New York's top elected leaders are shamefully enabling rampant corruption
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Judging by his resigned acceptance of political corruption in New York, Gov. Cuomo is being swallowed by the dark side. He chalked up state Sen. Malcolm Smith’s plot to buy a spot on the mayoral election ballot to the ebb and flow of inevitable personal frailties.
“People do stupid things, frankly. People do illegal things. People in power abuse power. It’s part of the human condition,” the governor said, employing a cliche to divert attention from the seamy truth that surrounds him.
It’s the Albany condition. It’s the New York City condition. It’s the New York State condition.
The arrest Thursday of Bronx Assemblyman Eric Stevenson in a naked bribery case, in which fellow Bronx Assemblyman Nelson Castro wore a wire after secretly taking his own criminal fall, brought to 40 the number of state or city officeholders convicted, arrested, penalized or booted for serious wrongdoing since 2003.
On tape, Stevenson declared:
“Bottom line . . . if half the people up here in Albany were ever caught for what they do . . . they . . . would probably be (in jail). So who are they bulls----ing?”
His words were a variation on the theme enunciated on tape by Queens City Councilman Dan Halloran, who was busted in the Smith case.
“That’s politics, that’s politics, it’s all about how much, not about whether or will, it’s about how much, and that’s our politicians in New York, they’re all like that, all like that,” Halloran allegedly said, adding: “You can’t get anything without the f--king money.”
New York is ruled by a criminal class whose motto is, “Where’s mine?” and whose members expect the answer in cash. They betray the public trust because they harbor cancered souls and because to be elected in New York is to plunge into a culture where power begets money begets power begets cynicism begets an outstretched hand.
Hey, if Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver can legally earn fees working with a trial lawyers firm while protecting the legislative interests of trial lawyers, why should Stevenson think twice about getting paid for doing the bidding of businessmen who run a senior citizens day care center?
Hey, if Mayor Bloomberg can legally pour $400,000 into the Independence Party, plus $650,000 into causes beloved by the party’s cultlike leaders, after they gave him their ballot line, why should Smith shy from paying off Republican Party leaders for essentially the same favor?
The respected and the rotten go hand-in-hand.
Silver has lowered the Assembly into a house worthy of a banana republic. Operating almost entirely behind closed doors, he demands dronelike fealty from his Democratic majority.
They vote with him, their paychecks get bigger and they get to deliver taxpayer-funded pork to their districts. He’ll also conceal their offenses when they run into trouble. They break ranks, their incomes fall and their districts starve. In organized crime, this would be called extortion. In Albany, it’s called the system.
State Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos has practiced the same boss rule — leading his members to sell out principles to public employee unions and other deep-pocketed interests.
It was Skelos who cut a deal with Pedro Espada in the notorious Senate coup of 2009. It was Skelos who served obediently under former Majority Leader Joe Bruno, saying nothing as Bruno enriched himself with “consulting fees” from favor seekers.
Silver and Skelos are now Cuomo’s partners in governing. After vowing to clean up Albany, the governor set aside a threat to establish a powerful anti-corruption investigating panel, caved to creation of a hogtied Joint Commission on Public Integrity — which has done virtually nothing — and retreated into the backrooms with Silver and Skelos.
Casting transparency to the wind, the governor has demonstrated that the private deal is the foundation of public business. He takes consolation in having secured on-time budgets and legislative accomplishments, but he did no one a favor by describing his working group as “the best legislative body in the nation.”
Here in the city, Council Speaker Christine Quinn enforces her authority with money — more than a half-billion doled out annually to members who stand with her. She also has withheld funding if a member has so much as issued an unauthorized press release that omitted Quinn’s name.
Public Advocate Bill De Blasio , who slams Quinn over the so-called member item system as the two vie for mayor, dipped into the slush fund while in the Council. He doled out more than $7 million. He funneled $439,000 to six groups and reaped $90,000 in campaign contributions from people associated with the organizations.
Controller John Liu presided over a campaign that used straw donors to get public funding from the Campaign Finance Board.
Currying favor with the Republican leaders allegedly bribed by Smith, billionaire Republican mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis poured more than $100,000 into the city’s GOP.
Catsimatidis also hired Queens Republican Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone as a $100,000-a-year counsel for his supermarket firm. Tabone is charged with taking $25,000 in Smith’s plot.
Announcing Stevenson’s arrest, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “The people of New York should be more than just disappointed. They should be angry. . . . When it is more likely for a New York state senator to be arrested by the authorities than to be defeated at the polls, they should be angry.”
The fury should extend far beyond those led away in handcuffs, to those who created the climate for the handcuffing.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/fundamentally-lousy-article-1.1308145#ixzz2Pho2AZ6U
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
What Sotomayor is Starting -- The Evolution of Latino Politics
By Ellis Cose | NEWSWEEK
Published Aug 14, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Aug 31, 2009.
From the moment of her nomination in May, it was clear that, barring some unforeseen scandal, Sonia Sotomayor would be confirmed to the Supreme Court. It was equally clear that her nomination would take on huge symbolic significance. She was portrayed as someone who embodies the values of grit, faith, family, and friendship, and as a living example of the power of the American dream. For Latinos, in particular, she was a sign of long-awaited change. "To have her ascend to the highest court in the land, it is such a strong feeling of belonging," says Lillian Rodríguez López, president of the Hispanic Federation. Sotomayor's nomination was "recognition of the contributions our communities…have made to the United States."
At the White House reception in Sotomayor's honor on Aug. 12, President Obama paid tribute to the power of her story. "This moment is not just about her," he said. "It's about every child who will grow up thinking to him- or herself, 'If Sonia Sotomayor can make it, then maybe I can, too.' " That line, which drew the most prolonged applause of Obama's short speech, provided a perfect setup for Sotomayor's own applause line: "It is this nation's faith in a more perfect union that allows a Puerto Rican girl from the Bronx to stand here now."
