Armed With Attendance Reports, The Challenger Demanded To See The Council Member’s Doctor’s Note

Now that they gave themselves that big retroactive 25 percent raise, I guess they expect that we expect that they be held to account:

It could be as if City Council members were sent back to school.

They’d have to submit a written, signed excuse such as a doctor’s note if they miss a scheduled meeting, hearing or vote, according to a draft of a proposal taking its cue from school policy.

And if they knew they were going to miss a meeting, they’d have to give advance notice.

“Members should bear in mind that the New York City Charter requires the physical presence of members at a committee meeting/hearing,” said the proposal by Speaker Christine Quinn.

The council’s absentee rate is 12 percent for the first nine months of the year, according to an amNewYork analysis of attendance records published Nov. 10. The council members with the worst attendance records — Joel Rivera (D-Bronx), Miguel Martinez (D-Manhattan) and Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn) — missed 26 percent of their scheduled meetings, according to the amNewYork analysis.

Still, the overall attendance record this year is an improvement from 2005, when the council had a 20 percent absentee rate, the analysis found.

Under Quinn’s proposal, council members each month would get a written report of their attendance and would have the option to dispute the record.