New York Daily News

It's a done deal: City Council Democrats have voted to approve the appointments of three new commissioners to the Board of Elections.

Councilman Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan), who was among those who grilled the nominees at City Hall and had pushed for a transparent selection process, noted in a statement that the new commissioners had publicly agreed to pursue anti-nepotism reforms at the oft-criticized agency.

"All of this progress was only made possible by a public hearing of the Rules Committee under the leadership of Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and its Chair Brad Lander," Kallos said.

City officials want kids’ fast-food meals to be not just happy — but also healthy.

Councilman Ben Kallos is set to introduce a bill Thursday that would set stricter nutrition standards for kids’ meals that come with toys.

The proposed legislation would bar fast-food joints from offering free toys, coupons and other incentives with a kids’ meal if the food served contains more than 500 calories and more than 600 mg of sodium.

They want to require the meal to also contain at least half a cup of fruit, vegetables or a serving of whole-grain products.

“Throughout the fast food industry, you’re seeing that toys are being linked to meals,” said Kallos (D-Manhattan). “And as a result, we have a very high obesity rate.”

"The Board of Elections has taken the positive step of implementing CityTime to prevent possible fraud, waste and abuse. Executive Director Mike Ryan is showing himself to be the kind of leader we need to clean up the Board of Elections,” Kallos told the News.

“On February 28, Council Member [Vincent] Gentile and I held a hearing to investigate the disturbing Department of Investigations findings on the [Board]," Kallos added.

"This is the first major step we’ve seen resulting from the hearing, and I look forward to many more — including the adoption of an anti-nepotism policy and public postings for jobs.”

Heads up!

The city would be required to give community members one month’s notice before making traffic changes under a bill introduced Thursday by Councilman Ben Kallos and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.

"Community members have a right to know about changes that are happening in their neighborhoods, and community boards are one of the best ways to spread the word," said Councilman Ben Kallos

The good news is that 10 members flat-out refused the money: Brad Lander, Alan Maisel, Carlos Menchaca and Mark Treyger of Brooklyn; Andy Cohen of the Bronx; Dan Garodnick, Ben Kallos, Mark Levine and Helen Rosenthal of Manhattan; and Steve Matteo of Staten Island.

Not only did they say no, but Mark-Viverito gave all 10 the option to beg off for the three-and-a-half years left in their terms. All 10 did.

Garodnick and Lander are turning down $15,000 yearly, Matteo is declining $5,000 and the rest, $8,000. They believe that all Council members should be paid the same and put principle before personal interest. Salute their integrity.

Twenty-one City Council members made a final push for a rent freeze before Monday night’s vote of the Rent Guidelines Board.

“This year, striking a fair balance means voting for a rent freeze,” wrote City Councilman Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan) and colleagues from all five boroughs in a letter to the board.

Aspiring policy wonks as young as 16 could serve on their local community boards under a resolution passed Wednesday by the City Council.

The Council is asking Albany to let 16- and 17-year-old serve on the local boards, which weigh in on zoning changes, liquor licenses, and sidewalk cafes in their neighborhoods.

Currently, the minimum age for the 51 local panels representing neighborhoods across the city is 18.

“Youth deserve a voice on their local community boards. These boards deal with issues that affect their daily lives and the neighborhoods that they live in,” said Councilman Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan), the sponsor of the resolution.

Under legislation to be introduced by Councilman Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan), the city would be required to post all government notices on its website — from announcements of a community board meeting to an application for a new sidewalk cafe.

“There’s literally hundreds and hundreds of places where the government has to make a public notice — but nobody knows what the government is doing, because the public notice requirements are so arcane,” said Kallos, chairman of the government operations committee.

Airbnb is “getting in the way of affordable housing by making our housing stock . . . into high-priced rentals,” added Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan).

City Councilman Ben Kallos slammed the Board of Elections in a letter Wednesday for its blame-dodging response to a scathing Department of Investigation probe.

Kallos, chair of the Governmental Operations committee, had told to board to hand in a plan on how they’d fix a slew of problems identified by DOI, which found the board was riddled with nepotism and allowed dead people to vote.

Instead, officials at the problem-plagued agency sent in a response that dismissed most of DOI’s recommendations as outdated and vague.