Thursday, May 17, 2012
LIU STATEMENT ON CITY UNEMPLOYME
City Comptroller John C. Liu stated the following in response to questions about new unemployment figures:
“Although today’s labor market report shows a record number of jobs in the city, the unemployment rate remains at an unacceptable 9.5 percent and continues to disproportionately impact minorities and young people. We must find ways to create jobs for the 345,000 unemployed
New Yorkers who cannot wait years for the recovery to filter down to them.
“My office has put forth a Capital Acceleration Plan which would create 15,000 jobs and enhance our City’s infrastructure; all the while saving taxpayers money in the long-run. As the City Council and Mayor’s Office negotiate the upcoming budget, we are calling for the inclusion of this plan in order to put New Yorkers back to work as quickly as possible and revive the City’s ailing construction industry.”
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Wednesday, May 16, 2012
LIU: TUTORING FIRM OWES CITY $850,000 FOR BAD BILLING
Audit Raises Serious Concerns over Dubious Timesheets
City Comptroller John C. Liu today announced that an audit of Champion Learning Center, a tutoring company in contract with the Department of Education, uncovered questionable payments for dubious bills.
Many of the submitted attendance sheets that the DOE paid did not have the required documents that would prove a student was in fact tutored. An additional set of payments went to tutoring services supposedly performed between midnight and 5 a.m.
“Taxpayers can’t afford to write multi-million dollar blank checks for tutoring services that may not have taken place,” Comptroller Liu said. “The DOE’s lack of oversight not only shows serious mismanagement, but may have also enabled fraudulent billings. Every education dollar wasted robs students of the education they deserve. DOE should investigate these billings and recover all the money the City is owed. Doing so will send a clear message to companies that do business with the City that New Yorkers will not be taken for a ride.”
Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, eligible students enrolled in schools in need of improvement are provided free tutoring to improve their education and performance on state academic standards and assessments. Champion Learning Center was one of 52 state-approved tutoring providers during School Year 2009-2010. Champion entered into a $40 million contract with DOE to offer tutoring services, primarily in students’ homes, from September 1, 2009 through August 31, 2012.
The audit found that Champion lacked adequate controls and failed to live up to key provisions of its contract. Champion’s management weaknesses were compounded by DOE’s inadequate oversight. Ultimately, Champion billed and was paid by DOE for tutoring services for which there was inadequate or questionable documentation.
The findings raised questions about the accuracy of the overall billing for tutoring services that Champion submitted to the DOE.
Timesheets show tutoring at barred or impossible hours
During school years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, Champion billed the DOE and was paid $836,254 for services reportedly provided during hours in which it was not allowed to tutor or at odd times (midnight to 5 a.m.). The billing for these hours could signal fraud.
The DOE agreed with the audit’s recommendation that it recoup the $836,254. The agency has since changed its billing portal for vendors to prevent them from submitting requests for payment for services during school hours or the middle of the night.
Billing documentation lacking or missing
DOE paid Champion for tutoring services without adequate evidence that the services were, in fact, provided. Auditors examined a random sample of 164 attendance sheets cards paid by the DOE and determined that 10% (16 of 164) did not contain the tutor’s name or signature as required and 47% (77 of 164) were not signed by the supervisor as required. The audit also reviewed records for tutoring services for 76 students and found that of the total $151,435 the DOE spent, $22,525 (15%) covered 322 hours of work that did not have adequate attendance sheets.
DOE agreed with the recommendation that it investigate and, if warranted, recoup the total of $22,525 for payments that were not supported by attendance sheets.
Champion agreed with the audit’s recommendations that the company strengthen its internal controls to ensure that attendance sheets are properly reviewed and include the required signatures.
Liu credited Deputy Comptroller Tina Kim and the Bureau of Audit for their work on this report. The full audit can be found at www.comptroller.nyc.gov.
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Monday, May 14, 2012
Espada Found Guilty on 4 of 8 Counts
.Pedro G. Espada and father Pedro Espada holding another future candidate Espada in happier times.
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz Had This on the Espada verdict.
Former State Senator Pedro Espada has been found guilt of stealing up to half a million dollars from the now defunct Soundview Health Care Center that he started and ran. Espada now faces up to ten years in jail on each of the four counts of fraud that he was convicted of. The bad news does not stop there, as the judge declared a hung jury on the other four counts so that Espada could be retried on those other four counts of fraud.
Espada's son Pedro G. Espada appears to have dodged a bullet for now as his jury seems to be deadlocked and unable to convict him, but there is always the possibility of a retrial for him also unless the U.S. Attorney is content to have Espada Senior going to jail.
.Pedro G. Espada and father Pedro Espada holding another future candidate Espada in happier times.Governor Andrew Cuomo said that he is happy that the job he started as New York States Attorney General has been completed. Cuomo added that there is no place in New York politics for any type of corruption.
The jurors finished the job that the voters started two years ago. Just as the voters of the 33rd senatorial district punished Pedro Espada, Jr. at the polls for his role in the discredited 2009 coup that shut down the State Senate, the jurors rightly saw Espada for what he is: a crook. His criminal acts give politics a bad name despite the fact that the vast majority of elected officials are decent, hardworking people. He stole from the taxpayers and ultimately from the people he was supposed to help, in order to pay for his lavish lifestyle. Disgusting! I hope he receives the maximum punishment under the law.
