From the Daily News:About half of the City Council’s 51 members say they disagree with Speaker Christine Quinn’s blatantly wrong practice of giving cash bonuses, called lulus, to favored members.
The lulus, in theory assigned for committee chairmanships and the like, range from the yearly $28,500 Quinn pockets down to $4,000. That’s over and above the very healthy $112,500 the pols earn in salary for their part-time positions.
It’s not only wasteful, it’s corrupting — because it gives one elected official undue influence over her colleagues. No wonder that outside New York, every other legislature in America, local, state and federal, pays its members equally.
The cash comes twice a year (Jan. 18 was payday), so we present the semiannual list of who is naughty and nice and who lives by his or her word.
Stellar, as always, are Daniel Garodnick and Ydanis Rodriguez of Manhattan and Brooklyn’s Brad Lander. On principle, they refuse the money.
On the other side of the ledger are a quintet of hypocrites, members who have gone on record as opposing the practice yet keep the cash: Sara Gonzalez and Diana Reyna of Brooklyn, Helen Foster of the Bronx, Margaret Chin of Manhattan and Danny Dromm of Queens.
Then there are 15 members who take the lulus and claim to donate the money to charity. New to this list is Peter Koo of Queens. He just got a lulu for the first time and he says he is giving it away.
The other donors from Queens are Julissa Ferreras, Karen Koslowitz, Eric Ulrich, Jimmy Van Bramer and Ruben Wills. In Manhattan, it’s Gale Brewer and Rosie Mendez. Plus, Staten Island’s Debby Rose, Fernando Cabrera of the Bronx and Mathieu Eugene, David Greenfield, Letitia James, Steve Levin and Darlene Mealy of Brooklyn.
Unmentioned by name here are the 22 others who join with Quinn and who happily and shamelessly pocket thousands of dollars they think they are entitled to.
Oh come on, let's name names. The unmentioned from Queens include Dan Halloran, Jim Gennaro, Mark Weprin, Leroy Comrie, Elizabeth Crowley and Peter Vallone, Jr. The last one has a JD degree and is partners in a law firm (the all-important business experience we keep hearing about), but has been going around College Point begging for votes this September with the reasoning that he "has kids and needs a job". So while the lulus may be infuriating, think just how much members of government must collect in unreported perks since Vallone's behavior points to that being more lucrative than winning million dollar settlements and charging clients hundreds of dollars per hour...
13 comments:
At least PRETEND to be an honest broker of information. Halloran DOES NOT get a Lulu- he's a Republican and thus NOT a committee chair- he also isn't in the leadership- Ulrich IS and DOES receive one ....
If he isn't chair of anything and isn't in a leadership position, then perhaps it's time to dump him. Anyway, the comment was mainly about his asshole buddy, Vallone.
Does anyone really believe these people are even capable of holding down a career in the private sector?
C'mon if they were ANY good at what they did, they'd still be practicing law or being a geology teacher (Gennarro).
They're incompetents feeding at the public trough, and backslapping each other, telling themselves what great people they are.They lie to us and to each other. A sad existence and a shameful profession.
Not to be a Halloran apologist but attorneys on Both sides of the aisle said he was an incredible litigator and very successful. No idea why he'd leave that for the dysfunctional City Council. Maybe he really does believe in public service
So let me see. Dad mooched off the taxpayers for decades, then his son got on the dole, and made sure he gave himself an illegal third term to boot. Now he is begging to stay on the gravy train with nonsense about having kids. One is already an adult and the other graduates high school this year.
Not to be a Halloran apologist but attorneys on Both sides of the aisle said he was an incredible litigator and very successful. No idea why he'd leave that for the dysfunctional City Council. Maybe he really does believe in public service
So wait: if Halloran was "so successful" at being a litigator, why was his house in foreclosure when he was elected? Not to mention his wife running up over $115,000 in credit card debt.
That doesn't scream successful as far as I can see it...and the only "service" that Halloran is giving right now is a giant BJ to the entire district.
So what is the definition of success now?
I don't think it's wise to tell our kids that if you're an attorney or educator and wish to go into public service, you will have an asterisk next to your name for being assumed to be incompetent. Because why else would you serve your community if not for the money?
Maybe someone is out of touch but when is $110-130k a year an income worth taking issue? In this city you can barely break even if you have a mortgage, care for a sick mother and take care of your family. It certainly is a decent and upper/middle class income. But is this a story?
Half of the City Council has trouble putting together a sentence in English. The same half that never had a career and largely worked and lived off the public dole from day one of life to the present.
A troubled argument that can go both ways. An even bigger example of why the ENTIRE system is set up for failure.
We need real leadership from real people. Tired of fake politicians with fake resumes and inflated egos. It is truly a shame that public life attracts the same shit.
Maybe someone is out of touch but when is $110-130k a year an income worth taking issue? In this city you can barely break even if you have a mortgage, care for a sick mother and take care of your family. It certainly is a decent and upper/middle class income. But is this a story?
The issue here is that Lulus, as a reward system, are bogus. They are handed to your loyal soldiers who you give plum committee assignments.
No other City Council in the United States gives Lulus! The City Council should abolish them...they encourage corruption just by their definition.
Some councilmembers don't even deserve the salary they make, let alone stipends. But vallones one of the good ones. u can tell he works hard and cares about his community's issues. My sister lives in astoria and loves him. says he's always willing to help and get involved. And as for public safety, NYC is like the safest big city in USA or something, so wtv he and Kelly and Bloomberg are doing is working. So I agree that some politicians don't even deserve a fraction of what they make, but Vallone is def one of the exceptions.
Crappy, are you showing political bias again ? please confirm where Queens Councilman Halloran's name is listed as receiving LULU'S from Quinn ?
it was not in the Daily News article. are you running a Beijing Blog-hacker ,or North Korean Krapper,or Castro Columnista ?
Has Halloran ever gone on record against lulus or introduced legislation to ban them? Well then he must be for them.
Anybody can tell Vallones a dedicated, full time councilman who earns every bit of his salary. Unlike other politicians who pad their bank accounts with taxpayers dollars, he makes an honest living off of round-the-clock public service. Oh and aren’t the figures for how much politicians make from other professions available as public record?
Yes, and? I wasn't talking about what he makes now. I am talking about the fact that he can go back to lawyering after his council stint is done. You seem to have a reading comprehension problem.
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