Mamdani’s $53M Mass Engagement office draws Council questions over budget, political guardrails
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new Office of Mass Engagement (OME) came under the City Council’s microscope on Tuesday after his budget director said the office would have a $53 million budget — prompting lawmakers to ask how the outreach operation is funded and what safeguards are in place to prevent taxpayer-funded civic engagement from crossing into political work.
Budget Director Sherif Soliman disclosed the figure during the Council’s executive budget hearing, saying the Office of Mass Engagement’s total budget includes $2.8 million in new funding for staff in fiscal year 2027 and the outyears. The added funding would support 20 new staff lines, he said.
Mamdani created the office via executive order in January to consolidate and expand city outreach functions. At the time, the mayor said the office was not a continuation of his campaign operation, but rather a restructuring of existing civic engagement work inside government.
The mayor appointed Tascha Van Auken, a longtime Democratic Socialists of America organizer and veteran progressive campaign operative, as the office’s first commissioner. Van Auken led Mamdani’s field operation during the campaign and described the new office at its launch as an effort to organize participation “at scale” and build systems for long-term “co-governance.”
But on Tuesday, Council Speaker Julie Menin asked Soliman how much of the office’s budget belongs to the Public Engagement Unit (PEU), which had been budgeted within the Human Resources Administration (HRA) before being incorporated into the new office.
Soliman said the administration could provide a breakdown of the different offices inside OME, including PEU and the Community Affairs Unit. Office of Management and Budget officials said PEU’s budget is approximately $24 million and that they could provide Council staff with the relevant budget codes.
Menin noted that the executive plan shows $10.3 million in dedicated budget codes for PEU within HRA, including the 20 new positions, but said Council Finance staff understood there was additional PEU funding and headcount not clearly delineated in the budget.
The questions come as OME has drawn attention for Organize NYC, an initiative aimed at increasing participation in the Rent Guidelines Board process. Mamdani made a rent freeze a centerpiece of his campaign, though he has since stressed that the RGB is independent.
The administration has said the outreach effort is not intended to tell residents what position to take. At the initiative’s launch, Mamdani said canvassers would ask residents whether they knew if their apartments were rent-stabilized and whether they would testify before the board. He also said the effort would include outreach to landlords.
Landlord groups have questioned whether City Hall’s organizing effort amounts to political pressure on a board that is supposed to operate independently.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Menin asked what safeguards exist to ensure the Office of Mass Engagement is not engaging in political work or other outreach that could create a conflict of interest.
“Government offices cannot engage in political activities,” Soliman said, according to the hearing transcript. He said employees are instructed on those rules through conflict-of-interest and Department of Investigation training, adding, “This is a government office, not a political operation.”
When Menin asked whether all employees had completed Conflict of Interest Board training, Soliman said he would have to get back to the Council to confirm.
Soliman said the office’s work builds on existing outreach functions, including connecting New Yorkers with government services and housing-related assistance. He described the new structure as a continuation and expansion of those efforts to reach residents in their communities.