To say Sotomayor's story is compelling is an understatement; every chapter is worthy of Hollywood. At her Senate confirmation hearings, she sat calmly through days of tendentious questions, refusing to let on that she was in excruciating pain due to an ill-fitting cast on her broken ankle. When she finally did let her feelings show, it was at her moment of triumph. After the Senate voted to confirm her, Sotomayor collapsed in tears into the arms of Theresa Bartenope, her longtime aide. Later, during a celebration at her home, surrounded by well-wishers, she beamed, announcing: "I have the best friends in the world. There is not anybody as blessed as me."
But there is also a story beyond Sotomayor, one that helps explain why her appointment elicited such excitement. That story has to do with the state of American politics and the role that Latinos play in it. Even before her nomination, various groups—including the Hispanic Congressional Caucus, chaired by New York Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez—approached influentials inside and outside the White House arguing that it was time to name a Hispanic to the court. And once Sotomayor was tapped, those same groups engaged in what was essentially a full-time effort to counter the inevitable criticisms that came her way. In the process, they forged a new coalition—not just among Latinos, but among African-Americans, Asians, and liberal whites—that aspires to become a new political force.
Indeed, some have suggested that senators who voted against confirming Sotomayor may soon feel the coalition's fury as Latinos and their allies mobilize to turn the lawmakers out of office. But that seems unlikely. Of the anti-Sotomayor senators expected to run for reelection in 2010, virtually none come from a state with a large Hispanic population. California has a massive Latino population, but no Republican senators, and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas isn't up for reelection until 2012. Who knows what issues will be in play at that point?
"It's quite clear the Republicans made a decision that it was…important for them to try to keep their base together, even if it meant losing Latino votes," says César Perales, president of –Latino Justice PRLDEF (an organization that once counted Sotomayor as a board member). The danger for Republicans is not in the short term, or even, necessarily, for the senators who voted against Sotomayor. It is in the impression left by one action after another signaling that those who aren't already part of the base need not apply. "The message they keep sending out is that they're not really interested in supporting our communities," says Karen Narasaki, executive director of the Asian American Justice Center. And eventually, says Brent Wilkes, executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, "they're going to run out of their base to work with."
The future, of course, is unknowable. But we do know, in America, that the future will be more Latino. We also know that, even before the Sotomayor dust-up, Republicans had alienated many Latinos—largely because of concerns with Republican policies, particularly on immigration. A survey by the Pew Hispanic Center last year found 65 percent of registered Latino voters leaning toward the Democrats and only 26 percent to the Republicans; it was the largest partisan gap reported in the past 10 years. The attacks on Sotomayor will likely drive even more Latinos from the party. That's a risky strategy for a party with a demographically shrinking base facing a newly energized coalition. For though it may pay off today, it could easily spell disaster tomorrow.
Cose is a NEWSWEEK contributing editor.
Find this article at http://www.newsweek.com/id/212024
© 2009
Published Aug 14, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Aug 31, 2009.
From the moment of her nomination in May, it was clear that, barring some unforeseen scandal, Sonia Sotomayor would be confirmed to the Supreme Court. It was equally clear that her nomination would take on huge symbolic significance. She was portrayed as someone who embodies the values of grit, faith, family, and friendship, and as a living example of the power of the American dream. For Latinos, in particular, she was a sign of long-awaited change. "To have her ascend to the highest court in the land, it is such a strong feeling of belonging," says Lillian Rodríguez López, president of the Hispanic Federation. Sotomayor's nomination was "recognition of the contributions our communities…have made to the United States."
At the White House reception in Sotomayor's honor on Aug. 12, President Obama paid tribute to the power of her story. "This moment is not just about her," he said. "It's about every child who will grow up thinking to him- or herself, 'If Sonia Sotomayor can make it, then maybe I can, too.' " That line, which drew the most prolonged applause of Obama's short speech, provided a perfect setup for Sotomayor's own applause line: "It is this nation's faith in a more perfect union that allows a Puerto Rican girl from the Bronx to stand here now."
To say Sotomayor's story is compelling is an understatement; every chapter is worthy of Hollywood. At her Senate confirmation hearings, she sat calmly through days of tendentious questions, refusing to let on that she was in excruciating pain due to an ill-fitting cast on her broken ankle. When she finally did let her feelings show, it was at her moment of triumph. After the Senate voted to confirm her, Sotomayor collapsed in tears into the arms of Theresa Bartenope, her longtime aide. Later, during a celebration at her home, surrounded by well-wishers, she beamed, announcing: "I have the best friends in the world. There is not anybody as blessed as me."
But there is also a story beyond Sotomayor, one that helps explain why her appointment elicited such excitement. That story has to do with the state of American politics and the role that Latinos play in it. Even before her nomination, various groups—including the Hispanic Congressional Caucus, chaired by New York Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez—approached influentials inside and outside the White House arguing that it was time to name a Hispanic to the court. And once Sotomayor was tapped, those same groups engaged in what was essentially a full-time effort to counter the inevitable criticisms that came her way. In the process, they forged a new coalition—not just among Latinos, but among African-Americans, Asians, and liberal whites—that aspires to become a new political force.
Indeed, some have suggested that senators who voted against confirming Sotomayor may soon feel the coalition's fury as Latinos and their allies mobilize to turn the lawmakers out of office. But that seems unlikely. Of the anti-Sotomayor senators expected to run for reelection in 2010, virtually none come from a state with a large Hispanic population. California has a massive Latino population, but no Republican senators, and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas isn't up for reelection until 2012. Who knows what issues will be in play at that point?
