Apr 4, 2008 7:59 pm US/Eastern
Quinn Scrambles To Explain Slush Funds In Budget
NEW YORK (AP) ―
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn have cast themselves as public officials dedicated to creating the city's most transparent government.
That image may have been soiled this week as Quinn scrambled to explain how millions of dollars have been allocated to fake organizations in the city budget every year.
Quinn and her office said Thursday that the council has appropriated some $17.4 million dollars since 2001 to groups that did not exist as a way to set aside money that could be doled out later in the year. The number has grown over the years -- last year $4.5 million was hidden this way in a budget of more than $50 billion.
Quinn, a likely Democratic mayoral candidate next year, said the practice of setting aside what she called "reserve funds" dates back at least 20 years and spans the terms of several council speakers.
Hiding the money by listing fake names in the budget dates back to 2001, she said at a news conference after the story was first reported in the New York Post.
She insisted that she first learned of the maneuver last spring while working on the fiscal 2008 budget. She ordered an end to the practice, but said Thursday that her staff did not listen to her and did it anyway.
She said she did not know it was still going on until a few months ago when the council was pulling together information at the request of federal and city investigators who are looking into a broader matter related to council finances.
"I was obviously deeply troubled when I found out about this information. I had no knowledge of it. I did not know this was the practice," she said. "It's something that I believe is completely inappropriate and should not have gone on and will no longer go on."
The two highest-ranking members of the council's finance division have left their jobs, but Quinn did not comment directly on other potential repercussions for staff who did not follow her orders.
The issue could complicate her political future.
Quinn is in her third year as speaker of the 51-member City Council. She is the first woman to hold the post and the first openly gay speaker.
Her tenure in City Hall has been noted for the way it changed the tone between the speaker's office and the mayor, a political relationship that historically is characterized by high drama and animosity.
She and Bloomberg have worked closely on many legislative projects, including their recent attempts to make government transparent and accountable to New Yorkers.
Asked Thursday about the practice of concealing money in the council budget, Bloomberg said he was not aware it was going on and said he would not have signed budgets if he knew they included fake appropriations.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
WCBSTV.com's Most Popular Pages
