Rules bar Blaz from copping favors
Can’t use police to move your kid, say ethics pros
City conflict of interest rules clearly bar Mayor de Blasio and his family from ordering police detectives to help move Chiara de Blasio out of an apartment in Brooklyn, ethics experts told the Daily News.
City law says it is a violation of the city charter “for any public servant to use city letterhead, personnel, equipment, resources, or supplies for any noncity purpose.”
A former high-ranking official with the city Conflicts of Interest Board batted down the excuse de Blasio spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein offered to The New York Times — that the involvement of the officers was “strictly voluntary.”
“Volunteering is completely irrelevant,” said the former board official, who asked for anonymity. “If they volunteered, it can’t be on city time.”
The News reported Sunday that de Blasio ordered members of his security detail to help his daughter with the move, which sources said was carried out under cover of night.
De Blasio has said The News’ story was “unfair” — but he hasn’t denied its details.
Good government advocate Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, called for a probe of the incident.
“It’s something the Conflicts of Interest Board should take up,” said Lerner. “It’s such a simple and straightforward rule that it should not be ignored.”
Lerner and the former COIB official said it’s premature to say for sure the move violated conflict of interest rules because all the facts haven’t been made public — but they agreed that the rules are clear.
“You are prohibited from using your office for private gain, either for yourself, a family member or your business,” the former official said. “You’re also prohibited from using city resources or personnel for any non-city purpose.”
A COIB spokesman declined to comment on whether the agency is probing the matter.
NYPD spokesman Phil Walzak said Thursday the move of Chiara de Blasio’s belongings from her former basement apartment in Sunset Park to Gracie Mansion was investigated by Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller, who determined “that no improper conduct or inappropriate use of department resources occurred.”
Walzak earlier this week suggested to the Times that asking cops to haul Chiara de Blasio’s personal effects was more practical than hiring movers who would have had to undergo a background check before being allowed into Gracie Mansion.
“That doesn’t cure the fact that you can’t use city personnel for a private interest,” the former COIB official said.
The Conflict of Interests Board has punished other officials for asking city workers to perform personal tasks.
Former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik was fined $2,500 in 2002 for asking three city cops to research his mother’s murder for his autobiography. And former city Correction Commissioner William Fraser resigned that same year after being fined $500 for having three corrections officers repair a leaky liner on his home swimming pool.
If Chiara de Blasio asked for a small favor, the rules might not come into play, said City Council member Joe Borelli (R-S.I.).
“If she just asked for help moving a heavy box, I don’t think anyone would care. But it sounds like it may be more,” Borelli said. “COIB has levied fines against hundreds of city employees for using city resources to assist in their personal chores. There must be one standard.”
Sal Albanese, a former City Councilman who ran for mayor in 1997 and 2013, cited the controversy to highlight his belief that mayors should not appoint board members to COIB.
“It should be a more independent entity,” Albanese said. “It really does give the appearance of impropriety.”
Whether the move itself is deemed by COIB improper or not, sources familiar with it are fuming over the fact that it was allowed to take place.
“It’s a joke,” said one former cop. “If we get caught shopping on duty [we get in trouble]. Everything involving him, everything, gets swept under the rug.”