"It's quite clear the Republicans made a decision that it was…important for them to try to keep their base together, even if it meant losing Latino votes," says César Perales, president of –Latino Justice PRLDEF (an organization that once counted Sotomayor as a board member). The danger for Republicans is not in the short term, or even, necessarily, for the senators who voted against Sotomayor. It is in the impression left by one action after another signaling that those who aren't already part of the base need not apply. "The message they keep sending out is that they're not really interested in supporting our communities," says Karen Narasaki, executive director of the Asian American Justice Center. And eventually, says Brent Wilkes, executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, "they're going to run out of their base to work with."
The future, of course, is unknowable. But we do know, in America, that the future will be more Latino. We also know that, even before the Sotomayor dust-up, Republicans had alienated many Latinos—largely because of concerns with Republican policies, particularly on immigration. A survey by the Pew Hispanic Center last year found 65 percent of registered Latino voters leaning toward the Democrats and only 26 percent to the Republicans; it was the largest partisan gap reported in the past 10 years. The attacks on Sotomayor will likely drive even more Latinos from the party. That's a risky strategy for a party with a demographically shrinking base facing a newly energized coalition. For though it may pay off today, it could easily spell disaster tomorrow.
Cose is a NEWSWEEK contributing editor.
Find this article at http://www.newsweek.com/id/212024
© 2009
The Awakening Giant
El Diario/La Prensa New York
Friday, August 14, 2009
Hispanic voters are the nation’s fastest growing voting population. In a report released yesterday, the Immigration Policy Center (IPC) notes that Latino voters increased by 28.4%—from 7.6 million in 2004 to 9.8 million in 2008. The number of Asian and African American voters also dramatically increased during this same period.
The political implications of this record participation level were evident in the 2008 presidential election. For example, in six of the nine states that went from “red” to “blue” in the election, the number of Latino and Asian voters significantly exceeded Barack Obama’s margin of victory over John McCain, according to the IPC.
One of the states that went from red to blue was Florida, where migrations from the northeast and from Puerto Rico and Latin America have driven a rise in Democratic voting. What is also very worth noting is that Latinos are dispersing beyond the eastern and western seaboards. The number of Hispanic voters has dramatically increased in future potential swing states such as Georgia and Tennessee.
These growth trends reflect a broad demographic revolution. They are also a testament to the work of national Latino voter campaigns last year. But there is more to come.
The National Institute for Latino Policy pointed out in an analysis released last month that of the 19.5 million Latinos who were U.S. citizens and at least 18 years old, only 59.4 percent were registered to vote last year and only 49.9 percent actually voted.
We caught an inspiring glimpse of a stirring giant in 2008. But Latino organizations must remain focused on sustaining and increasing Latino voter participation. Then we can finally put the sleeping giant metaphor to bed.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Hispanic voters are the nation’s fastest growing voting population. In a report released yesterday, the Immigration Policy Center (IPC) notes that Latino voters increased by 28.4%—from 7.6 million in 2004 to 9.8 million in 2008. The number of Asian and African American voters also dramatically increased during this same period.
The political implications of this record participation level were evident in the 2008 presidential election. For example, in six of the nine states that went from “red” to “blue” in the election, the number of Latino and Asian voters significantly exceeded Barack Obama’s margin of victory over John McCain, according to the IPC.
One of the states that went from red to blue was Florida, where migrations from the northeast and from Puerto Rico and Latin America have driven a rise in Democratic voting. What is also very worth noting is that Latinos are dispersing beyond the eastern and western seaboards. The number of Hispanic voters has dramatically increased in future potential swing states such as Georgia and Tennessee.
These growth trends reflect a broad demographic revolution. They are also a testament to the work of national Latino voter campaigns last year. But there is more to come.
The National Institute for Latino Policy pointed out in an analysis released last month that of the 19.5 million Latinos who were U.S. citizens and at least 18 years old, only 59.4 percent were registered to vote last year and only 49.9 percent actually voted.
We caught an inspiring glimpse of a stirring giant in 2008. But Latino organizations must remain focused on sustaining and increasing Latino voter participation. Then we can finally put the sleeping giant metaphor to bed.
Rise to a Higher Standard
El Diario/La Prensa
New York Monday, August 17, 2009
As the confetti settles around the appointment of now Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Latinos should take a look at how the leadership and mobilization bar has been raised in our community.
The Sotomayor appointment was not merely an individual success—it was a political achievement. Latinos pushed this deserved appointment. We closed ranks around Sotomayor’s nomination. National and local leaders brilliantly advocated for her and mounted sharp campaigns against vicious attacks.
We were excited about the caliber of Sotomayor, the prospect of a Latina serving on the nation’s highest court and the model that she, and the organizing behind her, provide.
We have seen what we as a community have the power to accomplish. This is our point of comparison—which is why the state of affairs among local elected officials leaves so much to be desired.
In New York, and on the other side of the Hudson as well, too many of our elected leaders have acted like unwise Latinos. Scandals and corruption are certainly not exclusive to our community. But that is little consolation to districts that are in urgent need of principled and aggressive representatives.
To be fair, there are a number of elected officials who put the well-being of the communities they represent first. They deserve more of our attention. But they should not be waging lonely and individual fights.
It is high time to put this house in order. Here are some of the urgent steps that need to be taken:
--We need a convener. One of our senior Latino elected leaders should call New York colleagues into a private session with the aim of building a strategic agenda based on community needs.
--We need a cohesive effort by community leaders and grassroots organizations to monitor and tug the collars of elected representatives. They must also work with politicians to move policies forward.
--The family dynasties clogging the leadership pipeline must end. And those dissatisfied with these political monopolies must not remain passive—challengers must step up to plate.
Elected leaders who cannot provide the quality representation our community needs must move aside or be shown the way out.
New York Monday, August 17, 2009
As the confetti settles around the appointment of now Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Latinos should take a look at how the leadership and mobilization bar has been raised in our community.
