Monday, February 22, 2010

Pedro Wants You to Contact Him...But Not Really.

This came in over the weekend from a feisty BD Reader who tried to visit State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr.'s district office over the weekend...
State Senate Majority Leader Espada wants you to contact him... but not really.

He has not one, but TWO, offices within walking distance of his district.

Just don't try visiting the offices. When are they open? The website doesn't give you the hours. I tried visiting the Bainbridge office at 2:30pm on Saturday, but it was all locked up. You might expect to find a sign with the hours posted at the office, but apparently there wasn't enough room left on the giant banner after they included the photo of our State Senate Majority Leader.

Why would I expect his office to be open on Saturday, since it's not a business day? Precisely because it's not a business day! When, exactly, does our elected representative expect his constituents who work Monday through Friday to visit his office?

There are regular community meetings where residents voice their concerns. You might expect the State Senate Majority Leader to care enough to send someone from his staff. Nobody has seen them in months! How do you represent your community if people can't visit your office and your staff isn't going out to listen to them?

As taxpayers, we are footing the bill for the renovations, rent, and staffing for two local offices. Perhaps it's all that extra overhead that's making him cut back on the hours.
Thanks BD Reader! Just a quick BD Note on this: A few of Pedro's staffers did actually show up at the Bedford Mosholu Community Association meeting earlier this month. However, I did not find them to be of much use to the community. They basically just read from a copy of Pedro's calendar and spoke of dates of future celebrations which will include the community. There was no real talk of community issues or legislative agendas. I would find it much more useful if Pedro himself would make an appearance at a community meeting at some point. I could walk over with him from Bainbridge House!

~ErLu

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Pedro doesn't even stop to say "hello" to his Bronx Co-op on his way from one office to the other. How long will his apartment door be decorated for Valentine's Day?