Is the New York City Economic Development Corporation violating sunshine laws ?
In her holiday newsletter, Assemblymember Deborah J. Glick reveals that the New York City Economic Development Corporation asked her office to leave the Civic Center Taskforce, because the Hon. Assemblymember and her staff refused to sign "secrecy pacts."
The New York City Economic Development Corporation is now coercing confidentiality agreements from any public official, who takes part in some of its meetings, hearings, or discussions.
This includes the staff of public officials.
When the Hon. Assemblymember and her office declined to sign a confidentiality agreement with the EDC, the EDC asked that the office of the Hon. Assemblymember leave the ECD's Civic Center Taskforce !
The EDC puts on the pretense that it is a transparent quasi-government institution, which uses public resources to push economic plans that are creating major deals for giant corporate interests. The EDC takes credit for helping to keep JetBlue's headquarters in New York City. But if this institution is going to be using taxpayer money for its corporate deals, what is it doing ring-fencing information away from the public about the public's business ?
Here is a link (http://www.nycedc.com/nycida/financial-public-documents) to the ECD's "public documents" page. No where on this link does any information appear that the EDC demands confidentiality agreements from public officials.
How can we have a transparent government that is accessible to its citizens, if the government is demanding that public officials enter into "secrecy pacts" that deny voters and taxpayers information about our government's business ?
Were confidentiality agreements the tool used by those with vested financial interests in the billion-dollar luxury condo conversion deal for St. Vincent's to silence our politicians and their official staff ? We may never know.
Here is the portion of Assemblymember Glick's holiday newsletter, which addresses the EDC's demands for secrecy pacts :
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