The Sotomayor appointment was not merely an individual success—it was a political achievement. Latinos pushed this deserved appointment. We closed ranks around Sotomayor’s nomination. National and local leaders brilliantly advocated for her and mounted sharp campaigns against vicious attacks.
We were excited about the caliber of Sotomayor, the prospect of a Latina serving on the nation’s highest court and the model that she, and the organizing behind her, provide.
We have seen what we as a community have the power to accomplish. This is our point of comparison—which is why the state of affairs among local elected officials leaves so much to be desired.
In New York, and on the other side of the Hudson as well, too many of our elected leaders have acted like unwise Latinos. Scandals and corruption are certainly not exclusive to our community. But that is little consolation to districts that are in urgent need of principled and aggressive representatives.
To be fair, there are a number of elected officials who put the well-being of the communities they represent first. They deserve more of our attention. But they should not be waging lonely and individual fights.
It is high time to put this house in order. Here are some of the urgent steps that need to be taken:
--We need a convener. One of our senior Latino elected leaders should call New York colleagues into a private session with the aim of building a strategic agenda based on community needs.
--We need a cohesive effort by community leaders and grassroots organizations to monitor and tug the collars of elected representatives. They must also work with politicians to move policies forward.
--The family dynasties clogging the leadership pipeline must end. And those dissatisfied with these political monopolies must not remain passive—challengers must step up to plate.
Elected leaders who cannot provide the quality representation our community needs must move aside or be shown the way out.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Daily News finds 2 Bronx lawmakers have cozy ties to nonprofit organizations
By Robert Gearty and Barbara Ross
rgearty@nydailynews.com
Sunday, May 10th 2009
Welcome to the Bronx - where allegations of corruption and collusion seem to grow on trees.
In a twin probe, the Daily News has found two Democratic state lawmakers with close campaign ties to nonprofit groups that use taxpayer funds. Federal law bars nonprofits from giving money or resources to political campaigns.
One, Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., dubbed the Bronx's "Teflon Pol," has repeatedly dodged charges of using a publicly funded health clinic for political purposes.
The other, Assemblyman Peter Rivera, sponsored nearly $1.3 million to a nonprofit whose employees helped his campaigns.
The probe follows The News' revelations that former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. did not pay an architect who designed Carrion's home renovation. Carrion had approved zoning changes and sponsored $7 million in tax money for a project the architect designed.
Carrion, now a White House deputy, recently paid the bill — two years after the job was done and after The News exposed the arrangement.
Here's what The News found about Rivera and Espada.
Espada's pals at health clinic
Pedro Espada is in the middle of another campaign funding mess.
After years of ducking charges that he uses the resources of his Soundview Health Clinic to promote his political campaigns, the Daily News found a new crop of such allegations again last fall.
In a bruising race in which he defeated incumbent Sen. Efrain Gonzalez Jr., many Soundview employees, medical vendors and Espada relatives who work for the clinic gave to his campaign.
Espada campaign literature printed in full-color on glossy paper was mailed to the same voters who got remarkably similar literature from Soundview.
One clinic ad featured four pictures of Espada, including one identical to the campaign literature; the same bulk mailing permit number appears on both campaign and clinic pamphlets.
Espada's campaign staff distributed leaflets at the same time and locations as Soundview clinic health fairs where staff distributed free condoms and food, including granola bars stamped "Vote for Pedro Espada."
In an interview, Espada — dressed in a pink shirt with monogrammed French cuffs, powder blue floral tie and matching pocket hankie — scoffed at the idea he uses the clinic to get elected.
"Soundview Health Clinic does not participate in political rallies. We participate in health fairs," he said. When clinic staff distributed free food, "you did not need to be a registered voter or even a citizen" to get some, he added.
Espada's effort to distinguish between his political and medical careers comes after years of the two being inseparable.
At one time, Soundview — supported primarily by public funds — paid Espada up to $379,000 in salary and benefits. He no longer receives that salary. Soundview also hires its own affiliates – which are controlled by Espada – to clean and guard its three clinics.
In 2000, Espada was brought to trial on charges of using $200,000 from a Soundview HMO to pay off a 1996 campaign debt. He was acquitted after arguing that the HMO can do what it wants with federal money.
In 2005, six Soundview employees were convicted of multiple counts of misusing the clinic's taxpayer funds to aid the campaigns of Espada and his son.
They admitted they ordered clinic staff to do campaign work on taxpayer time, told them to write checks to Espada's campaign so he could get matching money, reimbursed the employees in cash, gave voters food intended for poor mothers and children and closed an HIV clinic on Election Day 2000 so employees could get out the vote.
Soundview even paid the legal fees of the indicted staffers. Nonprofits are allowed to pay legal bills of employees accused of wrongdoing, but the employees must pay it back if convicted.
The News estimates the bill exceeded $1.4 million. Espada concedes the costs were extensive: "We had huge legal bills because of the investigation. . . . The individuals, once accused, have a right [to a lawyer] under our bylaws which were approved by the state."
Soundview's board included two of the four indicted supervisors: Sandra Love, the clinic's $239,904 senior vice president, and Maria Cruz, its $141,131 vice president of operations.
All but one of the convicted Soundview employees are back at the clinic. Espada claims the six have paid back their loans.
Espada contends he was the real target of then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's investigation: "Do you think for one minute that Mr. Steamroller was after these ladies? No! He was after me! And I was totally cleared!"
Espada has also repeatedly ignored laws requiring pols to reveal who gives them donations and what they do with them.
For more than three years the city Campaign Finance Board has tried to collect $61,750 in fines for illegal actions by Espada's Soundview staff in his 2001 run for borough president.
Espada has agreed to come up with the cash by August.
"He has absolutely done a cha-cha around the campaign finance law — spirit and letter," fumed one prominent Bronx political veteran.
