The thin line between nonprofit organizations and local politicians was blurred once more again today. Elizabeth Benjamin of the Daily News reports that a ballot squabble between two city council candidates revealed that officials at the United Jewish Council of the East Side have been doing campaign work for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and mayoral challenger City Comptroller Bill Thompson. Renee Abromowitz of UJC said under oath that she had gone out to gather signatures for candidates testifying, "I have done this many years...So I know when the sheets on my desk [sic], I just go out and I volunteer to do signatures." Abromowitz also admitted to handing signature sheets over to her boss, a UJC director. The News says that Silver has directed more than $2.3 million in member items to UJC since 2006. The UJC has also received $16,000 in slush funds from City Councilman Alan Gerson, the man at the center of the controversy when the issues was raised by his Democratic primary challenger, Pete Gleason. A lawyer for Gleason said, "This is a charitable organization, and it's being perverted for political purposes." more ›

City Council members looking for reelection have found a reliable source to turn to for hefty campaign contributions—organizations they have hooked up with taxpayer money. The Daily News says that 3/4 of council members who have taken money from organizations that total (at a conservative estimate) more than $200,000 in contributions, or up to $467,000 with public matching dollars. The paper cites Christine Quinn, David Yassky, Bill de Blasio, Jessica Lappin, Vincent Gentille and John Liu as the worst offenders of taking money from groups they have set up with slush funds where they get to funnel tax dollars directly into district organizations of their choice. Lappin has received nearly as much in contributions from board members of a school she sponsored (just under 12K) as the amount of funds she sent to them (15K). Susan Lerner of Common Cause told the News, "It makes the whole thing seem incestuous. (Groups) feel they have to hire lobbyists and give campaign contributions in order to continue to provide services in the community." Flashback: Last year's slush fund scandal. more ›