New HRA Head:
DC 37 Hopes Doar Is Open on Issues

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

District Council 37 is hoping the appointment of Robert Doar to run the city's biggest social-service operation will lead to improvements in working conditions.

Photo Credit: Spencer C. Tucker ROBERT DOAR: New social services czar.

Mayor Bloomberg tapped Mr. Doar Jan. 8 to be the Administrator and Commissioner of the Human Resources Administration and Department of Social Services, replacing Verna Eggleston. Mr. Doar, who served as the Commissioner of the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance since 2003, will oversee 15,000 employees, most of whom are members of Locals 1549 and 371 of DC 37.

Contracting-Out Concerns

"We're looking forward to working with him," said Lillian Roberts, the executive director of DC 37. "I'm a person who likes to give everyone the best and let them prove themselves."

Ms. Roberts said she would meet with Mr. Doar in the coming weeks to discuss long-held concerns of the union.

A central point of contention has been the practice of contracting out custodial and other services. "These are jobs that welfare recipients could do very well and become union members," she said. "We mentioned this to the previous Commissioner, and we are very interested in pursuing that." Ms. Roberts also said that sections of HRA have had ongoing problems with blurring job responsibilities, or out-of-title work. In addition, the union hopes to work with the department to develop outreach ideas to allow more New Yorkers who qualify for food stamps to access the program's benefits.

A Major Enterprise

HRA/DSS provides services to more than three million city residents, including public assistance and public health insurance programs, home care for senior citizens and the disabled, HIV/AIDS support services, domestic violence, and homelessness intervention services. HRA has a $5.6 billion operating budget, awards $15 billion in contracts, and has a $25 billion medical services portfolio.

The agency Mr. Doar previously managed was responsible for supervising local social service agencies across the state.

He is the son of John Doar, a former Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Justice who handled some of the nation's major civil rights and school desegregation cases in the 1960s. He later served as counsel to the House Judiciary committee during the investigation of the Watergate scandal that led to President Richard Nixon's resignation.