Espada pulled the same stunt in the most recent election, running up $13,000 in fines by failing to file six campaign finance disclosure reports.
Last August, the state Board of Elections told Espada he'd be held liable for $13,553in fines. Espada blamed the problem on an "inexperienced" clinic lawyer.
Group got $1.3M and Rivera got lots of help
Peter Rivera took a slightly different approach, sponsoring nearly $1.3 million in taxpayer money for a nonprofit group whose workers have helped his campaigns.
Rivera arranged for up to $979,000 to go to NETS (Neighborhood Enhancement for Training Services), a nonprofit that has employed his son, campaign treasurer and treasurer of his political club.
Some NETS workers have carried petitions for Rivera and, in one case, pressed to keep his district intact when the Legislature was redistricting in 2001.
The troubled group appears to have done little with the money, spending $430,000 in state funds for a community center that has yet to open after seven years.
The group has spent only $80,000 of the $549,000 in "member items" Rivera has sponsored or co-sponsored since 2005, so last month he responsored $319,000 for the group.
NETS hasn't filed tax documents in years and is no longer considered a registered charity by the state attorney general.
Rivera, an eight-term Democrat who last year sponsored a bill requiring all New York public schools to view "An Inconvenient Truth," defended his use of taxpayer dollars to support NETS.
"I think it's very worthwhile," Rivera said of NETS. "They do a whole bunch of programs. They have seniors they support. They have after-school programs they have worked on, activities that they take people around."
He emphasized that NETS "is not involved in my campaign at all. Individuals [at NETS] have, but to a minimal capacity."
The Rivera/NETS relationship is longstanding. NETS' Web site says Rivera has been its sponsor since 1992, the year he was first elected to the Assembly.
Several NETS employees have actively supported Rivera's political ambitions.
David Griffiths, NETS' director since 2003, is Rivera's campaign treasurer. Griffiths' predecessor as NETS' director, Luis Diaz, was a Rivera staffer.
The head of NETS' board, Pat Tomasulo, is president of Rivera's political club, the Community Democratic Club. NETS' program director, Lizandra Martinez, is the club's treasurer. Both carried petitions for Rivera in the last election, records show.
In 2001, Martinez, Diaz and Rivera's son, Peter Jr., then a NETS' employee, testified at a Senate hearing on reapportioning legislative districts. They advocated leaving some districts intact, including Rivera's, to ensure adequate Latino representation.
Rivera also recruits from NETS. The head of his Assembly staff is a former NETS employee. NETS and Rivera's law office shared a Parkchester address for several years.
About seven months ago, NETS moved to White Plains Road — to the same address Rivera uses for his campaign.
NETS also reported on its tax return that the books were in the care of Rivera's law firm, although Rivera claimed that wasn't true, stating "I'm a little surprised it says that."
What NETS does with all this money remains a mystery, in part because the last tax form it filed dates to 2005.
For instance, in 2002 NETS bought a former synagogue, a transaction arranged and subsidized with taxpayer help by Rivera. The plan was to turn it into a community center.
NETS' director Griffiths said the group bought the Young Israel Temple on Virginia Ave. for $430,000 with a bond-backed state grant. Another $375,000 in capital funds from Rivera went to renovate the first floor.
Rivera insisted NETS has run services out of the building. The community center has never opened and the building has been vacant for years. Three weeks ago, the front door windows were covered with paper and no one answered the door.
rgearty@nydailynews.com
Sunday, May 10th 2009
Welcome to the Bronx - where allegations of corruption and collusion seem to grow on trees.
In a twin probe, the Daily News has found two Democratic state lawmakers with close campaign ties to nonprofit groups that use taxpayer funds. Federal law bars nonprofits from giving money or resources to political campaigns.
One, Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., dubbed the Bronx's "Teflon Pol," has repeatedly dodged charges of using a publicly funded health clinic for political purposes.
The other, Assemblyman Peter Rivera, sponsored nearly $1.3 million to a nonprofit whose employees helped his campaigns.
The probe follows The News' revelations that former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. did not pay an architect who designed Carrion's home renovation. Carrion had approved zoning changes and sponsored $7 million in tax money for a project the architect designed.
Carrion, now a White House deputy, recently paid the bill — two years after the job was done and after The News exposed the arrangement.
Here's what The News found about Rivera and Espada.
Espada's pals at health clinic
Pedro Espada is in the middle of another campaign funding mess.
After years of ducking charges that he uses the resources of his Soundview Health Clinic to promote his political campaigns, the Daily News found a new crop of such allegations again last fall.
In a bruising race in which he defeated incumbent Sen. Efrain Gonzalez Jr., many Soundview employees, medical vendors and Espada relatives who work for the clinic gave to his campaign.
Espada campaign literature printed in full-color on glossy paper was mailed to the same voters who got remarkably similar literature from Soundview.
One clinic ad featured four pictures of Espada, including one identical to the campaign literature; the same bulk mailing permit number appears on both campaign and clinic pamphlets.
Espada's campaign staff distributed leaflets at the same time and locations as Soundview clinic health fairs where staff distributed free condoms and food, including granola bars stamped "Vote for Pedro Espada."
In an interview, Espada — dressed in a pink shirt with monogrammed French cuffs, powder blue floral tie and matching pocket hankie — scoffed at the idea he uses the clinic to get elected.
"Soundview Health Clinic does not participate in political rallies. We participate in health fairs," he said. When clinic staff distributed free food, "you did not need to be a registered voter or even a citizen" to get some, he added.
Espada's effort to distinguish between his political and medical careers comes after years of the two being inseparable.
At one time, Soundview — supported primarily by public funds — paid Espada up to $379,000 in salary and benefits. He no longer receives that salary. Soundview also hires its own affiliates – which are controlled by Espada – to clean and guard its three clinics.
