Finally something interesting is being done about the NYC Council slush fund scandal that reared its ugly head this past April. At that time, it was revealed that during 2007 and 2008, Speaker Christine Quinn’s office had set aside $4.7 million for thirty different phantom groups. Quinn claimed that she only found out the groups were fake a few months prior and told her staff to stop funneling the money to them. They apparently did not and she claimed she was unaware of this. Hmmmmm. Seems to me in her position that she should have known one way or another.
Quinn became Council Speaker in 2006 when a deal was made with Queens Democratic boss - the late Tom Manton who hand picked her. Gifford Miller, Speaker prior to Quinn, has not addressed this issue. It is interesting to note that Council Member Jessica Lappin was his chief of staff but has not yet been implicated.
On Thursday, June 26th, eight taxpayers asked a judge for a special inquiry into this scandal. Attorney Norman Siegel argued that this highly questionable practice has had a corrosive effect on the public trust. No kidding!
Who better to lead this charge than Norman Seigel, the “People’s Advocate” – and the candidate who should have won the Public Advocate position in 2005. (He lost to Betsy Gottbaum who has been so unsuited for this job.)
If successful, the lawsuit will require that Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Mayor Boomberg to testify under oath about this questionable budget practice.
The people deserve better than Christine Quinn for Speaker -- or for Mayor.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment