 |
| City Councilman Ruben Wills was indicted by the attorney general’s office in 2014 for pocketing $33,000 in grant money |
If you believe the newspapers, and think that the money that is unaccounted for or in the wrong place due to Councilman Ruben Wills is due to his "carelessness", then I have a bridge to sell you.
And, Mr. Wills gave alot of money to MS 226 Principal Rushell White. What is the full story there?
Betsy Combier
betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, NYC Rubber Room Reporter
Editor, Parentadvocates.org
Editor, New York Court Corruption
Editor, National Public Voice
Editor, The NYC Public Voice
Defense claims Queens Councilman Ruben Wills was not stealing government money — he was just 'careless'
"Carelessness is all this is - carelessness," said attorney Kevin O'Donnell during opening statements in Queens Supreme Court on Wednesday for Councilman Ruben Wills.
Wills was indicted by the attorney general's office in 2014 for pocketing $19,000 in grant money - approved by former state Senator Shirley Huntley in 2008 - from the state's Office of Children Family Services for his non-profit NY 4 Life.
A jury of five women and seven men will determine if Wills schemed to defraud the government, committed grand larceny and falsified business documents to hide the scheme.
Ohio pol suggests EMS stop responding to overdoses to save money
If convicted, Wills faces up to seven years in prison for the top charge.
"No one will say $33,000 of services weren't given for New York 4 Life. Not everyone looks at their accountant's work ... if you can't find receipts that's not a crime, it's not a crime to be careless," said O'Donnell.
NY 4 Life was created in 2006 to provide services for single parent homes in Southeast Queens. O'Donnell argued that Wills didn't receive the grant until 2010 and the organization still conducted breakfasts, luncheons and anti-childhood obesity campaigns.
"They aren't free," said O'Donnell.
Assistant Attorney General Travis Hill said he intends to prove that Wills not only spent the funds at department stores Macy's, Toys 'R Us, Century 21 and Nordstrom, he paid a campaign worker with the grant money.
"Michelle Davis will testify that she was paid by checks from New York 4 Life's bank account. Ruben Wills used checks for New York 4 Life and in the memo wrote it was for data entry for an obesity campaign. Davis will testify she didn't know what New York 4 Life even was," said Hill during opening statements.
Prosecutors called three witnesses from Macy's, Nordstrom's and Home Depot to comb through the receipts allegedly associated with Wills' purchases.
Purchases made at Macy's didn't detail the purchase for $749.51. Wills's Nordstrom bill, meanwhile, was for a men's dress shirt, cufflinks, two women's and boy's shirt.
Wills is also accused of taking $19,000 of the $30,000 in grant money and $11,500 in campaign matching funds during his first City Council race in 2009 for services with Micro Targeting, for translating and distributing campaign literature.
Prosecutors charge that Wills had an associate redirect the funds for Micro Targeting to NY 4 Life.
“Elected office doesn’t give anyone license to break the law, or avoid the consequences. With trust in government falling, it's all the more vital to send a clear message: public corruption will not be tolerated in New York,” said Amy Spitalnick, a spokeswoman for the state Attorney General’s Office.
betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, NYC Rubber Room Reporter
Editor, Parentadvocates.org
Editor, New York Court Corruption
Editor, National Public Voice
Editor, The NYC Public Voice
Defense claims Queens Councilman Ruben Wills was not stealing government money — he was just 'careless'
A city councilman was careless with his bookkeeping - not stealing over $30,000 in taxpayer funds and grant money for two non-profits, according to his defense attorney.
"Carelessness is all this is - carelessness," said attorney Kevin O'Donnell during opening statements in Queens Supreme Court on Wednesday for Councilman Ruben Wills.
Wills was indicted by the attorney general's office in 2014 for pocketing $19,000 in grant money - approved by former state Senator Shirley Huntley in 2008 - from the state's Office of Children Family Services for his non-profit NY 4 Life.
A jury of five women and seven men will determine if Wills schemed to defraud the government, committed grand larceny and falsified business documents to hide the scheme.
Ohio pol suggests EMS stop responding to overdoses to save money
If convicted, Wills faces up to seven years in prison for the top charge.
"No one will say $33,000 of services weren't given for New York 4 Life. Not everyone looks at their accountant's work ... if you can't find receipts that's not a crime, it's not a crime to be careless," said O'Donnell.
NY 4 Life was created in 2006 to provide services for single parent homes in Southeast Queens. O'Donnell argued that Wills didn't receive the grant until 2010 and the organization still conducted breakfasts, luncheons and anti-childhood obesity campaigns.
"They aren't free," said O'Donnell.
Assistant Attorney General Travis Hill said he intends to prove that Wills not only spent the funds at department stores Macy's, Toys 'R Us, Century 21 and Nordstrom, he paid a campaign worker with the grant money.
