Vince-Morgan
2015-03-05T04:21:25Z
With the ice melting and midterms around the corner, Columbia is just one month away from the Bacchanal spring concert. While rumors still abound over the headliners, last weekend's Battle of the Bands determined the two student openers for the April 4 event.
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2014-10-20T14:30:03Z
Columbia's long-awaited hiring statistics for Manhattanville indicate promising results: In the first three years of construction, minority-, women-, or locally owned firms have completed more than two-thirds of the work. These figures exceed the stipulations of the Community Benefits Agreement that the University signed in 2009, which stipulates that 35 percent of contracts should go to MWL firms. That both the expectations were surpassed is impressive, and it represents an important step toward building trust between Columbia and Manhattanville residents.
However, we have to wonder whether these results accurately depict the University's hiring practices for Manhattanville. As Executive Vice President of Facilities Joe Ienuso told Spectator last week, the numbers released cover only non-specialty projects, meaning they do not include "a big bulk of the work" at the site, like the slurry wall and the energy plant. Ienuso said that there are "not many, if any, minority or local firms that do that work" ("Administration releases Manhattanville hiring statistics," Feb. 11). While we understand that there may not be as wide a selection of contractors from which to pick for specialty work, we hope the University is staying true to the spirit of the CBA and that it is selecting MWL firms as often as possible.
Columbia released the numbers only after City Council candidate Vince Morgan, SIPA '06 and an outspoken watchdog of the expansion, called for an investigation, and after the Empire State Development Corporation announced that it would conduct a review of hiring practices in Manhattanville. We are pleased that an entity separate from the University will look into whether it is meeting its stated goals, but we are concerned that a report from the ESDC will not adequately satisfy the expansion's critics. The ESDC is the same agency that, in 2008, deemed Manhattanville "blighted," paving the way for Columbia's controversial use of eminent domain in acquiring parts of the 17-acre campus.
This is far from the first time Columbia's implementation of the CBA has been called into question. In late 2011, the West Harlem Development Corporation, which, as outlined in the CBA, is charged with injecting $76 million of Columbia's money into the local economy, faced a barrage of criticism over its effectiveness. In response, it hired an executive director, located a permanent office, established a functional website, and began allocating the funds.
We hope that the University itself takes a more transparent approach in order to paint a fuller picture of hiring practices across all aspects of Manhattanville. That should include releasing a report on specialty projects' hiring statistics and detailing the availability of MWL firms in these areas of construction. It could also mean asking another third party to monitor hiring practices, considering locals' distrust in the ESDC.
We are glad to see construction at Manhattanville moving forward as fast as it is, and we just hope that we can finally put any and all legal concerns behind us in order to focus on welcoming an exciting new campus.
To respond to this staff editorial, or to submit an op-ed, contact opinion@columbiaspectator.com
... However, we have to wonder whether these results accurately depict the University's hiring practices for Manhattanville. As Executive Vice President of Facilities Joe Ienuso told Spectator last week, the numbers released cover only non-specialty projects, meaning they do not include "a big bulk of the work" at the site, like the slurry wall and the energy plant. Ienuso said that there are "not many, if any, minority or local firms that do that work" ("Administration releases Manhattanville hiring statistics," Feb. 11). While we understand that there may not be as wide a selection of contractors from which to pick for specialty work, we hope the University is staying true to the spirit of the CBA and that it is selecting MWL firms as often as possible.
Columbia released the numbers only after City Council candidate Vince Morgan, SIPA '06 and an outspoken watchdog of the expansion, called for an investigation, and after the Empire State Development Corporation announced that it would conduct a review of hiring practices in Manhattanville. We are pleased that an entity separate from the University will look into whether it is meeting its stated goals, but we are concerned that a report from the ESDC will not adequately satisfy the expansion's critics. The ESDC is the same agency that, in 2008, deemed Manhattanville "blighted," paving the way for Columbia's controversial use of eminent domain in acquiring parts of the 17-acre campus.
This is far from the first time Columbia's implementation of the CBA has been called into question. In late 2011, the West Harlem Development Corporation, which, as outlined in the CBA, is charged with injecting $76 million of Columbia's money into the local economy, faced a barrage of criticism over its effectiveness. In response, it hired an executive director, located a permanent office, established a functional website, and began allocating the funds.
We hope that the University itself takes a more transparent approach in order to paint a fuller picture of hiring practices across all aspects of Manhattanville. That should include releasing a report on specialty projects' hiring statistics and detailing the availability of MWL firms in these areas of construction. It could also mean asking another third party to monitor hiring practices, considering locals' distrust in the ESDC.
