« It came from the Blogosphere... | Main | The Tish James tax story, the incumbent's misstep, and the weeklies' avoidance of the bigger picture »
April 4, 2009
Tish, tish — councilwoman owes $10K in back taxes
The Brooklyn Paper
By Mike McLaughlin
The Brooklyn Paper is showing disturbing signs of a changing editorial policy regarding Atlantic Yards. The paper was looking for dirt on Councilwoman and Atlantic Yards opponent Letitia James, and found she owes back taxes.
Councilwoman Letitia James owes the city almost $9,837 in property taxes for her Lafayette Avenue house since April 2008, plus $614 on her water bill — and the lawmaker is blaming the feds!
James, who makes $122,500 as the people’s representative for Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, said she hasn’t paid yet because she’s waiting for her IRS refund check.
“This is not a question of not paying, it’s a question of paying late,” she told The Brooklyn Paper. “We usually pay with our tax refund, which is supposed to come any day now.” ...
“This is a distraction from the real issues within the district,” said the second-term councilwoman, who faces a reelection challenge from two contenders.
James seized the embarrassing moment to take a swipe at one of her opponents, Delia Hunley-Adossa, who is best known as a supporter of the controversial Atlantic Yards project and founded a non-profit that was funded by Forest City Ratner, the developer of the planned Yards project.
“If I started a not-for-profit, I could take money from [Mayor] Bloomberg and Ratner to pay [my property taxes],” she quipped.
NoLandGrab: Let's hope that the Brooklyn Paper sees fit to give careful examination to the financial dealings of all the candidates for the 35th Council District, and then finds some space for coverage of what the candidates stand for -- you know, issues.
Posted by steve at April 4, 2009 6:49 AM