No ordinary Joe

In quick succession Tuesday morning, the official Twitter account of the city Conflicts of Interest Board posted the stiff punishments of three low-level municipal employees who improperly used government vehicles a single time for personal matters. Then someone at the board wrote a fourth tweet: “so yeah, don’t use a City vehicle for a non-City purpose.”

Message received — but not by Mayor de Blasio and his Correction boss Joe Ponte, who the Department of Investigation found had broken the rules by taking a city car on 28 out-of-state trips last year, spending three months away and driving 18,500 miles, often to his home state of Maine.

While all the small fry were suspended without pay for a week or 10 days, Ponte — who long ago should have been fired for mismanagement amid a surge in jail violence — is getting away with it, only agreeing to repay the out-of-state gas and toll charges. No fine, no suspension.

Since de Blasio won’t punish, the board must. How about a 90-day suspension without pay?

Going to bat for his bad apple, the mayor says Ponte didn’t know or got bad advice. Baloney. DOI found that while some at Correction also abused the privilege, others obeyed the rules.

When Ponte got his car, he also got a copy of the City Vehicle Driver Handbook. It’s crystal clear a car cannot be taken for personal trips. Maybe Ponte should claim that he can’t read.