De Blasio Records Confirm He Misled Conflicts Board

"DE BLASIO MISLED CONFLICTS BOARD WHEN SEEKING APPROVAL TO EARN INCOME FROM ACORN AND WORKING FAMILIES PARTY," CONCLUDES GREEN AFTER COUNCILMAN RELEASES PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
 
Green calls it "a fraudulent and material omission since the COIB never knew the Councilman was being paid by a lobbying organization, which in turn was lobbying him. This is an undeniable fact and obvious conflict of interest."
 
At a City Hall press conference while being endorsed by eight leading African American clergy, former Public Advocate Mark Green released the following statement:
 
"In the NY1-Daily News debate Wednesday night, I challenged Councilman de Blasio to release the letter he sent to the Conflict of Interest Board (COIB) permitting him to receive $33,000 in personal income for work that he did for the Progressive America Fund. While he claimed that his work was approved by the COIB, I contended that he was unethically taking money from a lobbying organization with interests before the Council.
 
"Last evening the Councilman did release at least part of his request to the COIB (see attached). And here's what we now know for a fact: Councilman de Blasio misled the Conflicts Board when he failed to inform them that he was getting paid to work for a group that was created by, run by and housed by the Working Families Party and ACORN. This was a fraudulent and material omission since the COIB never knew that Councilman de Blasio was being privately paid as a lobbyist by a lobbying organization, which in turn was lobbying him.
 
"This is an undeniable conflict of interest.
 
"That's not an accusation. That's a fact.
 
"The letter that he released and sent to the Board makes no mention of the Working Families Party or ACORN. Then on behalf of the Progressive America Fund, one Eva Bonime elaborates in correspondence to the Councilman that he would be earning $6,000 a month to push for "fusion voting" in other states to "do meetings with elected officials in these states, to assist with editorial boards, foundations, individual donors and other institutional players who might be interested in enacting this democratic reform in their state.
 

"First, at the time that she negotiated his contract, Ms. Bonime worked for the Working Families Party in New York, and recently became the Executive Director of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance. Second, as I previously described last week, the Progressive America Fund was created by the Working Families Party with Dan Cantor and Bertha Lewis serving as officers of the Fund.  Both are registered lobbyists in New York City.  Cantor serves as Executive Director of the Working Families Party. Lewis is the founding Co-Chair of the Working Families Party and currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of ACORN.
 
"There are now four questions that the Councilman needs to answer to the public before the Tuesday Runoff:
 

• The key question is why you omitted telling the Council's lawyer, Elizabeth Fine, the essential fact that the PAF is simply a unit of the Working Families Party and ACORN, leading her to misstate the situation to an official government body?
•  

• Did you personally raise money for this Working Families Party affiliate while a sitting Councilman, as your contract states that you would? If so, who did you solicit?
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• Did you register as a lobbyist in other states, since the contract says that you would be paid to push for legislation in other states, which is the definition of a lobbyist?
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• If you didn't solicit money or lobby, what exactly did you do to earn $33,000 in six months?
•  

"It is now undeniable that Mr. de Blasio misled the Conflicts Board and engaged in unethical behavior by hiring himself out as a lobbyist for a lobbying organization that then also (a) appears before him and (b) endorses candidates and gives them money and support.
 
“Indeed, since we also know that the Campaign Finance Board in a separate matter has warned Mr. de Blasio and the Working Families Party about the financial relationship with another unit of the Working Families Party called Data and Field Services, it appears that he is essentially running for Public Advocate as the employee of a party outside the Democratic Party.
 
"It's fine if the Working Families Party and ACORN want to set up a not-for-profit group to push for ‘fusion voting.’ And it's strange but not illegal if they want to pay money to a government employee to push for their ideas. But it is wrong and unethical for a public official to accept private income from a lobbying organization and then mislead the government ethics watchdog by omission. (I've never received income from these groups but have worked with them in the past around common interests such as predatory lending.)
 
"In my view, it is disqualifying for a person to seek to be the Public Advocate, a public official who reviews the performance and ethics of other public officials, if he himself has engaged in such blatantly unethical behavior.
 
"Given these admitted facts, the COIB, as I requested last week, should re-open its consideration of Mr. de Blasio's relationship with the Progressive America Fund and its parent bodies, the Working Families Party and ACORN."
 
Attachments:
 
De Blasio Letter to Counsel along with Counsel's Letter to the NYC COIB
NYC COIB Letter to Counsel for De Blasio