Bronx Dems Defend Meals Plan By HEATHER HADDON Bronx Democratic lawmakers say they support a controversial pilot program to reorganize the Meals on Wheels program for senior citizens in the borough because they believe it will help determine whether the changes should be expanded citywide. Mike Nieves, a party insider who worked with Assemblyman Jose Rivera for years, told the Norwood News that Bronx Democrats want the pilot to prove whether the new program will work or not. "We don't know what it's going to prove, and that's the point," said Nieves, who currently acts as the City Council's director of state affairs. "If a pilot is going to come down anyway, it's better they [the officials] are involved in it." The pilot reduces the number of Bronx providers from 17 to three and introduces frozen meals for 30 percent of the seniors in the program. Critics of the plan charge that the request for proposals is geared to benefit large, non- unionized agencies like Regional Aid for Interim Needs (RAIN) in the east Bronx. And, as the Norwood News went to press, the city's Department for the Aging (DFTA) announced that two of the contracts had been awarded to RAIN with the remaining one going to the Mid-Bronx Senior Citizens Council in the south Bronx. Many other vendors were knocked out of the running because they spend more than the RFP's $5 cap on meals (the current average is $6). RAIN meets that criterion because it uses non-union labor, according to critics. The Norwood News reported last month that RAIN's executive director, Louis Vazquez, has strong ties to the Bronx Democratic machine and to DFTA. He once served as director of the Bronx division of DFTA, and his wife, Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez had a 14- year tenure with DFTA. Cortez-Vazquez served as the chief-of-staff for former Bronx County Democratic Chairman Roberto Ramirez, and Vazquez has made campaign contributions to members of the party. Nieves denied that Rivera, who heads the Bronx Democratic Party, had any relationship with Vasquez. "I've been close to Jose, and I know that he's never sat down with the guy from RAIN," Nieves said. "He didn't have any role in the negotiations." 1995 Firebox Pilot According to Nieves, Rivera based his support of the reorganization on the pilot to disarm fire alarm boxes almost a decade ago. While councilman in District 15 (a seat his son, Joel, now occupies), Rivera's district was one of three in the Bronx that allowed the city to test whether it would be detrimental to deactivate the sidewalk emergency lines to the Fire Department. The pilot folded in early 1996 when a federal judge ruled against it, but only after a number of incidents where people without phones couldn't immediately contact the Fire Department in an emergency. Nieves said that only after proving that the pilot was dangerous, could the plans to remove the boxes citywide be defeated. "Fortunately, before the completion of the pilot, it was demonstrated that it wasn't working," Nieves said. "The firebox experience was positive, so he's [Rivera's] doing the same thing with this administration. If he thought seniors would be victimized, he wouldn't be on board with this." But many providers say the changes could be a matter of life and death. "[DFTA] is going to have a lawsuit on their hands as soon as someone dies," said Don Bluestone, executive director of the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center. Bluestone and other vendors especially object to the 30 percent quota of recipients receiving frozen meals weekly, instead of daily hot meals. While the city has made a number of concessions - including promises of microwaves for seniors who lack them, and additional case management and support - advocates still feel that DFTA is playing with fire. "We're putting people who are frail and dependent at risk," Bluestone said. "Why don't we take their wheelchairs and crutches away?" Firing Back at Koppell Bronx politicians are firing back at Oliver Koppell, who is the only Bronx Council member to consistently oppose the pilot. They point to a letter of support that Koppell sent to DFTA on Feb. 10 in favor of a consortium of bidders: Aging in America, the Riverdale YM-YWHA and MMCC. The latter two are in Koppell's district. "It does appear that [there is contract steering] when we have an elected official that claims to be opposing the Meals on Wheels program, but is sending a letter of support to local nonprofits so they can receive this RFP," said Ululy Martinez, Council Member Maria Baez' chief-of-staff. Baez, who chairs the Council's Aging Committee, did not issue letters of support to any of the providers, even though she has been asked for them, according to Martinez. Koppell called the attacks "utter nonsense," and insisted he is just trying to advocate for the vendors who, in his opinion, are the best ones for the program. He also insisted that letters of support from elected officials are common for competitive bids. "This is [the officials] trying to deflect the criticism that is properly directed at them for failing to oppose this whole change," Koppell said. Meanwhile, even supporters of the pilot like Nieves said DFTA should have done more to build support for it. "I've been doing this stuff for a long time," said Nieves, who entered politics in the 1980s. "The administration should have done more outreach and more communication to the people who are going to be affected." Rivera Vows Union Drive In an interview with the Norwood News, Council Member Joel Rivera denied that the Meals on Wheels pilot program is designed to favor non-union agencies, and he went so far as to say that he will help bring unions to providers that don't have them. "I would hope we would have a union shop become the victor of the competitive bid," Rivera said, prior to the announcement that the non-union RAIN was awarded the contract to serve half of the borough's community districts. "I would have to sit down with the employees to find out if they want to unionize, and if so, we will call the appropriate union." But bringing in a union would probably increase the cost for each meal, and with the strict $5 cap in the request for proposals, it's unclear how a newly unionized vendor would still meet the contract's criteria. -Heather Haddon
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