During one of the various discussion about the service cuts sure to come out of the MTA’s financial crisis, Dale Hemmerdinger issued what has become my favorite quote of the week. “We are charged,” he said, “by law to propose a balanced budget by the end of the year. We only have two ways we can handle that: We can either cut service or we can raise fares. That’s all we can do. If we don’t balance the budget by the end of the year, we could all go to jail.”
Can you imagine the scene when U.S. Marshalls or NYPD officers show up to cart Hemmerdinger and his co-conspirators off to jail? I wonder if Norman Seabrook would turn into a devout Jew while stewing in his cell in Rikers.
While Hemmerdinger was using a little bit of rhetoric to make a point, it was certain a silly-sounding statement to make. To that end, William Neuman poked a bit of fun at Hemmerdinger in a column this weekend. He wrote:
So, is it possible? Could the authority’s board be tossed in the hoosegow if the budget it passes shows a negative balance in its bottom line?
Or what about another possibility, given Mr. Hemmerdinger’s evident heartache over the proposed budget’s dire measures: What if the board, all 23 members, in an act of civil disobedience, refused to pass a budget until state lawmakers rescued the transit system with more money?
Legal experts said they did not believe the board would be sent to jail for a budget that showed a negative balance. At most, the authority might become the target of a lawsuit, they said. In theory, if a judge then ordered the authority to balance its budget and the board repeatedly refused, its members might be held in contempt of court, which could ultimately lead to a bread-and-water diet behind bars. But, as they may say, that train has not left the station yet.
Gene Russianoff, the ubiquitous head of the Straphangers Campaign, joined in the mockery. “I take that requirement as a requirement that’s not backed up by a year in the slammer,” he said to The Times “If they really had criminal liability, they might be eligible for a jury trial. I’d worry about the jury coming in with a verdict of capital punishment. They’re not too popular.”
Hemmerdinger later clarified his thinking, as Neuman writes:
“I just assumed that if we didn’t do the law we would go to jail,” he said. “I’m not a lawyer. I said something without thinking of all the implications.” He said that upon reflection it was clear to him that the laws involved were civil and not criminal, and so were not likely to lead to Rikers Island.
But he added: “Some of the riders I’m sure would like to send me there, after the comments I’ve heard on the radio this morning.”
Of course, the MTA Board won’t go to jail, and New Yorkers will probably end up paying more for the agency’s financial troubles than the wealthy moguls who sit on the board. But in our dreams, we can imagine MTA officials in jail, not for failing to pass the budget, but for holding the public responsible for the fiscal improprieties of both our state government and the MTA’s overseers.
Leave a Reply