Remember to rob taxpayers.
Disgraced Manhattan ex−Councilmember Miguel Martinez added that clause on his own when he swore to support and uphold the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of New York, and the Charter of the City of New York.
The municipal crook has ended his cushy and once−rosy seven−year reign in the local legislative kingdom by pleading guilty to three felony counts of public corruption, admitting to filching more than $100,000 in a streak of scams that began in October 2002 – less than a year after he was first elected – and screeched to a halt in 2008 after the city and the feds zeroed in on his deceit during a larger investigation of the Council’s shady use of discretionary funds.
Ironically, Martinez has a degree in Criminal Justice Planning and Administration and chaired the city’s Fire and Criminal Justice Services Committee, which added a sweet $10,000 stipend to his taxpayer−funded $112,000 annual salary. He told authorities that he pocketed kickbacks, stole from non−profits and falsified invoices – all under the facade of public service while taking advantage of the advantages life had given him.
The worst part is that the scoundrel, who owes New Yorkers an apology, conducted his dirty deeds while pretending to be a grassroots gladiator for constituents in his Washington Heightsâ„Inwood district, even launching a crusade against bed bugs and taking on slumlords. But, Miguel Martinez turned out to be just a common criminal and, if not caught, would have likely continued his embezzlement under Mayor Bloomberg’s extended term limits. United States District Judge Paul Crotty should remember that on October 21 when he sentences him, even though Martinez cut a plea deal with the United States attorney’s office, which recommends that he serve 57 to 71 months instead of the maximum 60 years which the three charges would normally carry.
Martinez’s case coincides with the July 23 arrest of three mayors, among 40 people nabbed across New Jersey for public corruption and international money laundering, and sheds light on Gotham’s other public officials and their aides, whose salaries are also paid for by taxpayers.
Last month, Joycinth Anderson and Asquith Reid, two ex−workers of foot−doctor−turned−Brooklyn−Councilman Kendall Stewart, pleaded guilty to stealing more than $145,000 in member−item money controlled by the lawmaker, who has denied any wrongdoing, and has not been charged to date.
Whatever the outcome, it doesn’t bode well for Councilman Stewart because the felonies happened on his watch, indicating that he was asleep at the wheel when he authorized the documents, or busy doing his lucrative podiatry, or – perish the thought – in on the dirty pool.
Taxpayers can expect little relief from the City Council, which is accountable only to its own conscience and which spurred the investigation in the first place over its chronic practice of stashing millions of hard−earned taxpayer dollars in a piggybank of ghost groups to later fund pet projects and sweetheart deals – blighting needy non−profits, to boot.
Clearly, being a watchdog for public money is not a priority of the New York City Council, else it would not relegate the section on “Oversight” on its Web page to the vague explanation: “The Council holds regular oversight hearings on city agencies to determine how agency programs are working and whether budgeted funds are being well spent.”
Apparently, not enough of them, and certainly not under a microscope deserving of the hard−working, lawful taxpayers who fund the outfit.
