Page 281 - Demo

R e p o r t e r 's N o t e b o o kLocal Victims Gather To Tell Their Stories O f Corruption A t A Brooklyn Heights ForumBY LIZ KOCHBefore the meeting, a small group of people stood discussing whether the Mayor should resign. %u201cI think many people really believe he is not corrupt. I don%u2019t think he%u2019s corrupt, but that%u2019s not enough. Where do you draw the line?%u201d one woman asked. A few heads nodded thoughtfully.It was a night to discuss corruption, not in the abstract sense but as it related to the recent city-wide exposures and by people who first hand could call themselves victims of corruption, and were looking for change.The Brooklyn Citizen%u2019s Commission for Campaign Finance (BCCCF) held a public forum on June 24 titled %u201cMunicipal Corruption %u2014 The Theft of Your Tax Dollars%u201d and the speakers, who included Joe Ferris, the group%u2019s acting chairman, and Manhattan City Councilmember Ruth Messinger, warned the public to be vigilant, but more importantly to demand legislation that would limit campaign contributions, thereby removing the question of influence of money on politicians. The Citizen%u2019s Commission is part of a petitioning drive to put a referendum on November%u2019s ballot limiting campaign contributions.Ctae of the key speakers on June 24 was also able to bring positive news to the 60 people in attendance at the event at Congregation Mount Sinai. Dr. Judith Piesco, former director of examinations for the City%u2019s Personnel Department, told those at the session that she had won a success that same day when a report conducted by a New York State Senate Committee concluded that she had lost her job with the City as %u201cretaliation%u201d for her testimony criticizing a city examination for police officers.%u201c It is the attitude of elected and appointed officials that they own this government. It is an attitude that permeates the upper echelons,%u201d she told them, speaking from personal experience and saying that in her original testimony she had never been explicit)'' instructed to lie by her superiors but was more encouraged to %u201cstonewall.%u201d Hand in hand with the breakdown of the City%u2019s Civil Service, she said, was an accompanying increase in corruption, and little was being done to improve the situation.%u201c Certainly you cannot trust the City%u2019s Department of Investigation. The Department of Investigation has served as a way to cover up and not follow investigations,%u201d she warned. People who became victims of the system by taking on the system, suffered psychological destruction, she said, and often cannot afford the legal fees to protect themselves. She suggested that a fund be created to help them in their fight.%u201cThe Mayor and his people are workingCity Councilmember Ruth Messinger called on the voters to bring a campaign financereform referendum on the November ballot. Judith Piesko, (right) the City%u2019s former directorof examinations for the Personnel Department told of her unfair firing. (Phoenix/KochPhotos)for you, not you for them,%u201d she reminded the audience, receiving a hearty round of applause. Her success, however, was an isolated bright spot among the many frustrated testimonies given that night.Relating to another recent upheaval in city politics, Henry Zeiger, who is on the executive council of Local 3036 New York City Taxi Drivers and Allied Workers, told the audience that Taxi and Limousine Commissioner Jay Turoff, currently under investigation, had been considered suspicious by his colleagues from day one.%u201cHe was appointed at the last minute by Abe Beame after the fleet owners gave a large contribution to his campaign,%u201d Zeiger said, evoking the oft-addressed connection that night between campaign finances and subsequent favors.Under Turoff, Zeiger said, the fleet owners were given leasing, a practice which made hours for cab drivers much longer as they first had to earn the money conditioned by the leasing arrangement before earning their own. %u201cYou cannot drive a cab ninehours a day under the leasing arrangement and expect to do better than break even. A lot of cab drivers are driving five or six days a week, twelve hours a day,%u201d he said.Under the leasing arrangements, he said, profits for fleet owners increased fourfold. %u201cFleet owners consistently make large contributions and what they want from the commissioner they get,%u201d he charged, adding that fleet owners are allowed to charge an additional 50* night fee for their cabs, a practice which individual owners are not allowed. %u201cThey get their way and what they get has had a bad effect on cab drivers.%u201dOne local problem relating to corruption that also received an airing was brought up by Lenore Reed, a resident of a building owned by Bart Rivecchi. She charged that the developer used illegally-obtained funds from the Hyfin Credit Union to create havoc. After filing April 1983 for a gut renovation of a building he purchased in the South Slope, Rivecchi, according to Reed,Certainly you cannot trustthe City Js Department o fInvestigation. TheDepartment o f Investigationhas served as a way to coverup and not follow cases.sent workers in who began %u201ctearing down walls and throwing tubs out the window,%u201d with tenants still living in the building.%u201c We%u2019ve been fighting an on-going battle with this guy. In 1985 mysterious fires began to occur,%u201d she told the audience, %u201cbut hopefully Bart will get his,%u201d she emphasized.On another issue, back to back testimony from Gerard and Ellen Nuzzi charged the City with neglecting the problems of the disabled and reneging on promises. %u201cIn Fiscal Year 1985, $1.5 million dollars were allocated for curb cuts, not too many were put in,%u201d Nuzzi complained. %u201cThe ones that are going in, many of them are put in the wrong way,%u201d he said, adding: %u201cThey are not attending to the needs of the public andwhenever they do, they end up wasting incredible amounts of money and I want them to stop,%u201d Nuzzi said.Testimony given that night covered a broad spectrum of problems with very different charges of corruption and neglect being leveled. But all the speakers came to the same conclusion: change must come, and fast. The speakers all called for vigilance to hold public officials accountable for their actions. The bottom line, however, was that campaign contributions create a i climate where no one knows who may be influenced or, worse, tainted. It was Councilmember Ruth Messinger who addressed the specific subject of reform by dealing with large campaign contributions.