Ruben Wills
The worst New York City Council members
All photos by William Alatriste
Who is the worst New York City lawmaker? According to our analysis, it’s New York City Councilwoman Darlene Mealy.
The Brooklyn lawmaker had the worst attendance, showing up less than 75 percent of the time last year. She didn’t introduce a single bill in 2016, and was the prime sponsor of one bill signed into law. She failed to respond to a constituent question. It took five days to reply to a press request. Of the 48 members on Twitter, she has the fewest followers. Even Ruben Wills, recently expelled from the City Council following a corruption conviction, ranked higher. (A summary of his rankings is below for comparison.)
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Rounding out the bottom five are Inez Barron, Peter Koo, Debi Rose and Annabel Palma. None introduced more than two bills last year, and none had more than two bills enacted. Rose and Palma both missed more than 29 percent of their meetings, in part because of absences excused for medical reasons. This may strike some as unfair, but an extended absence can affect performance – and it appeared to do so, judging by their other scores.
Rose rejected her ranking, suggesting City & State see all the new parks, school seats and libraries, repaved roads and good jobs in her North Shore district in Staten Island.
“My constituents know that I represent their interests where it counts, when I vote and when I fight for and secure the parks, libraries, school seats and quality jobs that they deserve,” she said. “That is my measure of success, not how many laws I add to the books or social media followers I have.”
Koo argued that “quantity does not equal quality” when it comes to legislation, and that “overregulation does not equate to effective government.” He described his one 2016 bill signed into law “as the first significant good government reform to the 50-year-old landmarks law.” And he dismissed the use of English-language Google results, saying City & State failed to account for “our many, active Chinese and Korean-language publications.”
“Finally, it is hurtful and frankly racist to think that the value of a proud Asian immigrant elected official such as myself should only be measured by their coverage in English-language media,” Koo said, adding, “Their absence speaks volumes about the accuracy of this survey.” (When Google search results are omitted, Koo remains in the bottom five.)
The other three - Mealy, Barron and Palma - did not respond to requests for comment.
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No. 50: Darlene Mealy
Attendance: 74.2% (No. 47)
Bills introduced: 0 (tie for No. 46)
Bills enacted: 1 (tie for No. 34)
Constituent response: None
Communications response: 5 days (No. 38)
Google results: 26,100 (No. 31)
Twitter followers: 1,074 (No. 48)
No. 49: Inez Barron
Attendance: 85.6% (No. 37)
Bills introduced: 2 (tie for No. 38)
Bills enacted: 1 (tie for No. 34)
Constituent response: Auto-reply only (tie for No. 25)
Communications response: None
Google results: 4,900 (tie for No. 46)
Twitter followers: No profile (tie for No. 49)
No. 48: Ruben Wills*
Attendance: 32.3% (No. 50)
Bills introduced: 0 (tie for No. 46)
Bills enacted: 1 (tie for No. 34)
Constituent response: None
Communications response: None
Google results: 34,900 (No. 24)
Twitter followers: 4,109 (No. 36)
No. 47: Peter Koo
Attendance: 93.6% (No. 16)
Bills introduced: 0 (tie for No. 46 )
Bills enacted: 1 (tie for No. 34)
Constituent response: None
Communications response: 25 hours, 33 minutes (tie for No. 32)
Google results: 18,300 (No. 39)
Twitter followers: 1,262 (No. 47)
No. 46: Deborah Rose
Attendance: 66.7% (No. 49)
Bills introduced: 1 (tie for No. 42)
Bills enacted: 2 (tie for No. 29)
Constituent response: None
Communications response: 3 hours, 25 minutes (No. 23)
Google results: 15,330 (No. 43)
Twitter followers: 4,849 (No. 30)
No. 45: Annabel Palma
Attendance: 70.5% (No. 48)
Bills introduced: 1 (tie for No. 42)
Bills enacted: 1 (tie for No. 34)
Constituent response: 17 hours, 7 minutes (No. 13)
Communications response: None
Google results: 36,100 (No. 23)
Twitter followers: 1,347 (No. 46)
* Wills was recently removed from the New York City Council after being convicted on corruption charges.
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