Mayor targets deadbeat dads among city workers

BY CURTIS L. TAYLOR
Staff Writer

June 17, 2004, 8:42 PM EDT

Deadbeat parents working for the city: beware.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has "zero tolerance" for the non-payment of
child support, is threatening local, state and federal sanctions against any
city employee who fails to make child support payments.

"If you refuse to fulfill your legal and moral obligation to support your
child, the Office of Child Support Enforcement will compel payment through
any legal means necessary, including intercepting your tax refund, freezing
and seizing your bank accounts, or suspending your driver's license,"
Bloomberg wrote in a letter that will be included in city paychecks next
week.

"Child support payments are not optional; they cannot and should not be
delayed, avoided or ignored," said the letter, which was released yesterday.
"I have zero tolerance for those who neglect their parental responsibilities
and act like deadbeats."

Verna Eggleston, commissioner of the Social Services/Human Resources
Administration, said nearly all of the 9,500 city employees with court
orders in place for child support are in compliance.

City Councilwoman Tracy Boyland (D-Brownsville) commended Bloomberg's stance
against deadbeat parents.

"It is great to see that the mayor is giving significant attention to the
issue of unpaid child support," said Boyland, who authored a law that limits
what private agencies can charge for collecting unpaid child support
payments.
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.