%u201c People give large dollar amounts and they then benefit by contracts and land-use rights,%u201d Messenger charged. %u201cThe awards are arguably legal which suggests there is something wrong with the law,%u201d she added. Pointing to lack of effort on the part of the Mayor and the New York State Legislature to address the problem, Messenger called on the power of voters to change the law, restricting elected officials to campaign donations of $1,000 or less. %u201cIn order for this to be done, it must be done by the voters and enough people (30,000) must sign our petition to put the referendum on the ballot in November.%u201dFerris, who also addressed the audience that night, called for a special session of the legislature to specifically address campaign finance, %u201cand campaign finance alone,%u201d he stressed angrily.GOP Raises Funds\\ A campaign fundraiser has been set for July 9 for Diane Picucci, Republican candidate for the State Assembly in the 52nd District, a seat currently held by Democrat Eileen Dugan.Picucci, an elementary school teacher, lives in Biay Ridge. She accused incumbent Dugan of not paying attention to all the important issues in the 52nd A.D. but has not detailed the issues yet. Dugan is being challenged by Anthony Lobelia in the September Democratic primary.Picucci%u2019s event begins at 7pm at the Armand J. Starace Republican Club at 7817 Fifth Ave. Cost is $25. For information, call 238-4229.State Funds on TapThe New York State Senate reached an agreement June 23 on a $46 million increase in the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) for students in New York State. The compromise will let more students receive the maximum $2,850 grant and for the first time, allows students attending proprietary, degreegranting schools to receive the same TAP benefits as other undergraduate students.Carroll Gardens AsspmhlumpnnW Eileen Dugan (52nd A.D.) says, %u201cThe issue is fairness. All students working for a degreeshould receive the same assistance.%u201dIn addition, the legislation increased the grants available to self-supporting college students from $1,800 to $2,000. Graduate students also received an increase from $600 to $1,200, their first since 1969.%u201cNot only can more students obtain TAP, but more recipients can receive the maximum award,%u201d says Dugan. %u201cThis will provide the assistance students desperately need in the face of continuous and massive Federal cuts in student aid.%u201dLocals Fight For KidsTwo Brooklyn women, State Senator Velmanette Montgomery and Beverly J. Hoff, have been named by Governor Marion Cuomo to the New York State Commission on Child Care.Hoff is the president of Brooklyn City Kids%u2019 Day Care Center, Inc., and an investigating probation officer for the New York City Department of Probation. Montgomery represents the Ft. Greene/Park Slope/Downtown 22nd Senate District and serves as the Chair of the Senate Democratic Task Force on Child Care. Both appointees will serve at the pleasure of the governor.Governor Cuomo also announced the apr v - . M %u00bb v %u00bb %u00bb V 4 w v i u j i i v / u j o u u i rcilmember Priscilla A. Wooten to the State%u2019s Committee on Open Government.Park Dems EndorseAt an endorsement meeting June 19, members of the Prospect Park Neighborhood Democrats voted overwhelmingly to endorse candidates in three upcoming races. The club will be endorsing State Senator Velmanette Montgomery and Assemblymember Jim Brennan in their bids for reelection. The club also voted to endorse Mark Green in his drive to unseat Senator Alphonse D%u2019Amato.The Prospect Park Neighborhood Democrats is a one year old independent Democratic club formed to involve progressive people in the electoral process. The forty-six member club has specified four issues that a candidate must agree with before they can be considered for endorsement. They are: support for a woman%u2019s right to reproductive freedom, support for civil rights for lesbian and gay people, opposition to the death penalty, and support for divestment in South Africa.Golden Helps BlacksIn testimony before the Mayor%u2019s Commission on Black New Yorkers recently, Brooklyn Borough Pr ?sident Howard Golden said that he felt that new policies need to be adopted to address the needs of blacks in^ j ____ a ; %u2014 ---------1 i %u2022 %u00ab%u25a0%u00ab cuuccmuu, liAcm, iicdmi cart? anasocial services.Golden said that with a drop-out rate forblacks of 78 percent, the City must create a program to ensure that more black students will stay in school and to help get more dropouts brought back into the classroom, with more literacy programs and G.E.D. training. Golden advocates affirmative action for employment and more job training programs due to the high unemployment rate for blacks. He suggests that Brooklyn must maintain a strong industrial base to help lower unemployment. He also wants more aid to groups like the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and the BedfordStuyvesant Restoration Corporation, which have held training sessions and workshops in an attempt to expand employment opportunities.Golden said that New York has to face the fact that there is a growing trend among black families, and in all families, of families being headed by single mothers. The City must, he said, increase daycare services and teen pregnancy programs to allow single mothers the opportunity for an education and the chance to provide for themselves and their children.%u201cBlacks have made tremendous strides in Brooklyn as well as throughout this nation,%u201d says Golden. But, he adds, for the vast majority of Black people in this city, the American dream is still out of reach. ... We must work toward improving conditions for an brooKlymtes, especially those who are suffering more than their fair share.%u201dPage 47, THE PHOENIX, July 3,1986