Sanit Agents’ Union: Who’s Harassing?

JAMES HUNTLEY: Members being picked on. Communications Workers of America Local 1182 President James Huntley said last week that the City Council should be writing legislation to protect his members rather than introducing a bill called Protection Against Ticket Harassment, which accuses Sanitation Enforcement Agents of blindsiding businesses with multiple tickets at once.

City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and Councilwomen Elizabeth S. Crowley and Letitia James Oct. 7 introduced a bill “that would prevent excessive and unfair ticketing practices by the Department of Sanitation” by requiring officers to provide prompt service of tickets after a violation is observed and limit fines.

‘Why Don’t They Help Us’

“Why don’t legislators try to help our agents?” Mr. Huntley said referring to protecting Sanitation Enforcement Agents with a felony assault bill. “They care more about the ticketing than the actual agents working for them.”

LETITIA JAMES: Sending ‘anti-small-business’ message. Currently, Sanitation Agents are allowed to write multiple tickets for the same violation over a period of days or weeks, but are not required to promptly serve those tickets on residents once they have observed the violation. Businesses may receive fines for summonses given on different days before they have a chance to correct the problem. Ms. James spoke at the press conference of a pet store in her Brooklyn district that might be forced to close because it received more than $8,000 in fines after getting from 116 tickets for posting flyers on city property.

“I became disappointed in the Sanitation Department when a small pet store in my district received 116 city summonses last year in one day,” said Ms. James. “This is ridiculous and unreasonable, and New Yorkers have heard the ‘anti-small business’ message being sent.”

Quinn: Stop Hoarding Tickets

Under the proposed legislation, Sanitation Enforcement Agents would be required to serve tickets on residents within five days of observing a violation. Small businesses and non-profits that receive multiple tickets for posting on city property within five days of their first violation, and have not violated the law in the past, would be charged for just one offense and would be ensured time to correct the problem before receiving new fines. The legislation does not apply to political posters.

Ms. Quinn said the legislation sends a message to Sanitation Enforcement Agents. “I think what Enforcement Agents should read is that we in the City Council are hearing from New Yorkers that they are feeling harassed by the process of hoarding tickets and holding on to tickets, maybe not by the intention of the officer, at all, but by the practice,” she said.

“I don’t believe that’s what our civil

servants want to do, which is why we are putting a construct in the law to prevent that from happening,” Ms. Quinn said. “It’s a problem; it’s been identified as a problem and we are going to fix it.”