In 2000, Espada was brought to trial on charges of using $200,000 from a Soundview HMO to pay off a 1996 campaign debt. He was acquitted after arguing that the HMO can do what it wants with federal money.
In 2005, six Soundview employees were convicted of multiple counts of misusing the clinic's taxpayer funds to aid the campaigns of Espada and his son.
They admitted they ordered clinic staff to do campaign work on taxpayer time, told them to write checks to Espada's campaign so he could get matching money, reimbursed the employees in cash, gave voters food intended for poor mothers and children and closed an HIV clinic on Election Day 2000 so employees could get out the vote.
Soundview even paid the legal fees of the indicted staffers. Nonprofits are allowed to pay legal bills of employees accused of wrongdoing, but the employees must pay it back if convicted.
The News estimates the bill exceeded $1.4 million. Espada concedes the costs were extensive: "We had huge legal bills because of the investigation. . . . The individuals, once accused, have a right [to a lawyer] under our bylaws which were approved by the state."
Soundview's board included two of the four indicted supervisors: Sandra Love, the clinic's $239,904 senior vice president, and Maria Cruz, its $141,131 vice president of operations.
All but one of the convicted Soundview employees are back at the clinic. Espada claims the six have paid back their loans.
Espada contends he was the real target of then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's investigation: "Do you think for one minute that Mr. Steamroller was after these ladies? No! He was after me! And I was totally cleared!"
Espada has also repeatedly ignored laws requiring pols to reveal who gives them donations and what they do with them.
For more than three years the city Campaign Finance Board has tried to collect $61,750 in fines for illegal actions by Espada's Soundview staff in his 2001 run for borough president.
Espada has agreed to come up with the cash by August.
"He has absolutely done a cha-cha around the campaign finance law — spirit and letter," fumed one prominent Bronx political veteran.
Espada pulled the same stunt in the most recent election, running up $13,000 in fines by failing to file six campaign finance disclosure reports.
Last August, the state Board of Elections told Espada he'd be held liable for $13,553in fines. Espada blamed the problem on an "inexperienced" clinic lawyer.
Group got $1.3M and Rivera got lots of help
Peter Rivera took a slightly different approach, sponsoring nearly $1.3 million in taxpayer money for a nonprofit group whose workers have helped his campaigns.
Rivera arranged for up to $979,000 to go to NETS (Neighborhood Enhancement for Training Services), a nonprofit that has employed his son, campaign treasurer and treasurer of his political club.
Some NETS workers have carried petitions for Rivera and, in one case, pressed to keep his district intact when the Legislature was redistricting in 2001.
The troubled group appears to have done little with the money, spending $430,000 in state funds for a community center that has yet to open after seven years.
The group has spent only $80,000 of the $549,000 in "member items" Rivera has sponsored or co-sponsored since 2005, so last month he responsored $319,000 for the group.
NETS hasn't filed tax documents in years and is no longer considered a registered charity by the state attorney general.
Rivera, an eight-term Democrat who last year sponsored a bill requiring all New York public schools to view "An Inconvenient Truth," defended his use of taxpayer dollars to support NETS.
"I think it's very worthwhile," Rivera said of NETS. "They do a whole bunch of programs. They have seniors they support. They have after-school programs they have worked on, activities that they take people around."
He emphasized that NETS "is not involved in my campaign at all. Individuals [at NETS] have, but to a minimal capacity."
The Rivera/NETS relationship is longstanding. NETS' Web site says Rivera has been its sponsor since 1992, the year he was first elected to the Assembly.
Several NETS employees have actively supported Rivera's political ambitions.
David Griffiths, NETS' director since 2003, is Rivera's campaign treasurer. Griffiths' predecessor as NETS' director, Luis Diaz, was a Rivera staffer.
The head of NETS' board, Pat Tomasulo, is president of Rivera's political club, the Community Democratic Club. NETS' program director, Lizandra Martinez, is the club's treasurer. Both carried petitions for Rivera in the last election, records show.
In 2001, Martinez, Diaz and Rivera's son, Peter Jr., then a NETS' employee, testified at a Senate hearing on reapportioning legislative districts. They advocated leaving some districts intact, including Rivera's, to ensure adequate Latino representation.
Rivera also recruits from NETS. The head of his Assembly staff is a former NETS employee. NETS and Rivera's law office shared a Parkchester address for several years.
About seven months ago, NETS moved to White Plains Road — to the same address Rivera uses for his campaign.
NETS also reported on its tax return that the books were in the care of Rivera's law firm, although Rivera claimed that wasn't true, stating "I'm a little surprised it says that."
What NETS does with all this money remains a mystery, in part because the last tax form it filed dates to 2005.
For instance, in 2002 NETS bought a former synagogue, a transaction arranged and subsidized with taxpayer help by Rivera. The plan was to turn it into a community center.
NETS' director Griffiths said the group bought the Young Israel Temple on Virginia Ave. for $430,000 with a bond-backed state grant. Another $375,000 in capital funds from Rivera went to renovate the first floor.
Rivera insisted NETS has run services out of the building. The community center has never opened and the building has been vacant for years. Three weeks ago, the front door windows were covered with paper and no one answered the door.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Hispanics have Earned a Place at the Table of Justice
The U.S. Supreme Court has never had a Hispanic justice. It is time for President Barack Obama to change the glaring invisibility of Latinos on the nation’s highest court.
The simple argument for a Latino appointment is that Hispanics are the largest and fastest-growing demographic group in the United States. Hispanics are 15 percent of the nation’s population and by 2050, one in four Americans will be Latino.
Hispanic Americans sit in the board rooms of many of the prestigious corporations in the world. Latinos guide some of this country’s leading universities and its most respected cultural and artistic institutions. Hispanic officers have risen to the highest levels of the military and have born the heavy load of leading American armies in war.
