Thursday, May 15, 2008

Council slush fund quid quo pro

City Council members steering millions of taxpayer dollars to groups outside of their districts are receiving campaign contributions from employees and board members of the groups they are giving the discretionary grants.

Council Members Gave Grants, Then Got Campaign Funds From Officers of Grant Recipients

As the slush fund scandal at City Hall has widened in recent weeks, council members have defended their use of public dollars to fund "member items," which they say allows them to bring services to their communities and support local nonprofits.

Council members running for higher office, however, are directing taxpayer dollars to organizations outside of their districts, enabling them to tap into new fund-raising networks and promote themselves across the city.

A council member who represents parts of Queens and is running for comptroller, David Weprin, for example, has collected thousands of dollars in donations linked to outside groups he has supported with tax dollars, according to a review by The New York Sun of the city's Campaign Finance Board database and the council's list of member items in a public document, Schedule C.


Photo by Streetsblog

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The soup thickens!

Soon some more corrupt
"elected" officials will be tossed in...desperately seeking out
bits of carrots and celery
to use for life rafts as they clamor to escape the boiling pot!

Too late guys and gals...
the feds are on your ass
and they're turning up the heat
on the stove!

You should have thought about
your crooked ways before
you stole from us NYC residents!

Anonymous said...

Anon # 1:

How correct. But, like any addict needing a fix, these freaks think of nothing except the thrill of the moment.

Now, they want us to pay for their criminal attorneys to get them off of the crime of stealing our tax dollars for personal and political purposes.

They need to end the addiction with the cold turkey treatment.

Or, let them ask the Billionaire Commissar co-conspirator to pay for all the attorneys out of his own pocket.

We already know his pockets are filled with our tax dollars stolen via kickbacks, slush funds, and plain and simple graft.

Perhaps he's really just the Grifter Grafting Billionaire Commissar.

Instead of Boston, he future will be in more tax-paid housing: prison.

Anonymous said...

What ever happen to the investigation about the money stolden by former comptroller Hevesi's two aids Hank Morris and Jack Chartier who obtained a loan from Markstone Capital (firm that managed penson funds for his boss) for his 70s' Mod Squard babe. Peggy also go door to door car service for her personal use from the controllers office.

Morris according to dozens of articles in the Times, News and post got hidden payoffs from people managing funds from Hevesi.

On July 13, 2007 the Times wrote:
"The probe is being conducted jointly by the Albany County district attorney, P. David Soares, and the state’s attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo."

Not a peep about this story in the months that follow.

Now wonder Weprin and the others want from the comptroller post. You can steal millions and never go to jail.

Anonymous said...

Wake up, morons. This Council thing is totally irrelevant, it's pennies compared to the slush funds run by the 700+ various Public Authorities operating in Albany today.

This "scandal" is mostly just a distraction, a misdirection and all about 2009 mayoral politics.

Despite the constant bitching moaning about your low rent borough, New York City is, for the most part, pretty well run these days. Albany is the cesspool. It continues to be that way because of folks like the QC community can be counted on to jump up and down about whatever garbage is splashed across the front of the News or the Courier. Just like they want ya to.

Keep up the good work Crappers.

Anonymous said...

I thought the public authorities were to be used to run the secret police out of.

How come not one elected offical besides Cuomo and Patterson has not said a word about NYS owe KGB inside the Power Authority.

Does authority's inspector general, Daniel Wiese have a file on everyone in Albany.

This guy wiese is the ROSE MARRY WOODS of NYS. Instead of tape we missing his emails. Does anyone in politics believe in following the law.

Wiese was in Both sides Albany DA David Soares' report on the so-called Troopergate scandal. His first report said Spitzer and all his friends were angles.