Note:
We wrote an article yesterday (Wednesday) on unfolding events, but did not send it out because the computer was more sophisticated than our intern.
We are trying again today (Thursday).
Rather than unscrambling and updating Wednesday’s column (which would take us all day), we are sending it as written, and have prepared a new column for today. Please excuse any anachronisms and inconsistencies that may have slipped through. We call your attention to the substance of the events described.
We believe we are watching the New York version of the decline and fall of state government. We are not Gibbons, nor Chicken Littles, but we observe, in a much smaller and less consequential way, the last scenes of Terminator I (1984). We are approaching the gas station.
SAME SCANDAL,
DIFFERENT DAY
By Henry J. Stern
July 16, 2009
We had not planned to write again today. Tuesday’s article, VIVA PEDRO ESPADA, AGAIN A DEMOCRAT, THEY ANOINT HIM MAJORITY LEADER, covered the triumphant return of the defector from his month-long liaison with the Republican Party. It turned out that he was as disloyal to the Republicans in July as he was to the Democrats in June, when he and sidekick Hiram Monserrate joined to depose Malcolm Smith, the Democratic senate leader, and split the loot between Espada, who would become first in the line of succession to Governor Paterson, and Dean Skelos, former Republican majority leader, who would manage the Senate.
Today is Thursday, and enough allegations of misconduct have come to light in the last two days to justify imposing on your patience once more to keep you up to date.
We were surprised yesterday by the resignation of Councilman Miguel Martinez, who represented Washington Heights and Inwood (my old neighborhood), a district now predominantly Dominican, and gerrymandered to elect a representative of that insularity. The Post reported today that “Martinez – now believed to be somewhere in New Jersey – is expected too be charged today in Manhattan federal court in a scandal involving misuse of money by a nonprofit group he funded with taxpayer dollars – the Upper Manhattan Council Assisting Neighbors. It was part of a broader scandal surrounding council slush funds for pet projects.”
The decider in which Councilmember gets member items, and how large they are, is Council Speaker Christine Quinn. She has not been accused of any crime, but she received the largest sums for nonprofits on a round-the-year basis, and had oversight over the dispensing of funds. Oversight is one of the few words in the English language that also means its own opposite.
The Times carries a major article on the unraveling Council scandal (ravel is a lesser-known word that has the same meaning as its opposite, unravel). The headline on pA22 SLOW-MOVING SCANDAL SPEEDS UP FOR COUNCIL: An Investigation’s Periodic Revelations Are Taking a Political Toll on the Speaker, by Ray Rivera.
The article is well worth your linking to it, two years of misdeeds and allegations are recounted. Rivera’s article begins with four short paragraphs which appear below. The fifth and sixth paragraph, which deal with the Speaker, are available through the link if you are that interested:
“It is a scandal that flows in sporadic measures.
“Since federal investigators revealed they were looking into the City Council’s finances last year, the 51-member body has been kept on edge by the uneven pace of revelations: First came a tidal surge of news that the Council had for years used slush funds stowed in the names of fictional organizations, to sidestep budget rules and bestow political favors.
“That was followed by indictments, first of two Council aides who later pleaded guilty to embezzling city funds designated for a nonprofit group.
“Then came a dry spell, in which it was widely rumored that despite gathering thousands of documents, issuing subpoenas and following plenty of leads, investigators were going to issue a stinging rebuke to the Council, but would not indict any of its members.”
Today’s installment of Senator Hiram Monserrate’s brief encounter with the truth can be found on p6 of the Daily News, in a story by Kenneth Lovett and Glenn Blain, out of the Albany bureau. The headline: HIRAM’S IN DENIAL: Legislative Leaders Say He Asked for 12.5G – He Insists It’s Not So. The lede:
“He asked for it.
“Despite his denials, indicted State Sen. Hiram Monserrate asked to have his committee chairmanship and $12,500 stipend reinstated, legislative leaders said.
“Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson (D-Bklyn) yesterday said Monserrate (D-Queens) asked that his committee chairmanship and stipend be suspended after he was indicted in March on a felony assault charge. “Subsequently he asked to go forward with his committee,” Sampson said.
Senate President Malcolm Smith, in a letter last Friday – the day after the Dems regained the state Senate -- to the Comptroller’s office, wrote that “at this time, Sen. Monserrate is requesting that he receive his full stipend as soon as practicable…..”
