Senator Espada Gets His Pork

It's believed that State Senator Pedro Espada Jr.'s central motivation for helping Republicans overthrow his fellow Democrats was his party's refusal to let him toss $2 million in pork to some dubious new non-profit groups with zero track record. So there's a certain grotesque poetry in the news that after paralyzing the State government for weeks, Espada was ultimately rewarded with that $2 million in pork-barrel spending, approved during a 3 a.m. session yesterday. Most of that money will be going to the New Bronx Chamber of Commerce, a "business advocacy group" that seems ill-prepared to distribute the largesse, considering its annual budget is usually $200,000. Espada says the money will go toward adult literacy classes, after-school programs, housing advocacy efforts, etc., but the group has never done anything like that before. The Village Voice made a noble attempt to figure out just what the hell the New Bronx Chamber of Commerce does, but all reporter Tom Robbins found was a brochure about their cocktail parties and golf outings. Reviewing Espada's allocation of the money, a Senate finance aide sent out an alarmed email to colleagues worrying, "I sincerely hope this doesn't come back to bite us."

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By John Del Signore in News on July 17, 2009 2:26 PM

Comments [rss]

Matt Joyce

This is shocking to me!

inoyourider

Fuck this scumbag.

grandzu

toss all politicians.

dbc

The article says that Espada wanted to give the $2 million to "a pair of groups that didn't even have offices, let alone a track record," but after that was shot down, he decided to give all of the money to the New Bronx Chamber of Commerce, despite the fact that they only asked for $50,000 in funding. According to the Chamber's VP, "We went in asking for $50,000...If we'd gotten $25,000, we would've been pretty happy."

How many worthy organizations will be operating at a deficit as a result of his "baby with the bathwater" approach? It seems like many of the Chamber's initiatives are already covered by existing community organizations; wouldn't it be best to give this money to organizations with established histories in adult literacy, after-school programs, and housing? These are not areas of concern typically undertaken by Chambers of Commerce.