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Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Daily News Uncovers Many Skeletons in Council's Closets

Following an exhaustive three-month investigation into the City Council, the Daily News began publishing its findings this week and the results are nothing short of shocking. Public perception of our elected officials is at an all-time low, and these findings only confirm our suspicions. In one instance, a Queens Councilman (Ruben Willis) was found to have outstanding warrants for petty larceny and nonpayment of child support. He turned himself after the story appeared. In another case, they found that Manhattan Councilwoman Inez Dickens owes the City a $100,000 in taxes for a couple of buildings she co-owns. Another story uncovered the fact that a number of Council members are living in affordable housing while at least four other Council members claimed places outside of their districts as their primary residence and claimed a a tax break for it. Finally, in a story released today, it was revealed that the homes of two Council members are in foreclosure (Dan Halloran and James Sanders both of Queens). In addition, they report that Bronx Councilman Oliver Koppell had as much as $270,000 in credit card debt in 2009.

What does this all mean? First, the Daily News should be commended for digging deeper. What is really ironic is that much of this was hiding in plain sight -- it's pretty difficult to hide an arrest warrant. Second, while elected officials are human and will sometimes make mistakes, there seems to be an inordinate number of Council members (remember there are only 51 in total) who are either not abiding by the law or who have shown very poor judgment. Hopefully, investigations like these will help to root that out so that voters are more aware of these issues before they go to the polls. Can you imagine what a major news organization would find with the same scrutiny of our state elected officials?

13 comments:

  1. So let me get this straight - Koppell takes out huge loans on credit cards, probably pays them back with campaign cash and then starts the whole thing over again. No wonder he introduced the elimination of term limits, that's quite a scam he has going.

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  2. What does Koppell's credit card debt have to do with anything else listed here?

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  3. Since we’re on the topic of skeletons in the City Council’s close . . . What about the longstanding allegations that New York City Councilman G. Oliver Koppell (D-Bronx), along with his friend U.S. Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17), secretly helped finance yellow journalist Andrew Wolf’s purchase of the Riverdale Review, a politically motivated newspaper in their districts, back in the 1990s?

    If these elected officials engaged in such shady dealings by using either their own money or other people's money to solidify their hold on a local news outlet, it would seem to be a flagrant conflict of interest as well as an egregious breach of the public’s trust.

    For the record, the allegations were first made public by Richard Stein, co-publisher of the Riverdale Press, in the Jan. 16, 2003 edition of his newspaper. In a letter that he published addressed to Mr. Wolf under the title “Who’s selling the news,” Mr. Stein wrote:

    “And speaking of secret deals, when will you disclose the roles that Congressman Eliot Engel and Councilman Oliver Koppell played in helping to finance your purchase of the Review? When will you reveal the identities of the politically-connected people who loaned you the money? What can you tell us about the ways those obligations influence what you write?”

    It seems obvious to me that the allegations must be true . . . otherwise both politicians would surely have come out forcefully to deny them and indignantly attack the accusers.

    So, at long last, Councilman Koppell and Congressman Engel, please answer this question: ARE THE ALLEGATIONS TRUE?

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  4. If Koppell and Engel have nothing to hide, they should answer the allegations!!!!

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  5. I think what Richard Stein is saying when he accused Oliver Koppell and Eliot Engel of helping finance Andy Wolf’s purchase of the Riverdale Review is that these two lawmakers funneled money to Wolf from other politically connected people, not that Koppell and Engel personally gave their own money.

    Under that theory, Koppell and Engel could financially support Wolf without spending a dime and without leaving a paper trail of their secret actions. And if that’s true, it’s very sneaky and deceitful.

    Since Koppell is a lawyer, does anyone know if he had any involement in doing the legal side of Wolf's purchase of the newspaper?

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  6. Might there have been an exchange of legal services (or reduced legal fees) for positive political coverage? A form of barter??

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  7. If Councilman Koppell and Representative Engel did what Richard Stein said they did, it does not matter exactly how they did it, only that they did it, and that it was wrong.

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  8. If it was something to be proud of then they would not have done it in SECRET!

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  9. These are hideous, creepy politicians.

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  10. Oops! ... I guess Oliver Koppell and Eliot Engel were hoping that nobody would notice. They must think that the ends justify any means necessary to accomplish their goals.

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  11. The Riverdale Review specializes in offering false justification for politically motivated attacks that are part of Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz’s campaign to disparage his enemies in the eyes of the voters.

    In practice, that poor excuse for a newspaper is little more than the mouthpiece for Dinowitz’s Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club. This is why the Riverdale Review is so deeply hostile to anyone or anything that goes against Dinowitz’s selfish political interests.

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  12. Journalists like Azi Paybarah amd Celeste Katz should be writing about that secret deal where Riverdale's politicians helped finance Andrew Wolf's purchase of the politically motivated Riverdale Review.

    Both politicians, Congressman Eliot L. Engel (D., NY-17) and New York City Council Member G. Oliver Koppell (D., Bronx), are still in office and have long benefited from that unholy deal.

    Hey, Edward Isaac-Dovere and Adam Lisberg, are you listening?

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  13. Thinking about Koppell and Engel’s shady dealings involving the Riverdale Review, if money solidified their hold on a local news outlet, to me that sounds like a form of a kickback! It’s basically an under-the-table payment for help and influence.

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