With this growing presence, the absence of a Hispanic on the Supreme Court is even more conspicuous. And the overall representation of Hispanics in the federal judiciary—where Latinos make up only seven percent of judges— leaves plenty of room for improvement.
But the Latino share of the American experience is not merely a claim about numbers and fair representation. This is a story about the changing complexion of America. It is about the critical history that Latinos have written, and are writing daily, in and for America. This moment is a reflection of how Latinos have worked to move our nation towards its promise of a more perfect union. Those great sacrifices and contributions have been made even in the face of discrimination and great odds.
Ask Sylvia Mendez. Years before Brown v. the Board of Education, Mendez’s Mexican-Puerto Rican parents stood up to discrimination against Latino students, on the basis of national origin, in California. The landmark Mendez v. Westminster case led to the de-segregation of schools in that state, and laid the groundwork for officially ending racial segregation in public schools across the nation.
Ask one of the remaining 65,000 Puerto Rican soldiers who served in Korea. Not one of them has ever received a Medal of Honor for the acts of bravery exhibited by the 65th Infantry in that battlefront.
Ask Latinos who remember what it was like trying to exercise their right to vote decades ago in New York City. Then, literacy and language requirements that resonated with the Jim Crow South were used to shut out Latinos. The battles that Puerto Ricans and others engaged in to eliminate those barriers helped open the ballot for a range of voters.
Countless Hispanics have toiled in farmlands to factories, from the west to the east, alongside Americans of all colors to build and strengthen our nation. Their labor is too often missing from the chronicles about our nation.
Latinos have lived and loved and fought for and died for this country for many generations. This struggle is an irreducible part of what makes our country great. And we have much more to give in the years to come.
We urge President Obama to make history, again, and give Latinos a well-earned seat at the table of justice we call the Supreme Court.
The simple argument for a Latino appointment is that Hispanics are the largest and fastest-growing demographic group in the United States. Hispanics are 15 percent of the nation’s population and by 2050, one in four Americans will be Latino.
Hispanic Americans sit in the board rooms of many of the prestigious corporations in the world. Latinos guide some of this country’s leading universities and its most respected cultural and artistic institutions. Hispanic officers have risen to the highest levels of the military and have born the heavy load of leading American armies in war.
With this growing presence, the absence of a Hispanic on the Supreme Court is even more conspicuous. And the overall representation of Hispanics in the federal judiciary—where Latinos make up only seven percent of judges— leaves plenty of room for improvement.
But the Latino share of the American experience is not merely a claim about numbers and fair representation. This is a story about the changing complexion of America. It is about the critical history that Latinos have written, and are writing daily, in and for America. This moment is a reflection of how Latinos have worked to move our nation towards its promise of a more perfect union. Those great sacrifices and contributions have been made even in the face of discrimination and great odds.
Ask Sylvia Mendez. Years before Brown v. the Board of Education, Mendez’s Mexican-Puerto Rican parents stood up to discrimination against Latino students, on the basis of national origin, in California. The landmark Mendez v. Westminster case led to the de-segregation of schools in that state, and laid the groundwork for officially ending racial segregation in public schools across the nation.
Ask one of the remaining 65,000 Puerto Rican soldiers who served in Korea. Not one of them has ever received a Medal of Honor for the acts of bravery exhibited by the 65th Infantry in that battlefront.
Ask Latinos who remember what it was like trying to exercise their right to vote decades ago in New York City. Then, literacy and language requirements that resonated with the Jim Crow South were used to shut out Latinos. The battles that Puerto Ricans and others engaged in to eliminate those barriers helped open the ballot for a range of voters.
Countless Hispanics have toiled in farmlands to factories, from the west to the east, alongside Americans of all colors to build and strengthen our nation. Their labor is too often missing from the chronicles about our nation.
Latinos have lived and loved and fought for and died for this country for many generations. This struggle is an irreducible part of what makes our country great. And we have much more to give in the years to come.
We urge President Obama to make history, again, and give Latinos a well-earned seat at the table of justice we call the Supreme Court.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Hispanic Resolution --Tired of Being on the Periphery, Latinos are Determined to Become a Force in State Government
By DAN IRIZARRY
Albany Times Union (April 26, 2009)
The 22nd renewal of the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Legislative Task Force's Somos El Futuro (We Are the Future) Conference should underscore the fact that the future is now for the Latino community.
When viewed against the backdrop of the 2008 presidential election, where the Latino vote proved decisive to the outcome, Hispanic conferencegoers had reason to feel elated. The procession of officeholders and aspiring candidates making the rounds during the April 3-5 meeting in Albany was a veritable who's who of New York politics. Their ubiquity at luncheons, in workshops and at the gala leaves no doubt that our community has come into its own.
However, a report released by the state Civil Service Commission on the eve of the conference had a sobering effect on many participants.
The report, "Diversity in the New York State Government Workforce, A Look at the Last Decade, and the Next," paints a disheartening picture of a work force where Hispanics are acutely underrepresented. To some of us Latinos working in state government, this bit of bad news was not news at all.
The report states that "Hispanics make up nearly 13 percent of the statewide labor force, but represent only 4.44 percent of the State (government) work force. Further, while 8.3 percent of the State work force is employed above the SG-23 (pay) level, only 5.1 percent of Hispanics are employed above that level."
Translation: Even when we manage to get in the door, we remain on the periphery.
One of the most troubling observations was that while 27.1 percent of state jobs are located in the Capital Region, the largest share statewide, only 1.7 percent of state government's minority work force lives here. While Hispanics are a small, albeit growing, part of the population, these facts virtually guarantee a perpetual ethnic imbalance.
That is, unless Albany, the company town where the state is the company, ceases to be that insular place where Hispanics and other minorities have little chance to prosper.
