Darlene Mealy

Brooklyn councilwoman Darlene Mealy's 25G for nonprofit run by sister tabled
Daily News, BY TINA MOORE and GREG B. SMITH, Sunday, May 11th 2008

City Council member Darlene Mealy insists her sister's nonprofit group hasn't received a dime from taxpayers - but it wasn't for lack of trying.

Mealy admits she tried to sponsor $25,000 in Council "discretionary funds" for the Fulton-Atlantic-Ralph-Rochester Community Association (FARR), a Brooklyn block association run by her sister, Louise, out of her apartment.

For some reason - she won't say why - the fiscal 2007 funds weren't paid. A City Hall source said the Council pulled it back. A spokeswoman for Speaker Christine Quinn refused to comment.

One reason could be that FARR has not registered as a charity with the state attorney general.

The agency that would have distributed the money - the city Department of Youth & Community Development - also wasn't talking.

Asked about the proposed payment to FARR, an agency spokesman said he was prevented from speaking because of an ongoing probe of Council funding by the city Department of Investigation.
DOI and the Manhattan U.S. attorney are probing abuses of Council funds sent to nonprofits, including some with family links to Council members.

The Daily News has revealed four other Council members with such ties, including Erik Dilan (D-Brooklyn), Maria del Carmen Arroyo (D-Bronx), Miguel Martinez (D-Manhattan), and Diana Reyna (D-Brooklyn).

Mealy said FARR is a block association she founded before she was elected to represent Bedford-Stuyvesant and East New York in 2006.

After she joined the Council, she says her sister, Louise, took over as president.

"I had the intention of giving money to FARR, including the $25,000 member item from fiscal year 2007, but FARR never received that funding," she said in a written statement.

The group is based at Louise Mealy's apartment on Hancock St. in Bed-Stuy. Mealy said her sister is an unpaid volunteer.

In October, the councilwoman made a point of mentioning FARR on a form all members must fill out if they feel a budget item could pose a conflict of interest for them.

Questioned by The News about why she did this, she responded, "The current president of the block associations, who also volunteers her time, happens to be my sister. I listed FARR on my budget item disclosure form so that the public would be aware of this connection."

In incorporation papers filed with the Department of State, FARR lists Louise Mealy's home address and labels her apartment as a "suite."

There were no signs on Mealy's apartment building in Bedford-Stuyvesant for a community association, and neighbors said they had never heard of the group.

Resident Jean New, 38, said she stayed with her mother in the building and confirmed that the councilwoman's mother lived in the unit that's listed as FARR's headquarters.

"I've never heard of that," she said.

gsmith@nydailynews.com

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REALLY SICKENING VOTE
PRESSURED TERM POL PUKED BEFORE SHE CAST LOT WITH MIKE

New York Post, By SALLY GOLDENBERG and DAVID SEIFMAN, October 25, 2008

Reported political threats against Brooklyn Councilwoman Darlene Mealy before the vote may have contributed to her queasiness.

Darlene Mealy - one of only two City Council members to switch sides in the tense term-limits vote - was under such intense pressure and threats that she vomited twice at City Hall before announcing her decision, sources said yesterday.

Mealy's "yes" vote drew gasps from the audience in the packed council chambers Thursday, since it was the first public signal that the opposition was headed to a slim defeat, 29-22.

Some council members insist Mealy, who was injured in a car crash just hours after the vote, was threatened.

"She was very upset. She kept saying she has to deliver for her district, and she was tired of being on the losing side," said Councilwoman Letitia James (D-Brooklyn), one of the bill's leading adversaries.

Opponents said Mealy was told she would face trouble for trying to sponsor a $25,000 grant for a Brooklyn block association run by her sister in Fiscal Year 2007.

Mealy attempted to allocate her council discretionary funds for her sister's group, the Fulton-Atlantic-Ralph-Rochester Community Association (FARR), but the request was mysteriously pulled.

Jamie McShane, a spokesman for council Speaker Christine Quinn, denied Mealy was threatened in any way.

Proponents of the measure said it was the other side - namely the Working Families Party - that tried to intimidate Mealy by warning they would mount a campaign against her in the next election.

When a Post reporter approached her in City Hall before the vote, Mealy called out for Bill Lipton, of the Working Families Party, and hustled away without addressing questions on term limits.

"Even while we were on the floor, Bill Lipton came over to her and tried to flip her back," said Councilman Lew Fidler (D-Brooklyn), a proponent of the bill.

He said Mealy told him "people she considered to be political allies were threatening her."

A Post reporter saw her leave Thursday's council meeting twice, and one member said she threw up before the vote.

Mealy issued a statement yesterday saying she changed from "no" to "yes" only after "strong deliberation."

Mealy's auto accident occurred Thursday night in Queens. She said in a statement that she was not seriously injured. Sources said she broke her collarbone.

sgoldenberg@nypost.com

Diana Reyna

Just what are Diana Reyna's reasons for supporting the term limits extension? WATCH VIDEO

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Slush pols look after their own

by Robert Gearty, Benjamin Lesser, Kirsten Danis, and Greg B. Smith
The Daily News, April 30, 2008

Council member Diana Reyna of Brooklyn was generous with her in-laws, starting with $75,000 for the Striking Viking Story Pirates, an acting troupe featuring her sister-in-law, Laura Hernandez.

Reyna said her in-law approached her for funding. The money pays for the group to perform plays in three schools in her district.

She insists her sister-in-law gets no compensation from city money, but acknowledges her relative gets paid from birthday parties the group performs.

Reyna also sole-sponsored $6,000 in "discretionary funds" for Los Sures Senior Center, which is run by her mother-in-law, also named Laura Hernandez.

Reyna also sponsored another $25,000 in taxpayer funds to be split by Los Sures and three other nonprofits.

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City pulls lid off pols' pig trough
BY FRANK LOMBARDI
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Saturday, June 16th 2007

For the first time, the City Council squealed yesterday on how its 51 members doled out $36.4 million in so-called "pork" funds.

The Council divulged the sponsors for each of more than 1,500 budget allocations. Previously, only the recipients and how much each got were made public.

The disclosure was made as Council members unanimously approved the city's new $59 billion budget, which kicks in July 1. The spending plan includes a 7% cut in the property-tax rate - part of a package of $1.3 billion in tax cuts.

Budget officials reported yesterday that the record surplus of $4.4 billion has grown by another $638 million since Mayor Bloomberg proposed the new budget April 26. The surplus is being used to help offset future spending gaps.

Each Council member controlled a minimum of $340,000 for member items, totaling at least $17.4 million of the $36.4 million in Council discretionary funds.

"I don't call it pork," said Councilman David Weprin (D-Queens), chairman of the Finance Committee. "I call it funding services provided by community groups."

A big beneficiary was the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, part of the social services and housing empire of Assemblyman Vito Lopez (D-Brooklyn), the Brooklyn Democratic boss.

Last year, Lopez's organizations got at least $572,000, without any sponsors being disclosed.

This time, Lopez-related groups got $609,750. Sponsors included Council members Diana Reyna and Erik Martin Dilan, both Brooklyn Democrats, and Dennis Gallagher (R-Queens), who all represent districts in and around Lopez's turf.