"How are these jobs going to be split between the three commissioners?" Clark asked.
In the past, the three commissioners divided up the 50 to 100 temporary jobs, which pay $10.75 an hour for up to six months of work yearly.
Commissioners often took recommendations about whom to hire from party officials - the leaders of the 66 wards. That left the commissioners' office vulnerable to charges that the jobs were traded as political favors.
"They're trying to make the process more open so that each commissioner is not permitted to have their own patronage hires as they have in the past. It's a step in the right direction," said Ellen Mattleman Kaplan, vice president and policy director for the Committee of Seventy, the voter watchdog organization.
In introducing the plan, Noam Kugelmass, a deputy to Singer, said the old way of hiring had caused the office to waste money because some people who were hired did not work.
Supervisors also usually did not get a chance to interview the people they hired. The old system also contributed to other problems, Kugelmass said. On Jan. 20, a temporary worker who had been hired under Tartaglione was arrested for drug dealing.
The new procedure would include background checks.
Clark said neither Singer nor Schmidt had discussed the proposal with him beforehand. Singer, who replaced Tartaglione as chair, said that Clark was aware of the proposal before the meeting, and that it was on the agenda.
The commissioners have not yet decided how the new hiring process will work, but in general, they want to let more people know that the jobs are available and require resumés and interviews.
The changes would affect only temporary workers, who help stuff envelopes and check voting machines, among other tasks. They do not work at polling places.