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Croton Filter Plant - Agenda for Meeting on May 17
Agenda
Croton Facility Monitoring Committee Meeting
Thursday, May 17, 2012 – 7:00 PM
DEP Office – 3660 Jerome Avenue, Bronx NY 10467 - (718) 231-8470
I Welcome Paul Foster, Chair
II Consider and Adopt the Meeting Agenda CFMC Reps
III Consider, Adopt 4/19/12 Meeting Minutes CFMC Reps
IV Update on JPR Jogging Path PDC Status Hector Aponte, DPR
Steve Des Noyer, DPR
V Update on Pedestrian Bridge Funding CFMC Reps
VI NYC Water Rate Increase – Impact on Mark Lanaghan, DEP
Rates of Cost of Croton Filter Plant
Rates of Cost of Croton Filter Plant
VII Croton Construction Update, Schedule Vincent Moorehead,
And Costs P.E., DEP
And Costs P.E., DEP
VIII Croton Jobs and Bronx Purchases Mark Lanaghan, DEP
IX CFMC Discussion, Set Next Meeting CFMC Representatives
X Adjourn
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Sauti Yetu Center for Women Open House and Reception
Sauti Yetu Brings Together Supporters for
Open House and Reception in the South Bronx
Sauti Yetu Center for African Women and Families will welcome policy makers, community leaders and service providers to their new office space in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx at an Open House and Reception on May 17th from 4-6:30pm. The event will highlight Sauti Yetu’s work as both a culturally-responsive service provider and an advocate for the growing African immigrant community in New York City. It will also share how Sauti Yetu has expanded their services to meet the growing needs of community members, as well as their plans for the future.
Sauti Yetu’s first Open House and Reception will showcase both their new office space and the culturally and linguistically responsive work they do in the Bronx and throughout the United States. Speakers include (1) The Honorable Aurelia Greene, Deputy Borough President of the Bronx, (2) The Honorable Maria del Carmen Arroyo, New York City Council 17th District, and (3) Zeinab Eyega, Executive Director and Founder of Sauti Yetu Center for African Women. The event will feature music by a griot, Assetou Kouyate and a kora player, Diabate. It will also feature African cuisine. Sauti Yetu staff members will offer information about the work they do with African immigrant women, children and families in the Bronx—and beyond.
Founded in 2004 with 1 staff member, Sauti Yetu has since expanded into a multi-service agency with a staff of over 20. The organization meets the diverse needs of New York City’s African immigrant women, families and youth through its direct services, advocacy and public education campaigns. They offer domestic violence services in over 25 languages, as well as academic and leadership support for newly arrived African adolescent girls. The organization also helps newly arrived immigrant families build their collective strength and achieve self-sufficiency. Sauti Yetu additionally conducts trainings and performs advocacy at the city, state and federal level on the topic of Female Genital Cutting (FGC). Their work on FGC has been most recently recognized by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Nationally, Sauti Yetu builds the leadership capacity of African immigrant and refugee women in over 11 cities throughout the U.S.
Please RSVP online at http://www.eventbrite.com/
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KOPPELL VOWS TO FIGHT CUTS TO AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS
Responding to calls and petitions from his constituents about the proposed closing of after-school programs, Council Member Oliver Koppell vowed to fight to restore the funds. The Mayor’s FY 2012-2013 Executive budget cut $22.1 million for 172 after-school programs citywide and reduced subsidized slots for child care centers.
“Families in my district would be heavily impacted by these cuts which would force the closure of after-school programs at PS 8 and PS 94 in Norwood, at Riverdale Neighborhood House and the Marble Hill Community Center and reduce the number of children who can be accommodated in after-school programs at PS 95 and PS 20” Koppell said.
According to Don Bluestone, Executive Director of Mosholu- Montefiore Community Center, over 33% of the organization’s Out-of-School Time (OST) funds for after-school programs were cut, a loss of approximately $1,200,000. Riverdale Neighborhood House lost $280,000 for its after-school programs and The Children’s Arts & Science Workshops, who run the Marble Hill Center, lost $380,000 for its after-school and summer camp programs. Koppell said, “It is imperative that funds be restored to The Department of Youth and Community Development’s OST program. Without this restoration, thousands of children in my district and throughout the city, will be deprived of the positive academic and recreational activities these programs offer, putting them at risk of engaging in negative behavior during these unsupervised hours.”
Koppell referred to research that has shown that after-school programs keep kids safe, have a positive impact on self-concept and decision making and promote positive social interaction among students. Also, he referenced studies by the Department of Education that have shown crimes involving youth usually occur between the hours of 3-6 p.m. “The risk that our community will see an increase in violence, vandalism, gang activity, drug and alcohol abuse, as well as an upsurge in the number of latchkey children, is virtually inevitable with the closing of these after-school programs,” he said.
Koppell also said it was necessary to restore the cuts for early child care, which has proven to provide academic and social benefits to children stretching well beyond their early years.
“In the upcoming budget negotiations, my Council colleagues and I are determined to do all in our power to protect the child care and after-school programs on which our most vulnerable families depend. I am hopeful that these efforts will produce results and that there will be restoration of funds to keep these programs open.” Koppell concluded.
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