New York Post

Viv’s fund breach

Campaign fined

- By YOAV GONEN City Hall Bureau Chief ygonen@nypost.com

Council Speaker Melissa MarkViveri­to was whacked by the city’s Campaign Finance Board Thursday after her 2013 campaign committee failed to show $3,000 in consulting payments were connected to her reelection efforts.

The board fined her campaign $750 for a payment made to consultant Brendan Kelly on Nov. 16, 2013 — nearly two weeks after the general election that put MarkViveri­to (inset) back into her East Harlem/ Bronx council seat.

At the time, Kelly was a lead strategist on MarkViveri­to’s bid to become council speaker — a race she won in 2014 with Mayor de Blasio’s backing.

Kelly had also been the campaign manager on her successful reelection bid.

“The campaign reported a $3,000 expenditur­e . . . with the purpose code ‘consulting,’ and has failed to demonstrat­e that this was a permissibl­e postelecti­on expenditur­e,” the board wrote in its summary.

While the board didn’t prove that the payment was connected to the speaker’s race, it fined her because campaign funds can’t be used for anything outside of the election itself.

A MarkViveri­to campaign spokesman insisted the payments were aboveboard despite the fine.

“All speakershi­p race expenditur­es after the general election were paid for by Viverito NY, consistent with campaign finance law and CFB guidance,” the spokesman said.

The lefty leader’s campaign for speaker has also been probed for violating city rules by accepting free consulting work from a lobbyist.

The Conflicts of Interest Board probe, which was reported earlier this year, stems from a complaint made over forbidden probono work MarkViveri­to received in late 2013 from The Advance Group.

An official at the Conflicts of Interest Board declined to comment on the status of the case.

The Campaign Finance Board also dinged the speaker’s campaign on a lesser violation of accepting donations from an unregister­ed political action committee.

That $100 fine stemmed from a $50 donation in 2011 from the group Educationa­l Justice PAC.

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