Open auditions to spend free cash? Looks like New York’s about to find out. Four City Council members have seemingly found an even more irresponsible way to be profligate with taxpayer money.
Brooklyn’s Jumaane Williams and Brad Lander, Manhattan’s Melissa Mark-Viverito and Eric Ulrich of Queens have determined that the traditional, historically corrupt member-item approach of distributing “discretionary funds” isn’t quite reckless enough.
Their solution: Open up a $1 million-per-district trough of free money and solicit spending plans from public “volunteers.”
This bizarre notion has so far found traction only in a single US city — Chicago, where “participatory budgeting” provides cash for such things as community gardens, dog runs and murals.
At least that’s what it says on the appropriations. Chicago being Chicago, who knows where the cash actually goes.
And, the City Council being the City Council, who’s to doubt where this proposed pile of loose change would end up.
Jingling in pockets where it doesn’t belong, that’s where.