Minority Controversy
Pataki Vetoes State Provisional Reports

By REUVEN BLAU

Governor Pataki has vetoed a bill that would have required the state Department of Civil Service to report biannually the number of provisional employees on the state payroll for both nine and 18 months or more.

GOVERNOR PATAKI: Questions bill's necessity.

The bill was part of a broader cohort of legislation that Assemblyman Peter M. Rivera has proposed to help increase minority representation within the state work force. The other measures are in various stages of the legislative process.

Minorities Victimized

Mr. Rivera and other activists contend that the state routinely hires minorities as provisional workers, denies them permanent status, and then eliminates their titles without warning after hiring private consultants.

Mr. Pataki, however, vetoed the provisional reporting bill for several reasons. "Much of the information required by this bill is public information that is readily available from DCS upon request," his veto message stated. The rejection note also pointed out that the bill would require the state to detail information such as why a provisional or temporary employee was fired.

"[It] is not readily accessible and would pose a significant administrative burden on DCS and other state agencies," the memo said. "Moreover, I am concerned that the bill could be interpreted to require the public disclosure of personal information regarding current or former state employees that may be viewed as an invasion of their personal privacy."

Guillermo A. Martinez, Mr. Rivera's Legislative Director, blasted the Governor's decision. "We think it's a move by this administration to deny people of color permanent access to the civil service system," he charged. "They use people and when they don't want them they discard them like an old piece of clothing. Hispanics are dramatically underrepresented on the state work force."

Since 1991, the Hispanic share of the state work force has declined by 1,000 employees and African-Americans have lost 8,836 jobs, according to a report released in April 2005 by the State Assembly Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force. Those decreases have come at a time when the state's minority population has swelled. Over the past 15 years, the Hispanic population has grown by 33 percent and the African-American by 13 percent.

Daniel E. Wall, the state Civil Service Commissioner, questioned the accuracy of the report's findings. "It contains inaccuracies, omissions of facts, misconceptions and outright falsehoods," he contended at an Assembly hearing a year ago. The majority of the state work force, he noted, is located in the upstate Capital District, where African-Americans make up 4.9 percent of the available labor pool and Hispanics 2.2 percent.

'We're Everywhere'

Mr. Martinez countered that many upstate counties now have large minority populations. "We are taking over the state; we are everywhere," he asserted.

The state currently employs 1,501 provisionals, said DCS spokesman Marc Carey. He noted that figure is 1.1 percent of the total 135,197 state staff. "It's a very small amount," he remarked. In all, 759 provisionals have been serving for more than nine months, and 386 have been employed for more than 18 months.

In contrast, the city has 30,339 provisionals out of its total 301,937 employees.

The city's Administrative Services Commissioner is already required to report quarterly the number of provisional employees to the Mayor, the City Council, the Civil Service Commission, and the Equal Employment Practices Commission. The reports also must include the length of their provisional service and the steps taken by the city to reduce their numbers.

Mr. Rivera has also introduced a bill that would create a 15-member task force "that will work on increasing diversity in the state workforce as the current population ages-out and employment opportunities become available."

The bill has already passed both houses in the Legislature and will be sent to Mr. Pataki in early August, Mr. Martinez said. "This bill isn't pointing fingers," he added. "We just want to put out some concrete steps for solution. We are trying to right some of the wrongs that have happened."

The measure has broad union support, with the Civil Service Employees' Association as well as the Public Employees' Federation lobbying Mr. Pataki to sign it into law. "They realize that this is a classic case of a struggle for an equal opportunity," Mr. Martinez said.