At a hearing yesterday, New Jersey thinks it may have discovered just who was responsible for the Race To The Top application typo that cost the state $400 million in federal education funding. It turns out, the consultant did it! more ›

The city’s Off-track Betting board issued 1,350 pink slips Friday, and today it’s suspended six-figure pay to consultants and executives—but only after interrogation by reporters. "Until a compromise is forged that saves these jobs, we will suspend our pay," the city's OTB President Raymond Casey said in a statement, but documents revealed he planned to continue paying consultants hired to rescue the organization. According to the News, “Four consultants—two with ties to [OTB] Chairman Meyer Frucher—and two law firms stood to make an estimated $4.5 million through June,” even as scores of workers lost their jobs after the institution filed for bankruptcy, demanding a state bailout. Following inquiries by the tabloid, they’ve been cut off. more ›

Even though the city installed vehicle locators on 1,300 ambulances and fire trucks three years ago, consultants who worked on the GPS system are still getting paid more than $3.5 million per year. Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez blasts the city for paying Hewlett Packard consultants up to $410,217 annually to tweak a system that's already in place, as it threatens to close fire houses and layoff firefighters due to possible state budget cuts. He argues the money would be better on FDNY operations, considering it only costs $1.5 million annually to fund a fire company of 29 firefighters and four officers. An FDNY spokesman said the consultants still provide needed upgrades and enhancements to a system that has "reduced response times across the city." more ›

Campaign consultant Howard Wolfson once called Mayor Bloomberg "out of touch," but now the sweater-clad, indie rock loving ex-Clinton strategist is ready to join the administration, sources say. Wolfson—who worked on Bloomberg's reelection campaign in 2009—will now take a $300,000 pay-cut to leave national politics and come serve the city he grew up in. more ›

A management consultant and hypnotherapist got paid $374,000 from the Education Department to help save money by improving managers' morale and boosting productivity. William Howatt Ph.D. had previously served as a consultant for Bear Stearns, and then the firm went under. Luckily for him, a former Bear Stearns manager got hired by Chancellor Joel Klein after the firm crashed, and he gave Howatt a job helping managers "adapt to change." more ›