Mayor John V. Lindsay has issued an amendment to the city’s executive order on the annual census of city employes which provides that “nothing in this order shall be construed to require or allow the imposition of quotas in recruitment, assignment, hiring or promotion in contravention of the requirements of law.” The amended executive order is titled “Conduct of Census Concerning the Composition of the Work Force of City Agencies.”
The Mayor said, in issuing the amendment, that “there have been inquiries regarding the possible imposition of quotas as a result of the original executive order,” which was issued on Oct. 1,1971. City Hall sources said Lindsay had acted partly in response to requests from Jewish leaders who had been disturbed by the executive order and who had expressed fears that it would lead to a quota system in hiring and promotion of city workers.
The Mayor said “I have amended the order because I wish to clarify this matter and to express in clear terms my complete opposition to quotas.” He declared that “history has taught us that quotas are evil” and that “we will abide by the principle that competence and merit will be the basis of civil service employment.” The City Hall sources also said that the Mayor’s office intended to resist whatever pressures may arise from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare or other federal agencies for personnel treatment that may require establishment of quotas.
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