We are glad to see construction at Manhattanville moving forward as fast as it is, and we just hope that we can finally put any and all legal concerns behind us in order to focus on welcoming an exciting new campus.
To respond to this staff editorial, or to submit an op-ed, contact opinion@columbiaspectator.com
2014-08-25T13:00:03Z
The race for a Harlem City Council seat is under way, and City Council member Inez Dickens has an official challenger in Vince Morgan, SIPA '06, a former congressional candidate and an outspoken critic of Columbia's Manhattanville expansion.
Morgan said Tuesday that he will run in council district 9, which includes Central Harlem and part of West Harlem.
"I've been very active in the 9th district in the 13 years I've lived here," Morgan said. "I'm passionate about the things that most impact my life and impact my neighbors' lives."
Morgan, a former banker, has taken Columbia to task for, he says, not keeping its promises in the Community Benefits Agreement, which the University signed in 2009 in the wake of its expansion. Morgan wrote a letter to the Empire State Development Corporation in January that triggered a state investigation into whether Columbia has done enough to hire minority, women, and local workers.
"My experiences abroad and in community banking taught me that the way to navigate the reality of a global economy and survive the pressures of gentrification is to develop new paradigms of leadership," Morgan states on his website.
Despite the fact that the Manhattanville expansion is not in the district he is running in, Morgan has focused on the project on his website and in a campaign video he released Monday.
"Columbia's expansion impacts all of upper Manhattan," Morgan said. "It represents what we're going through right now across the board, which is these development projects that are leaving lots of people in the district behind."
Dickens, who voted to approve the Manhattanville expansion in 2007, is seeking re-election for a third term on the council. She easily won her last Democratic primary and election in 2009 and serves as assistant deputy majority leader on the City Council. Some observers think she is next in line for the post of City Council speaker.
Before Morgan's entry in the race, Dickens was running for re-election unopposed, according to campaign finance records. The Democratic primary will be held in September 2013.
A Dickens staff member declined to comment.
thea.raymond.sidel@columbiaspectator.com | @theareticall
... Morgan said Tuesday that he will run in council district 9, which includes Central Harlem and part of West Harlem.
"I've been very active in the 9th district in the 13 years I've lived here," Morgan said. "I'm passionate about the things that most impact my life and impact my neighbors' lives."
Morgan, a former banker, has taken Columbia to task for, he says, not keeping its promises in the Community Benefits Agreement, which the University signed in 2009 in the wake of its expansion. Morgan wrote a letter to the Empire State Development Corporation in January that triggered a state investigation into whether Columbia has done enough to hire minority, women, and local workers.
"My experiences abroad and in community banking taught me that the way to navigate the reality of a global economy and survive the pressures of gentrification is to develop new paradigms of leadership," Morgan states on his website.
Despite the fact that the Manhattanville expansion is not in the district he is running in, Morgan has focused on the project on his website and in a campaign video he released Monday.
"Columbia's expansion impacts all of upper Manhattan," Morgan said. "It represents what we're going through right now across the board, which is these development projects that are leaving lots of people in the district behind."
Dickens, who voted to approve the Manhattanville expansion in 2007, is seeking re-election for a third term on the council. She easily won her last Democratic primary and election in 2009 and serves as assistant deputy majority leader on the City Council. Some observers think she is next in line for the post of City Council speaker.
Before Morgan's entry in the race, Dickens was running for re-election unopposed, according to campaign finance records. The Democratic primary will be held in September 2013.
A Dickens staff member declined to comment.
thea.raymond.sidel@columbiaspectator.com | @theareticall
2014-08-24T13:34:56Z
J.P. Morgan Chase announced last month that it lost $2 billion this past quarter. The losses apparently stemmed from "errors, sloppiness, and bad judgment," according to J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon. Now some are calling for Dimon, who has a seat on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's board of directors, to step down from his post at the Fed to avoid a potential conflict of interest. One person who doesn't think Dimon should step down? Lee Bollinger, chairman of the New York Fed's board of directors. Prezbo says Dimon should not resign, and anyone who says that he should resign has a "false understanding" of how the Fed works, and is being "foolish." You can check out the full story at the link, or the Reader's Digest version after the jump:more 1. As noted above, J.P. Morgan reveals in May that it lost $2 billion in trading last quarter. 2. Critics immediately begin to call for Dimon to step down from his position at the Fed, citing a conflict of interest. Former IMF chief Simon Johnson starts a Change.org petition to have Dimon removed. It reads, in part:
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