I do appreciate that Mayor De Blasio is striving to support his constituency with the Paid Parental Leave initiative as a way to offset the financial burden that can be caused by the birth, adoption or foster care of a child.
However, it is short-sighted to not recognize similar family-care needs for long-term managers who have served the city with dedication as well as the expectation that their earned benefits would not be arbitrarily reduced with no effort to consult with the Managerial Employees Association (MEA), the organization representing the needs and concerns of the city's 20,000 managers.
Therefore, I urge the Mayor to reconsider Personnel Order No. 2016/1 to equit­ably offer a benefit that does not rely solely on the wages and leave of its managerial workforce. After all, no one is immune from the potential for a financial need caused by unanticipated family circumstances.