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February 26, 2007
Putting Limits On Pay To Play
Gotham Gazette
By Mike Muller and Joshua Brustein
Whether it's "outright bribery" or "subtle persuasion," "New York's public officials have long accepted money from those with whom their agencies do business, and such donations are often perfectly legal. But quid pro quos... are getting increased attention from public officials."
Caring Bruce is very creative; he turned over the job of payouts to the Brooklyn machine pols to his older brother, Michael:
"When you do business with the city, you get solicited by everyone from U.S. senators down to members of the City Council," said Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner in former Public Advocate Mark Green's 2004 book on campaign finance, Selling Out. Reflecting on his past contributions and fund-raising efforts, Ratner added, "I didn't want to be a person on the outs, nor could my business afford to be a person on the outs given how much business we do with government."
Despite his qualms, Ratner still plays the game. As the Atlantic Yards Report, a blog opposed to his plan for downtown Brooklyn, writes, Ratner no longer makes campaign contributions – directly. But his brother and sister-in-law both contribute large amounts to public officials who may have sway over development projects he hopes to pursue.
NoLandGrab: Norman Oder will tell you until he's blue in the face, or you cry uncle, that just because he's a critic of many aspects of Bruce Ratner's plan and the lack of media coverage, that doesn't mean he's opposed to it.
Posted by lumi at February 26, 2007 8:08 AM