Sunday, May 10th 2009, 4:00 AM
Pedro Espada Jr., winner of the 2008 Democratic primary
for state Senate from the west Bronx.
Hermann for News
New York State Assemblyman Peter Rivera, represents the
76th Assembly District in the Bronx.
(Page 1 of 3)
Welcome to the Bronx - where allegations of corruption and collusion seem to grow on trees.
In a twin probe, the Daily News has found two Democratic state lawmakers with close campaign ties to nonprofit groups that use taxpayer funds. Federal law bars nonprofits from giving money or resources to political campaigns.
One, Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., dubbed the Bronx's "Teflon Pol," has repeatedly dodged charges of using a publicly funded health clinic for political purposes.
The other, Assemblyman Peter Rivera, sponsored nearly $1.3 million to a nonprofit whose employees helped his campaigns.
The probe follows The News' revelations that former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. did not pay an architect who designed Carrion's home renovation. Carrion had approved zoning changes and sponsored $7 million in tax money for a project the architect designed.
Carrion, now a White House deputy, recently paid the bill — two years after the job was done and after The News exposed the arrangement.
Here's what The News found about Rivera and Espada.
Espada's pals at health clinic
Pedro Espada is in the middle of another campaign funding mess.
After years of ducking charges that he uses the resources of his Soundview Health Clinic to promote his political campaigns, the Daily News found a new crop of such allegations again last fall.
In a bruising race in which he defeated incumbent Sen. Efrain Gonzalez Jr., many Soundview employees, medical vendors and Espada relatives who work for the clinic gave to his campaign.
Espada campaign literature printed in full-color on glossy paper was mailed to the same voters who got remarkably similar literature from Soundview.
One clinic ad featured four pictures of Espada, including one identical to the campaign literature; the same bulk mailing permit number appears on both campaign and clinic pamphlets.
Espada's campaign staff distributed leaflets at the same time and locations as Soundview clinic health fairs where staff distributed free condoms and food, including granola bars stamped "Vote for Pedro Espada."
In an interview, Espada — dressed in a pink shirt with monogrammed French cuffs, powder blue floral tie and matching pocket hankie — scoffed at the idea he uses the clinic to get elected.
"Soundview Health Clinic does not participate in political rallies. We participate in health fairs," he said. When clinic staff distributed free food, "you did not need to be a registered voter or even a citizen" to get some, he added.
Espada's effort to distinguish between his political and medical careers comes after years of the two being inseparable.
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