Despite a salary of over $112,000 for a part-time job, many members of the City Council seem to still rack up a good amount of credit card debt. The categories are so ridiculously broad that it can be hard to determine what they really owe, but one Councilman from Brooklyn (Jumane Williams) has debt of between $35,000 to $308,000. Bronx Councilman Oliver Koppell lists $160,000 on 3 credit cards. His comment was "I get offers for zero percent interest," he said. "It's sort of too good to pass up."
He sooo out of touch that he doesn't even realize how embarrassing this is.
ReplyDeleteKoppell sounds like a college kid who believes everything the credit card company says.
ReplyDeleteIsn't this guy a lawyer by profession? I am sure they taught him at law school to always read the fine print. I get zero percent credit cards offers all the time. But when i read the fine print, its 0% for either 3-6 months. After that, the interest skyrockets to 19% and up. Lets all learn a lesson here, lets stop being a nation consumed by debt.
ReplyDeleteWhen the people governing our city live beyond their means its little wonder the city is facing a fiscal crisis.
ReplyDeleteI Paid Off $160,000 in Credit Card Debt, and You Can, Too Mr. Koppell!
ReplyDeleteWhat is it with Riverdale and credit cards? Koppell's in hock up to his ears, the guidance counselor at PS 24 who was introduced to parents and staff as assistant principal is in trouble for buying official building supplies on his credit cards to get airline miles . . . where does it end?
ReplyDeletePerhaps I'm old-fashioned, but I still equate overextended credit with irresponsibility and a lack of trustworthiness.
ReplyDeleteHey Anonymous July 21 @ 5:52 PM, you are really stretching on that one. No connection there.
ReplyDeletefrom the city charter:
ReplyDelete"No public servant shall use or attempt to use his or her position as a public servant to obtain any financial gain, contract, license, privilege or other private or personal advantage, direct or indirect, for the public servant or any person or firm associated with the public servant."
the case against the official at 24 is a slam-dunk. You can't use a personal credit card to buy school supplies, get reimbursed in cash by the DOE, and then profit by cashing in the miles.
Hello, my name is Oliver and I'm totally gullible.
ReplyDeleteHow about that Marty Markowitz!
ReplyDeleteCan't WAIT until Koppel is out in 2013. It's time for him to finish up and fade away like other politicians whose legacy is "do nothing".
ReplyDeleteKoppell recycled the same old "it's for my business and I can't help myself" line in a piece in today's Press, noting that he only owes $160K now, down from $200K!
ReplyDeleteOllie, if it's for your business, take out a business loan. If it's personal, take out a home equity loan. Having that much unsecured personal debt just doesn't smell right.
I once sat next to a man who looked exactly like Mr. Koppell at the Ice Follies in Madison Square Garden in November 1948.
ReplyDelete1948 ..... I think that was actually Oliver Koppell during his first term as an assemblyman!
ReplyDeleteThe PS 24 'incident' is a joke. Seriously, we're counting airline miles as compensation? Andy Wolf and his 'insider' disgruntled teacher/UFT lackey at PS 24 are grasping at straws, and diminishing the good work of the staff at PS 24 to the detriment of the entire community.
ReplyDeleteTalk about trivial . . . I really don't care if a teacher at an elementary school laid out his own money for school supplies on his AmEx card and received some membership points in the process. It's purely incidental and happens at my office all the time. Big deal!
ReplyDeleteThat Ollie is one odd bird.
ReplyDeleteThis blog is just fascinated by fallibility. Why do you expect the elected officials to uphold a higher standard?
ReplyDeleteAll you people seem to have entitlement issues with the councilman. Oliver Koppell may be a public official but he's not your bitch. Lay off him already. He can rack up as much credit card debt as he likes and it's nobody else's business.
ReplyDeleteAlso, that staff member at PS 24 can rack up all the credit card points he likes and it's nobody else's business too.
If this keeps up, Moody's will have to downgrade Oliver Koppell to junk status.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame to read this about Oliver Koppell, a man of high attainments who has devoted himself to the interests of the people of Riverdale and Kingsbridge for more than 40 years.
ReplyDeleteHow very classy.
ReplyDelete