By Hilary White
NEW YORK, April 8, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Christine Quinn, the City Council speaker for the City of New York is under investigation after the New York Post revealed she had hidden almost $5 million in public funds, allocating the money to non-existent organizations in order to create a personal slush fund to pay off political allies.
Quinn is the first woman and the first open lesbian to be elected to the speaker’s post, considered to be the second most powerful in the city’s administration, after the Mayor. In 2006 she attempted to convince the Catholic Ancient Order of Hibernians to rescind their policy against allowing homosexual groups to march in the St.Patrick’s Day parade. After parade organizers refused to allow the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization (ILGO) to participate Quinn made a very public decision to personally boycott the event honoring the renowned Catholic saint. The action was internationally reported and resulted in her being invited by the mayor of Dublin to march in his city’s St. Pat’s parade.
Quinn, in office since 2006, claims that she ordered the slush fund practice stopped and informed federal prosecutors last fall after staff ignored her order. She said she was “kind of sick over the fact that there were things listed in the budget that were not accurate.” The US Attorney’s Office and the city’s Department of Investigation are investigating the claims.
Quinn was recently named the third-most powerful woman in New York, behind Hillary Rodham Clinton and Diane Sawyer. She has been rated one of the fifty most powerful women in New York City by the New York Post. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose second term of office comes to an end in 2009, is legally barred from seeking a third and Quinn is regarded as the Democrat’s front runner for the race.
The city’s Housing Authority Commissioner, Margarita Lopez, another lesbian, is very supportive of Quinn’s apparent willingness to run for mayor. Lopez stated, “good for her. And more power to the women’s community.”
The Post reported that phantom organizations such as the Immigration Improvement Project of New York and the Coalition for a Strong Special Education received tens of thousands of dollars of city funding. In all, $4.7m of the 2007/8 budget was allocated to 30 fake organizations.
“The money, in effect, became a slush fund for the speaker and was later used at Quinn’s discretion to reward groups that were loyal to her and to fund favoured council members’ pet projects,” reported the Post. Recently, Quinn pledged $9 million in borough and city funds over four years for the renovation and expansion of the New York LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered) Center.