"Michelle Davis will testify that she was paid by checks from New York 4 Life's bank account. Ruben Wills used checks for New York 4 Life and in the memo wrote it was for data entry for an obesity campaign. Davis will testify she didn't know what New York 4 Life even was," said Hill during opening statements.
Prosecutors called three witnesses from Macy's, Nordstrom's and Home Depot to comb through the receipts allegedly associated with Wills' purchases.
Purchases made at Macy's didn't detail the purchase for $749.51. Wills's Nordstrom bill, meanwhile, was for a men's dress shirt, cufflinks, two women's and boy's shirt.
Wills is also accused of taking $19,000 of the $30,000 in grant money and $11,500 in campaign matching funds during his first City Council race in 2009 for services with Micro Targeting, for translating and distributing campaign literature.
Prosecutors charge that Wills had an associate redirect the funds for Micro Targeting to NY 4 Life.
“Elected office doesn’t give anyone license to break the law, or avoid the consequences. With trust in government falling, it's all the more vital to send a clear message: public corruption will not be tolerated in New York,” said Amy Spitalnick, a spokeswoman for the state Attorney General’s Office.
MS 226 Principal Rushell White Key Words: Checks From Ruben Wills
Under the business model for education, Rushell White, Principal of MS 226, can take all the money she wants from Ruben Wills, and do whatever she wants with it.
There is no Board of Directors to oversee what happens right, or wrong. That is the mistake that has changed the face of education in America, and certainly New York City.
Principals have too much unchecked power. The Principal's Union, CSA, defends the rights of their members to have total power over their school.
When I reported the $225,000 missing grant money at PS 6 (Carmen Farina was Principal) from the Annenberg Challenge For the Arts, to Annenberg in or about 2001, their final conclusion after all the grants had been assessed, was that the money should not have been given to principals without safeguards for its' use. Without safeguards in place, too many principals did not use the money correctly, as the grant required.
That's the problem. Principals have unilateral power. And, without the necessary safeguards for using money within the school, the possibility that nefarious actions may occur is unsurprisingly high.
In 2004, I published the letters from the UFT on the Special Education Mess, with children not getting the services they needed. Special education remains a mess, and I keep publishing the missing services and money on my blogs and website Parentadvocates.org. I still represent children and their parents at Impartial Hearings. No one at the DOE is fixing anything, and special education teachers are getting hit with 3020-a. Alot of them.
In 2004, I published the letters from the UFT on the Special Education Mess, with children not getting the services they needed. Special education remains a mess, and I keep publishing the missing services and money on my blogs and website Parentadvocates.org. I still represent children and their parents at Impartial Hearings. No one at the DOE is fixing anything, and special education teachers are getting hit with 3020-a. Alot of them.
 |
| Ruben Wills and Rushell White |
The job of a principal in New York City is to be a CEO, a Chief Executive Officer. Unfortunately, there is no Board of Directors to oversee what happens right, or wrong. That is the mistake that has changed the face of education in America, and certainly New York City.
Principals have too much unchecked power. The Principal's Union, CSA, defends the rights of their members to have total power over their school.
When I reported the $225,000 missing grant money at PS 6 (Carmen Farina was Principal) from the Annenberg Challenge For the Arts, to Annenberg in or about 2001, their final conclusion after all the grants had been assessed, was that the money should not have been given to principals without safeguards for its' use. Without safeguards in place, too many principals did not use the money correctly, as the grant required.
That's the problem. Principals have unilateral power. And, without the necessary safeguards for using money within the school, the possibility that nefarious actions may occur is unsurprisingly high.
In 2004, I published the letters from the UFT on the Special Education Mess, with children not getting the services they needed. Special education remains a mess, and I keep publishing the missing services and money on my blogs and website Parentadvocates.org. I still represent children and their parents at Impartial Hearings. No one at the DOE is fixing anything, and special education teachers are getting hit with 3020-a. Alot of them.
See NYC UFT Gives an Overview of the 'Special Education Mess'
In 2004, I published the letters from the UFT on the Special Education Mess, with children not getting the services they needed. Special education remains a mess, and I keep publishing the missing services and money on my blogs and website Parentadvocates.org. I still represent children and their parents at Impartial Hearings. No one at the DOE is fixing anything, and special education teachers are getting hit with 3020-a. Alot of them.
See NYC UFT Gives an Overview of the 'Special Education Mess'
The Checks
A picture is worth a thousand words.
When you enter MS 226, you quickly see huge pictures of checks on the wall. The checks - the representations of checks - are from District #28 City Council Member Ruben Wills, to MS 226 (the school is in District 27). The checks add up to $500,000, but the real amount given last year was more than $1 million.
No comments:
Post a Comment