“Yesterday, {Monserrate} again denied asking for his committee back in a deal to return to the fold. He insisted that he didn’t know it happened until the Daily News asked him about it Tuesday.”
EDITORIALS
Three strong editorials, two in the News and one in the Post, were published this morning. The News was particularly scathing. Their two headlines were split, The first was LIARS, BULLIES, AND … The second was …GRAND JURY FODDER. The ledes:
“AH, for the good old days when no one was in charge of New York’s Senate. Back then, its 62 members hurt the state only by doing nothing.
“Now, power-mad with renewed control, Democratic leaders are actively and wantonly running their house like something out of a banana republic --- holding the people’s business hostage, playing everything for revenge against political enemies, breaking every promise of reform and proving that, individually and collectively, their word is dirt…..”
“This is government by extortion. And every member of the Democratic majority is complicit. These include supposedly enlightened senators such as Tom Duane, Daniel Squadron, Jeff Klein, Liz Krueger and Eric Schneiderman, who have timidly given their proxies to the bully boys.”
(BTW, we would welcome hearing from any of the News’ five who disagree with the newspaper’s characterization of their actions, and want to let people know how well they have served good government. Whatever any of them writes, we will print and send to you.)
The second News editorial begins: NOTHING demonstrates the Senate’s utter contempt for common decency more vividly than the place of honor and the public money it is lavishing on Queens Sen. Hiram Monserrate, accused domestic abuser.
“Monserrate has been indicted of slashing his girlfriend’s face with a broken glass. A security videotape that captured events leading up to the alleged attack showed him manhandling the screaming woman. A Queens judge says the tape ‘causes the blood to boil’.”
The Post editorial is titled THE WORST SHOW ON EARTH. “The state Senate faced its first serious test yesterday since supposedly ending the month-long, 31-31 partisan stalemate.
“It failed.
“Spectacularly.
“Democratic rats Carl Kruger and Ruben Diaz Sr. jumped ship mid-afternoon, even as key agenda items – mayoral control of city schools and (Republicans insist) reforming Senate rules – remained unresolved.”
All three editorials are available in full if you wish to link to them.
At this time, we wish to refrain from substantial additional comment. Readers who have e-mailed us in response appear unanimously to share the sentiment that what is happening in Albany is a disgrace, and that both parties are complicit. We will be back when the next shoe drops.
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Miguel Martinez,
Facing Indictment,
Quits City Council.
Monserrate Rewarded
By Henry J. Stern
July 15, 2009
We were not going to have a column today. Yesterday’s article, describing the triumphant return of Pedro Espada, new captain of the Democracy in the State Senate,
had exhausted our capacity for indignation, at least for a time.
However, two news items today made us painfully aware of the low ethical standards of New York’s elected officials.
First, City Councilman Miguel Martinez , who represented Washington Heights and Inwood (my old neighborhood) resigned suddenly. Federal prosecutors are said to be ready to file criminal charges against him, relating to his funding of community groups through member items.
Second, State Senator Hiram Monserrate. Under indictment since March for slashing his girlfriend’s face with a broken glass, was reinstated as chairman of the Consumer Protection Committee and his $12,500 lulu restored. He had been stripped of his lulu and chairmanship by then-Democratic leader Malcolm Smith after his indictment by a Queens grand jury on three counts of felony assault. The new Senate Democratic leader, Pedro Espada, is apparently more tolerant of such escapades than Senator Smith had been.
The reinstatement of Monserrate was promised in exchange of his flip back to the Democrats. On June 8, Monserrate had joined Espada in giving the Republicans a temporary 32-30 majority in the Senate, upon which they ousted Smith and elected Republican Dean Skelos as majority leader and Esapada has president pro tempore, which makes him next in line for the governorship should any misfortune befall David Paterson. Monserrate’s early return to the Democrats resulted in a 31-31 split, which held for a month until Espada got what he wanted, Smith’s job, and the power to set agendas, perquisites, and ability to control expenditures for member items.
PRESS COVERAGE OF MARTINEZ’S RESIGNATION
The departure of Martinez was reported by the Times: CITY COUNCILMAN STEPS DOWN AS CRIMINAL CHARGES LOOM, by Ray Rivera and Michael Barbaro.
