A City Council member with a perfect attendance record yesterday said his deadbeat colleagues need to get to work.
Reacting to an attendance report in yesterday’s Post, Councilman Tony Avella (D-Queens), a long-shot candidate for mayor, said members make up lame excuses to avoid coming to mandatory meetings in City Hall.
“Could it be that some of my colleagues are lazy?” he said. “I don’t know what their excuses are, but in my opinion, there’s no excuse. It’s your job.”
Avella and Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) are the only members who were marked present for all council hearings in fiscal 2009. Councilman James Oddo (R-SI) managed a 92 percent attendance rate.
“Committee hearings are part of the job, and they’re an important part of the job,” Oddo said.
The Post reported that Councilwoman Maria Baez (D-Bronx) was the top no-show with a 56 percent attendance rate. She did not return calls for comment.