MIGHTY QUINN'S PLAN DOA
By TOM TOPOUSIS
One council member said Quinn faced nearly unanimous opposition to her plan, which would give mayoral agencies final say over which neighborhood groups receive some of the council's discretionary funds when the budget is adopted.
"I would say the proposal is dead," declared Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Queens).
Added Councilman Lew Fidler (D-Brooklyn): "I don't want to give up power to the executive branch in a City Charter that already affords enormous power to the executive."
Quinn spent much of the day in meetings with members of the council, including a closed-door caucus with 30 lawmakers late in the day, to try to soothe tempers.
She left that session without comment.
"It was a communal venting," said Councilman Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn).
Lawmakers, particularly those from the outer boroughs, have been bristling since last week, when Quinn proposed an overhaul in how the council spends its money - in the wake of the scandal over a secret council slush fund.
"She's taking all their concerns under advisement," a Quinn spokesman said.
Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera (D-Bronx) said he agreed that there must be more transparency in how the funds are distributed, but he insisted that could be done by the council itself.
"We have to spend money appropriately, but that doesn't mean ceding power to the mayor," Rivera said.
He added that some council members were also upset to have been given little warning of Quinn's plans, which she announced on Friday.
The political fracas is the latest aftershock in the scandal over a secret slush fund out of the speaker's office in which $17 million had been diverted to fictitious groups since 2001 only to be awarded to genuine organizations later on.
The money comes from roughly $50 million in discretionary funds that council members can distribute as earmarks to local organizations, from Little Leagues to soup kitchens.
About $20 million of that is controlled by Quinn.
"The council is revolting," said a longtime City Hall observer who called Quinn's decision to unilaterally overhaul spending rules "mind-boggling."
"For a politician as adept as she is," he said, "she really stepped in it this time."
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