Christine Quinn - City Council Retaliation ?

In an act that The New York Post is calling, ''spiteful,'' City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has reetaliated against a fellow Democrat Councilmember.

Suzannah B. Troy has already blogged about how City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has abused her power to dole out slush funds to punish Liz Crowley, but here is the entire New York Post story, quoted in its entirety :

Spiteful Quinn $laps mouthy Qns. Dem
By SALLY GOLDENBERG and GINGER ADAMS OTIS
Last Updated: 10:56 AM, July 4, 2010
Posted: 3:00 AM, July 4, 2010

"Freshman City Councilwoman Liz Crowley played with fire and got burned.

The Queens Democrat learned a hard lesson during recent negotiations for the 2011 city budget: Don't anger Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Crowley got the least amount of member-item money in the 2011 budget -- approximately $358,000 -- as punishment for prematurely sending out a press release two weeks ago announcing 20 firehouses had been saved, and hogging all the credit, sources told the Post.

"It showed that [Crowley] doesn't understand the deference she needs to pay to the speaker of the council. She knows it now. Lesson learned," said a City Council source.

Tempers flared between Quinn and Crowley when Crowley's staff sent out a press release in the middle of a tense session of budget negotiations. It touted the Queens lawmaker as the central figure in helping "save" the firehouses.

It was a costly error for the rookie legislator, who has since gotten the "absurdly low" amount of pork-barrel spending, said a City Hall insider."

Christine Quinn Wants To Be Mayor Of NYC

Christine Quinn wants to be Mayor of NYC

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has subjugated herself to the will and domination of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. She thinks that qualifies her to run for NYC mayor in 2013.

Christine Quinn Killed Sick Leave Bill in 2010

Christine Quinn Backs Mayor Bloomberg,
Kills Paid Sick Leave Bill, Goes For Trolly Ride.

Article from DNAinfo :

By Yepoka Yeebo and Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producers

MANHATTAN — City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has shelved a proposed bill that would have given workers at small businesses paid sick days, effectively killing it.

The controversial bill would have required companies with 20 or more workers to provide nine paid sick days a year. About 1.3 million people in the private sector work without sick leave in the city, notably in the service industry, the Daily News reported.

The controversial bill would have required companies with 20 or more workers to provide nine paid sick days a year. About 1.3 million people in the private sector work without sick leave in the city, notably in the service industry, the Daily News reported.

Quinn said Thursday that she was torn between workers and small business members, who opposed the bill.

"We tried to reach a place of genuine compromise," she said. But "In the end, we were unable to bridge that divide."

"Now is simply not the right time for a measure that threatens the survival of small businesses," Quinn added.

The bill had the support of the influential Working Families Party and many members of the City Council. Quinn, who many suspect will run for mayor in 2013, was criticized for the move by the bill's backers.

"The first possible woman mayor has just turned her back on a critical but modest lifeline that families around the city need – a stunning abandonment of working mothers and parents and the progressive women who have supported her from day one," the NYS Paid Leave Coalition said in a statement.

But Quinn defended her decision.

"I haven’t turned my back on anybody," she said.

Quinn said the bill would cost business owners between $700 and $1,200 per employee and that "at a time like this, those thousands of dollars could be the breaking point for a small business owner who is already stretched too thin."

In a statement, Kenneth Adams, the president and CEO of The Business Council of New York State, commended Quinn's decision, saying the bill would have threatened job growth during tough economic times.

"Our members and businesses across the boroughs say 'thank you,'" it read.
Councilwoman Gale Brewer, who introduced the bill, told reporters following the announcement that she was disappointed with Quinn.

"I believe she should have paid more attention to the compromises we were making. ... I don’t think she listened enough to us," Brewer said.

Still, she said Quinn's decision doesn't mean the bill is dead.

Brewer plans to bring the bill to the floor as soon as she thinks it has enough votes to pass.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg had threatened to veto the bill even if it had passed, but the bill may have had enough support to override a potential veto.

Christine Quinn Protest

New York voters, open your eyes !

Speaker Christine Quinn shows up to gay rights events -- or gay engagement announcements, like the one that took place on the evening that this YouTube was made -- but Speaker Quinn has never introduced any law to establish marriage equality in New York City.

In contrast, Gavin Newson helped to reshape marriage equality for the United States by allowing same-sex couples to receive marriage licenses in San Francisco.

What comparable action has Speaker Quinn taken ?

Besides being a do-nothing gay leader, look at some of the other unacceptable lows in Speaker Quinn's political record :

• Sick Leave. In 2010, Speaker Quinn rejected paid sick leave, hurting working families and low income New Yorkers.
• St. Vincent's. Also in 2010, Speaker Quinn abandoned any care for public health for the entire Lower West Side of Manhattan after she did nothing to save St. Vincent's Hospital.
• Term Limits. In 2008, Speaker Quinn made a shady deal with Mayor Bloomberg to overturn term limits.
• Slush Funds. Moreover, in 2008, The NYTimes reported that Speaker Quinn oversaw the allocation of discretionary funds to fake groups : ‘’… her office had continued a seven-year-old practice of squirreling away money so it could be handed out away from the public eye.’’ Then, last month, The NYTimes exposed the fact that Speaker Quinn continues her practise of using controversial City Council discretionary funds.

See also :

• http://christine-quinn-sold-out.blogspot.com/
• http://christinequinnmbminime.blogspot.com/
• http://www.christinequinn.com/

Christine Quinn's Use Of Slush Funds Continues

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has her own shady fund of discretionary taxpayer money, which The New York Times estimates to be nearly $18 million, which she doles out to organizations primarily of her own choosing.

The Times tomorrow will expose the fact that Speaker Quinn is continuing her practise of using controversial City Council discretionary funds to control or intimidate council members.

'In the race for earmarks, status often trumps economic need, council members say. Council leaders and those who curry favor with the speaker, Christine C. Quinn, consistently win the largest share of the pot.''

The Times revisits the famous case of Elizabeth S. Crowley, a councilwoman from Queens, who earned the political retribution in the form of a very low amount of $80,000 discretionary funds after she ''issued a news release in the middle of budget negotiations taking credit for saving 62 firehouses,'' The Times reported.

The Times also reminds us of councilman Larry B. Seabrook of the Bronx, ''who was indicted last year on charges of money laundering, extortion and fraud related to his use of discretionary funds.''

Speaker Quinn's politicisation of her allocation of the discretionary funds has attracted the attention of Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan borough president. He plans to ''release his own study of the Council’s discretionary spending, said the city should consider distributing the money on the basis of economic need for each district, or simply give each member an equal amount,'' The Times reported.