What was most troubling to many a Somos attendee is the yawning lack of Hispanic representation at the executive level of state agencies so clearly delineated in the report. Such underrepresentation means that government policies, which have a significant impact on Latinos statewide, are being created without meaningful input from our community. This is reprehensible to the task force, especially members like Assemblyman Peter Rivera, D-Bronx, for years an outspoken critic of the state's hiring practices. Thankfully, Gov. David Paterson has deemed it unacceptable as well.
There have been some notable exceptions to this disappointing record, which have produced a great sense of pride in the community: One is Paterson's appointment of Judge Luis Gonzalez as presiding justice of the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court for the First Judicial Department. Another is Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's appointment of Angelo Aponte as secretary of the Senate.
Having worked with Gonzalez in his days as a Bronx Civil Court judge, and also for Aponte, the affordable housing czar under Gov. Mario Cuomo. I must say I feel deeply gratified to see Latino public servants of such standing in my community rise to positions of equivalent stature.
At the same time, let me offer a word of caution to our leaders: When wielding the blade of fiscal retrenchment, be mindful that cutting resources and employment in my community is tantamount to pouring salt on a gaping wound.
Before the tremors were being felt on Wall Street, the earthquake was already under way in the Latino community. Predatory lending and foreclosure were ripping our neighborhoods apart long before the talking heads on cable TV news caught wind of it.
The challenge is to increase promotional opportunities for Hispanics in the existing work force, and factor equitable representation into plans for legacy hiring. As the Civil Service Commission report notes, "Despite another hiring freeze, critical positions will continue to be filled to replace baby boomer retirements and staff critical missions. This will create opportunities to improve representation of minorities..." State leaders should take this advice to heart.
Albany, as the seat of state power, must begin to more closely reflect New York's changing demographics.
As the Somos Conference has proven over its 22-year existence, it may have taken Hispanics a while to arrive, but make no mistake, as our numbers grow, so, too, will our sway on the future of the Empire State.
Dan Irizarry, a state employee, is also a writer, community activist and member of the board of directors of Hispanic Outreach Service, an agency of Catholic Charities/Albany Diocese.
Albany Times Union (April 26, 2009)
The 22nd renewal of the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Legislative Task Force's Somos El Futuro (We Are the Future) Conference should underscore the fact that the future is now for the Latino community.
When viewed against the backdrop of the 2008 presidential election, where the Latino vote proved decisive to the outcome, Hispanic conferencegoers had reason to feel elated. The procession of officeholders and aspiring candidates making the rounds during the April 3-5 meeting in Albany was a veritable who's who of New York politics. Their ubiquity at luncheons, in workshops and at the gala leaves no doubt that our community has come into its own.
However, a report released by the state Civil Service Commission on the eve of the conference had a sobering effect on many participants.
The report, "Diversity in the New York State Government Workforce, A Look at the Last Decade, and the Next," paints a disheartening picture of a work force where Hispanics are acutely underrepresented. To some of us Latinos working in state government, this bit of bad news was not news at all.
The report states that "Hispanics make up nearly 13 percent of the statewide labor force, but represent only 4.44 percent of the State (government) work force. Further, while 8.3 percent of the State work force is employed above the SG-23 (pay) level, only 5.1 percent of Hispanics are employed above that level."
Translation: Even when we manage to get in the door, we remain on the periphery.
One of the most troubling observations was that while 27.1 percent of state jobs are located in the Capital Region, the largest share statewide, only 1.7 percent of state government's minority work force lives here. While Hispanics are a small, albeit growing, part of the population, these facts virtually guarantee a perpetual ethnic imbalance.
That is, unless Albany, the company town where the state is the company, ceases to be that insular place where Hispanics and other minorities have little chance to prosper.
What was most troubling to many a Somos attendee is the yawning lack of Hispanic representation at the executive level of state agencies so clearly delineated in the report. Such underrepresentation means that government policies, which have a significant impact on Latinos statewide, are being created without meaningful input from our community. This is reprehensible to the task force, especially members like Assemblyman Peter Rivera, D-Bronx, for years an outspoken critic of the state's hiring practices. Thankfully, Gov. David Paterson has deemed it unacceptable as well.
There have been some notable exceptions to this disappointing record, which have produced a great sense of pride in the community: One is Paterson's appointment of Judge Luis Gonzalez as presiding justice of the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court for the First Judicial Department. Another is Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's appointment of Angelo Aponte as secretary of the Senate.
Having worked with Gonzalez in his days as a Bronx Civil Court judge, and also for Aponte, the affordable housing czar under Gov. Mario Cuomo. I must say I feel deeply gratified to see Latino public servants of such standing in my community rise to positions of equivalent stature.
At the same time, let me offer a word of caution to our leaders: When wielding the blade of fiscal retrenchment, be mindful that cutting resources and employment in my community is tantamount to pouring salt on a gaping wound.
Before the tremors were being felt on Wall Street, the earthquake was already under way in the Latino community. Predatory lending and foreclosure were ripping our neighborhoods apart long before the talking heads on cable TV news caught wind of it.
The challenge is to increase promotional opportunities for Hispanics in the existing work force, and factor equitable representation into plans for legacy hiring. As the Civil Service Commission report notes, "Despite another hiring freeze, critical positions will continue to be filled to replace baby boomer retirements and staff critical missions. This will create opportunities to improve representation of minorities..." State leaders should take this advice to heart.
Albany, as the seat of state power, must begin to more closely reflect New York's changing demographics.
As the Somos Conference has proven over its 22-year existence, it may have taken Hispanics a while to arrive, but make no mistake, as our numbers grow, so, too, will our sway on the future of the Empire State.
Dan Irizarry, a state employee, is also a writer, community activist and member of the board of directors of Hispanic Outreach Service, an agency of Catholic Charities/Albany Diocese.
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