Friday, January 24, 2014

Meet the new City Council. Same as the old City Council.

From last October in the Daily News:

The newcomers who pledged to abolish the stipends are: Corey Johnson, Helen Rosenthal, Mark Levine and the winner of the David Garland/Ben Kallos race in Manhattan; Alan Maisel, Robert Cornegy, Antonio Reynoso, Carlos Menchaca, Inez Barron and Mark Treyger in Brooklyn; Costa Constantinides, Rory Lancman, Daneek Miller and the victor of the Paul Vallone/Dennis Saffran election in Queens; Andrew Cohen and Ritchie Torres in the Bronx; and Steve Matteo in Staten Island.

We’ll see if they are true to their word.


From CBS New York:

Members of the New York City Council have voted to give themselves stipends.

As WCBS 880′s Rich Lamb reported, council members already get paid just over $112,000 annually from taxpayers.

In its first meeting, the new council approved a long list of extra pay to be doled out to members.

The speaker gets $25,000 and the majority leader $20,000, while ten members get $15,000 apiece. Thirty four other members get $8,000 each.

The stipends, known as lulus, are extra payments given to members in lieu of expenses.

“New Yorkers elected a reform-minded city council and this was an opportunity for them to deliver on that promise and they missed it,” said Dick Dadey of the non-partisan watchdog group Citizens Union.

“Over 30 members of the city council pledged not to accept lulus when they were elected and now they all voted in support of the committee recommendations and the lulus. So they’ve broken a promise that they made to New Yorkers.”

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stinky is at it already.

Anonymous said...

Why is this even an issue though? The media didn't report all the extra work committee chairs have to do, like attending extra hearings, overseeing legislation that affects your committee, hiring new staffers etc. In any job when you're given more responsibility, it is likely followed by some type of raise, why is this any different?

J said...

vulgar,reprehensible,repulsive,willingly oblivious,hypocritical and inherently corrupt pigs.

it's early in the neo-progressive adminstration but this just squanders every promise the Blaz made and will in the future because of his apparent lack of leadership.



Queens Crapper said...

"Why is this even an issue though?"

Because they promised not to take the money and then they went back on their word. It doesn't matter what the issue is.

Anonymous said...

Here is the gist of Paulie's philosophy: Pay attention to what I do, not what I say. And don't watch me too closely.

Anonymous said...

"The media didn't report all the extra work committee chairs have to do, like attending extra hearings, overseeing legislation that affects your committee"

WHAT! Have you ever attended those committee meetings? They drop in and out just to get their name in the record for proof they attend. I've rarely seen a council member stay for an entire meeting. It's a gross misuse of taxpayer money. But get used it, it's going to get a lot worse.

Anonymous said...

Who said that a chair of a committee hires anyone they are usually assigned from central staff. Legislation is determined by the speakers office. All the chair does is pick when they prefer to have a hearing

Anonymous said...

Can you give us the list of the 30 councilmembers who had pledged to end lulus, and then reneged on their promise?

Anonymous said...

Corrupt elected officials need to readjust their annual budgets and leave the lulu and join a sou-sou!

Anonymous said...

Can you give us the list of the 30 councilmembers who had pledged to end lulus, and then reneged on their promise?

See the list in the Daily News.

Anonymous said...

They have to pay for their higher property taxes now, don't they?

Anonymous said...

I knew Paul Vallone would be one of those liars. His whole campaign was stinky.

Shame on everyone who voted for him. You better not complain about all the over development coming soon to a block near you.

Broadway Baby said...

There sits our own Cone Head. Except that Gnomo Duomo could never make Saturday Night Live. He's got no life to him. The dumbest of the Vallone brothers is only good for striking Il Duce style poses. Does the Vallone-Dora team run St. Andrew's finances?

Anonymous said...

Is this just some more Valloney baloney!
What has Don Paulo delivered for us so far besides his smug grin of entitlement?

Anonymous said...

Hey Paulo finnocchio, what kind of floor wax do you shine your shill with? Speaking of skull, does he give anything besides lip service to his constituents?

Anonymous said...

Paul Vallone will shit all over Broadway then move when the neighborhood begins to stink. The Vallone's did the same for Astoria. Give him a second term and he will speed up the job.