It was published on pA19, which is the new B1 now that sections have been merged. The lede:
“City Councilman Miguel Martinez resigned abruptly on Tuesday as federal prosecutors, who are investigating a nonprofit group to which he directed city funds, prepared to file criminal charges against him.
“Such an action would make Mr. Martinez, a Democrat first elected in 2001, the first councilman to be implicated in a nearly two-year-long investigation by the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan and the city’s Department of Investigation into the Council’s use of discretionary funds to support favored nonprofit groups.”
The Daily News, which had stimulated the initial investigation into City Council slush funds allocated to nonexistent nonprofits, gave the story the lead on p1.
Under the line, BUSTED IN COUNCIL SCANDAL, The News ran a headline in the wood (the largest size used in the newspaper) SLUSH PUPPY COLLARED.
The double pun in the headline is a credit to the paper’s editors. The next line on p1, MARTINEZ QUITS AFTER PROBE SPARKED BY NEWS.
The News devotes all of p5 to the investigation and pending guilty plea, under the banner SLUSH PUPPIES SCANDAL, the headline reads COUNCIL FUNDS PROBE CLAIMS FIRST CULPRIT. The story is written by Greg B. Smith and Frank Lombardi. Read it for the juicy details it provides, including the names of other public officials who have been accused of misconduct.
The Post ran the story on p8, DI$GRACED COUNCILMAN CALLS IT QUITS, by Sally Goldenberg and David Seifman. The story concluded: City and federal authorities have been looking into Martinez as part of a larger investigation into the council’s discretionary spending. The broader probe, which The Post was the first to disclose in 2008, led to the discovery of a secret slush fund in which council funds were ‘parked’ under the names of fake charities for future allocation to real charities.”
PRESS COVERAGE OF MONSERRATE’S REDEMPTION
The Monserrate payoff was reported on p23 of Tuesday’s Daily News under the headline: HIRAM’S $12,500 REWARD Dems Give Flipper $$$, Chairmanship. The story by Kenneth Lovett, Daily News Albany bureau chief, begins as follows:
“Democratic leaders quietly reinstated a $12,500 stipend for indicted Sen Hiram Monserrate – one of two lawmakers who briefly joined Republicans in a coup attempt and then flipped back.
“State Senate sources say the check was cut after Monserrate was secretly reappointed to his position as chairman of the Consumer Protection Committee.
“Sources said the move to reinstate him was likely part of the deal to bring the Queens Democrat back into the fold after he sided with Republicans in the June 8 couup that paralyzed the Senate for a month.
“Monserrate was accused in late December of brutally cutting his girlfriend’s face with a broken glass.”
OUR OBSERVATIONS
It is unlikely that Martinez is the only Councilmember who behaved in this manner. We wonder whether he was the first to be named because he agreed to a plea bargain, while others, who may have been more guilty, continue to maintain their innocence, and the investigators do not feel prepared to bring them to a trial, which might result in an acquittal or a mistrial if the jury is guided by nullification, a problem that occasionally occurs in racially-sensitive trials. So far two years of inquiry appear to have ended with a single indictment. If criminal behavior is found on the part of other people, it should be pursued without fear. One question that leaps to mind is how Councilman Kendall Stewart’s key aides could have taken all that money without his knowledge. It could have happened, but it would be interesting to learn their M.O.
As for Espada and Monserrate, they are what they are. Espada defeated Efrain Gonzales, who was a convicted fraud. Monserrate was a former police officer who went into politics when he retired early. He was selected by the Queens machine to replace Senator John Sabini, who now chairs the State Racing and Wagering Board.
Instead, we should be concerned with the enablers of these officials. Do they feel any responsibility for the deeds, or misdeeds, of their political progeny?
Martinez may have acted on his own, motivated by greed. But with regard to Espada and Monserrate, it is each and every one of the 32 Senate Democrats who could have prevented what happened, but who chose not do so because of their own ambitions and their desire not to make a fuss about anything.
If the public is concerned about all this, and it may or may not be, it will have to find a way to participate in a political process which is in many small but important ways closed to outsiders. In the absence of such concern, we may realistically expect only more of the same behavior which we now watch daily.
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