Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Council still willing to dish pork out to shady charities

From the Daily News:

The City Council tried to shell out nearly $100,000 in pork-barrel items this year to shady groups that city investigators had flagged or the IRS had slapped down, documents show.

Six new groups that have lost their earmark funding — including the Mount Hope Housing Co., a Bronx advocacy organization — are the latest losers since the budget was passed this summer. Nearly $1 million in earmarks to small community organizations and charities has been eliminated.

Critics say the funding pullbacks show that safeguards enacted following the Council’s slush-fund scandal in 2008 have not stopped lawmakers from trying to funnel money to questionable neighborhood-based groups.

Mount Hope, for example, has been under review by the city’s Department of Investigation since April 2009, records show.

A note attached to the charity’s city file states: “Investigation is ongoing and have no summary of funding to date.”

Despite that warning, the Council still sent $70,000 in pork to the charity in the Fiscal Year 2011 budget.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Slush Fund Queen Quinn will be our next mayor. She's the one that is in charge of the City Council and the purse strings. Be very afraid. This is just another reason why the city has no money. Your tax dollars at work.

Anonymous said...

Are any council persons allocating city money to Toby Stavisky's North Flushing Senior Center (AKA the Parkside's private piggy bank)?

Anonymous said...

Peter Koo:

North Flushing Senior Center, Inc. 11-2741128 $15,000.00 DFTA To provide social, recreational, educational services and a kosher congregate lunch at senior center.

Dan Halloran:

North Flushing Senior Center, Inc. 11- 2741128 $13,000.00 To operate a senior center providing social, recreational and educational services to senior citizens.

And it's not even in Halloran's district!

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