In January 2006, City Council Members overwhelmingly chose Christine C. Quinn to be Speaker. Speaker Quinn has set a proactive agenda for the Council to be an incubator for new ideas, and to be an initiator of legislative and policy initiatives that improve people’s lives. She has also pledged to be a five borough Speaker. In her first six months as Speaker, she has secured numerous budgetary gains and pushed through laws and policies on such critical issues as public safety, early childhood education, hunger and nutrition, garbage disposal, and economic development. She has also made significant strides to improve the City’s budget process, and to end the annual “budget dance” by pursuing a much more constructive negotiation process between the City Council and the Mayor’s Office. Since 1999, Speaker Quinn has served as the representative for the 3rd Council District of Manhattan. Before becoming Speaker, she served as the Health Committee chairperson. Speaker Quinn has been rated one of the fifty most powerful women in New York City by the New York Post and one of the most influential New Yorkers by New York Magazine. She and her partner, Kim Catullo, live in Chelsea with their dogs Andy and Sadie.
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