NEW YORK—Mayor Michael Bloomberg denied allegations made in a June 17 Daily News article that the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) has a secret quota system to pressure inspectors to issue fines.
“The quota is that you have got to inspect an X number of restaurants, not that you got to find an X number of faults,” said Bloomberg during a question and answer session with the press.
When asked if a quota system exists for the number of fines issued, Bloomberg said, “No, there’s no quota system for that. There’s a quota system that you have to go out and you have to visit a certain number of restaurants. I can’t imagine how you would run it without that.”
The Daily News article details high fines issued to small businesses, including a $14,000 fine issued to a wholesaler for selling orange toy guns which do not have their barrels plugged.
“I was recently given a bad evaluation for not meeting my 25% quota,” one unnamed inspector told Daily News. “They want us to look for anything to go after a business.”
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