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Since Brad Lander took over as the city’s fiscal watchdog in January, his comptroller’s office has approved nearly $550 million in contracts with nonprofit organizations that are members of an umbrella organization his wife oversees, a Daily News analysis of city contracts shows.
Lander’s wife, Meg Barnette, is the president and CEO of Nonprofit New York, which serves as a lobbyist and as an advocate for about 900 member nonprofits across the city.
Nonprofit New York is one of the key entities behind a push to ensure nonprofits that do business with the city are paid in a timely manner. Barnette serves on a joint task force focused on the issue that was formed by Lander and Mayor Adams.
More than 35 organizations that count themselves as members of Nonprofit New York have contracts that Lander’s office has reviewed and signed off on since he became comptroller in January, records show.
According to a News analysis of those records cross-checked against the group’s online list of members, those contracts add up to at least $544 million in city business.
The relationships between the umbrella group Barnette oversees, the nonprofits it represents and her husband, the comptroller, raise the question of whether the web of connections represents a conflict of interest or could be construed as one.
Nonprofit New York’s primary stated goal is “member-building,” and one of its main revenue sources is membership dues, according to the group’s website.
Richard Briffault, the former chairman of the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board, said that to avoid the appearance of a conflict, Lander should disclose the connections between his wife’s nonprofit and its members publicly and institute an internal policy laying out how he would recuse himself in matters related to Nonprofit New York’s clients.
“It would be wise policy to say, in effect, I’m going to recuse from anything involving these entities,” said Briffault, now a professor at Columbia University Law School. “It would certainly be good of him to make clear he is going to recuse from anything having to do with them.”
A former comptroller’s office official agreed based on the “optics alone.”
“It plants a seed of doubt,” the source said. “It doesn’t exactly instill public trust.”
26 comments:
One Big Racket and the middle class tax payer is funding it !
Brad and his wife must of passed the DemOrAt purity test.
Call in the Feds !
Albany’s business as usual with Hochul continuing the pay-to-play corruption.
https://nypost.com/2022/07/04/albanys-business-as-usual-with-hochul-continuing-the-corruption/
New York is a national laughingstock when it comes to its political leaders and their ethics.
Hochul’s former lieutenant governor Brian Benjamin will face a corruption trial in January.
Why wait till then ? Oh it's a election year....
ron s said...
Chubby chaser ?
Non-profits are a plague on society. 90% of them should be forcibly shut down as they do vastly more harm than good. But they create lots and lots of jobs for otherwise totally useless, very stupid people.
An injustice to all New York City tax payers.
The Putanists would never do such a thing.
There’s the Ruling class — then there’s the rest of us Sheeple.
Insider trading on the highest level. Illegal for us but not for them!!!
So these are the Democrat public servants pledging to understand and help the poor and middle class ?
So Smug don't you think ?
Did they budget for more snappy suits for this loser?
How much of that money goes to Swaggers TV time? He will find so many ways to waste money. Great job Democrats.
NYC elections be like basically choosing between imbeciles and psychopaths.
Prove Me Wrong...
Great thing about our country is people vote who they want to run things The bad thing about our country is people vote who they want to run things. Hard to believe that people keep electing these leaders in major cities who continually make their life a living hell!
Such a beautiful couple, who could imagine? This looks like an old NYC re-run story. Don't you people ever get any smarter?
A darling of the progressive media, watch how quickly this goes away.....
No need to complain as there’s an easy solution Elect Lee Zeldin governor.
Shame on any NY politician who thinks this is acceptable.
@NYC elections be like basically choosing between imbeciles and psychopaths.
I pick TA commie's rich sponsors. Option 2.
Lock Them Up !
Where is Tish ? Crickets....
Hicks!
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