THE PUBLIC ADVOCATE FOR THE CITY OF NEW YORK Bill de Blasio PUBLIC ADVOCATE

June 17, 2013 Hon. Michael Bloomberg City Hall New York, NY 10007 Jonathan Mintz Commissioner Department of Consumer Affairs City of New York 42 Broadway New York, NY 10004 Dear Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Mintz: I was appalled to read this morning in the New York Daily News about allegations that the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) has secretly been using a quota system to increase fine revenue from small businesses.1 According to multiple sources and documents cited in the article, for several years, DCA inspectors have been instructed to fine at least 25 percent of the businesses they inspect, and top city officials have pressured administrative law judges into ruling against small business owners when they contest these quota-driven fines. This shameful pattern of behavior, if true, represents an astonishing breach of public trust and abuse of power. The allegations are in direct conflict with what DCA has repeatedly told the public about its guidelines for enforcement personnel. DCA has always maintained that no quotas exist, despite the dramatic increase in fines during the Bloomberg Administration. In 2012, pursuant to an investigation into the increase in citywide fine revenues, I personally asked DCA for a variety of information regarding agency fining practices. Specifically, I asked whether DCA places any quotas, goals, guides or other numerical markers on the number of violations issued. DCA responded to my inquiry on August 9, 2012, stating: DCA does not place or impose on its enforcement personnel any quotas or numerical markers when issuing notices of violation. According to the Daily News, by this time, DCAs quota program was in full force. As you know, following repeated requests, our office was forced to bring litigation to compel the disclosure of the information my office sought from DCA. The information obtained from that lawsuit showed a dramatic increase in fines, which my office published in a report titled Borough Bias: How the Bloomberg Administration Drains Outer Borough Businesses. If the Daily News allegations prove to be true, DCAs failure to provide my office with documents showing the existence of a quota system is a violation of the New York City Charter and the terms of our settlement agreement. If there is any truth to the allegations laid out in todays Daily News article, immediate changes need to be made at DCA changes that cannot wait until a new administration takes over in
1

Juan Gonzalez, Secret Consumer Affairs quota system for violations slaps business owners with sky-high fines: 'It's shameful' , New York Daily News, 6/17/13, p. 5, found at http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/gonzalezsecret-quota-system-heaps-fines-businesses-article-1.1374396?pgno=2, last accessed 6/17/13.

2014. The full scope of the DCAs quota system and the improper influence of the adjudication process must come to light. Therefore, pursuant to the authority granted to my office under Section 24 of the Charter of the City of New York, I hereby request the following information: I renew my request to know whether the DCA places any quotas, goals, guides, or other numerical markers on the number of violations issued, or revenue generated, by each DCA inspector and seek any and all documents describing such practices. The total number of hearings conducted by DCA each year from Fiscal Year (FY) 2002 through FY 2013 (to date). The total number of administrative hearings in which all violations were ultimately discarded from FY 2002 though FY 2013 (to date). Any and all communications between the Director of Adjudication at DCA and Administrative Law Judges from FY 2002 through the present. Any and all communications between the Director of Adjudication and other DCA personnel regarding ongoing adjudication proceedings from FY 2002 though the present. Any and all communications between DCA personnel and Administrative Law Judges concerning adjudication proceedings from FY 2002 through the present.

Please provide a response to the data requests no later than 5:00 p.m. on July 1, 2013, and a response to the communications requests on a rolling basis, beginning no later than 5:00 p.m. on July 1, 2013. If you have any questions regarding this request, please contact my General Counsel, Steven Newmark, at 212-669-7200 or snewmark@pubadvocate.nyc.gov. Thank you very much for your anticipated prompt response. Sincerely,

Bill de Blasio Public Advocate for the City of New York

1 CENTRE STREET

NEW YORK NY 10007

TEL 212 669 7200

FAX 212 669 4701 HTTP://ADVOCATE.NYC.GOV