'Man On A Mission:' Bronx Councilman Tackles Government Dysfunction As Head Of New Oversight Committee
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Bronx City Councilman Ritchie Torres says he is "a man on a mission."
Torres was recently named chair of the Council's new Committee on Oversight and Investigations.
He said he will hire professional investigators, some with prosecutorial experience, to tackle government dysfunction and bureaucracy.
The committee will look several issues including sexual harassment policies, eminent domain, city subsidies, and failure of the lead safety program in the New York City Housing Authority.
"I think of myself as the council's archaeologist," Torres said. "I am going to dig deep into the operational failures of city government. And we're going to dig deeper than we've ever done before and we're going to dig deeper than the standard committees normally can do."
The committee has subpoena powers across all city agencies.
And while it could unearth deficiencies in the current administration, Torres claims this is not an attack on the mayor.
"No one should be afraid, this is not an attack on the mayor, it's an attack on bureaucracy," Torres said. "There is no one who is more hamstrung by bureaucratic dysfunction than the mayor, his agenda is at stake. So no one has a greater interest in seeing government work."
