NEW YORK — Queens Councilman Francisco Moya is touting years of city and state legislative experience in his bid to become city council speaker.
In his pitch in a Friday evening interview with NY1 political anchor Errol Louis, Moya argued his years in the City Council, and the state Assembly before that, make him well equipped to help the city's economy bounce back.
"We need real experienced leadership," Moya said in his interview on "Inside City Hall." "I think I bring 11 years of legislative experience, both at the state and city level, that can really help drive our economy back."
"Throughout the last 18 months we've seen the clear disparities in our communities," Moya added. "We need someone who can really fight to build a robust budget that is reflective of all New Yorkers."
The council speaker job, arguably the second most powerful post after mayor, is one decided by an internal vote of the 51-member legislative body. The high-profile position can serve as a counterbalance to the mayor and a final check on the city’s budget. The speaker can also set the council's priorities.
There are several candidates, including Moya, officially in the running: Carlina Rivera and fellow council members Adrienne Adams, Justin Brannan, Keith Powers and Dianna Ayala. They have all been courting their colleagues for a vote, with the race to be decided in January.
In his interview, Moya also didn't give a full-throated defense of member deference, the practice of the council deferring to members on rezoning efforts in their own districts.
"They know their district better than anyone else," Moya said about council members. But when a rezoning will impact the whole city, the Queens Democrat argued, "we have to take a real look at how that process is moving forward."
Moya, who is the chair of the council's Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises, also reiterated his previous demand for reviews of rezonings after they go into effect to determine if they led to housing displacement.
Moya also told NY1 he stands by a letter he signed calling for a “dangerousness standard” to bail reform. Unlike most states that have passed bail reform in recent years, including neighboring New Jersey, New York does not allow judges to use their discretion for what is known as a “dangerousness standard” to determine if someone should be released after being arraigned.
The city has no say over bail reform, which falls to the authority of the state which passed a landmark bail reform law in 2019, ending cash bail for many low-level crimes and misdemeanors. State lawmakers who stand by the law are in no hurry to revise it again, something they did once in 2020.
Moya argues it's a mistake not to examine bail reform.
"We are simply asking the state legislature to take a look at that and see if that has worked or not," he said. "That is simply what the letter states."
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Watch the full interview above.
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This story includes reporting from Zack Fink, Gloria Pazmino and Emily Ngo.
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