Last issue, the Norwood News published a list of discretionary funds that local City Council members allocate to organizations and programs in their districts. Since doing so, we’ve learned a few things.
For one, Council Member Oliver Koppell gave $10,000 to Bissel Gardens, not $50,000.
Second, we omitted four grants given out by Council Member Joel Rivera ($15,000 to the New Bronx Chamber of Commerce; $12,000 to the Lehman Theatre Program; $20,000 to Tanima Productions; and $20,000 to West Bronx Housing) and one given out by Council Member Maria Baez ($10,000 to Love Gospel Assembly).
We regret the errors.
Third, there are additional discretionary grants sponsored by groups of lawmakers that were not included in the list we published, but there’s no way to tell how much each member contributed to those grants from their own pot of money. According to Koppell’s chief of staff, Annie O’Connor, some of those listed may have only sent a letter of support and not contributed anything.
And finally, while we published all the so-called “Schedule C” funds (otherwise known as discretionary grants or member items), Council members use several other sources to support programs in their districts. It’s impossible, however, to find out how much and where that money is going unless the individual Council members give you a list.
After the budget is processed, individual city agencies (such as the Youth and Aging departments) give pools of money to each Council member, who have the power to distribute those funds as they see fit. Then, there’s also capital funds, which can total in the millions of dollars and are also distributed after the budget comes out. They are also not published by the Council for public scrutiny and consumption.
So, in short, listing the discretionary funds for individual Council members is a start, but we still only know a part of how and where our Council Members distribute public funds to the communities they serve.
We will continue to dig and ask questions. It’s your money. You deserve to know how it’s spent.
admin
Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.