four out of the six worst attendance records belonged to Council members from the Bronx – Larry Seabrook (67.86), Foster (71.14 percent), and Anabel Palma (72.47 percent).
Democratic Majority Leader Joel Rivera, a possible candidate in the next race for Bronx borough president, showed up 77.21 percent of the time, the report said.
The Bronx members with the best attendance records were Carmen del Arroyo, who was in attendance 93.9 percent of the time, and Jimmy Vacca, who showed up at 91.94 percent of the meetings and hearings.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.