A top aide to embattled Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams tried to hawk the services of her private consulting firm during a recent meet-and-greet with business and community leaders — while in the same breath championing her boss’s embarrassing fundraising efforts for a nonprofit that doesn’t exist, sources said Wednesday.
Valerie Oliver-Durrah, an ordained minister and the new borough president’s senior adviser for strategic alliances, used the meeting at Borough Hall last Thursday to boast about services provided by her Brooklyn-based Neighborhood Technical Assistance Clinic, which specializes in soliciting funds for grassroots groups and other nonprofits, according to honchos who attended the session.
“She told people how they could use her services,” said one business leader. “It’s a blatant violation of the city Charter and conflict of interest laws. Valerie used her government position for her own benefit.”
Oliver-Durrah, 64, did not return messages, but said through a spokesman at Borough Hall that she denies the allegations.
The news that Oliver-Durrah could be walking a slippery slope with city ethics laws comes as sources told The Post that Adams and his office are under investigation by the city’s Department of Investigation for possible ethics lapses.
As The Post first reported, Adams, a former state senator and retired NYPD cop who took the borough’s reins in January, had Oliver-Durrah and other staffers distribute “Partner/Sponsor” application forms at last week’s meet-and-greet claiming money raised would go to his “affiliated nonprofit,” called One Brooklyn, to fund various cultural events throughout the year. But he has not yet filed papers with the state to create the nonprofit.
Although Adams was there, Oliver-Durrah “ran the meeting and did the pitches seeking money” for One Brooklyn while also talking up her company, said a source.
The activity leaves Adams, Oliver-Durrah and other Borough Hall staffers open to potential fines by the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board for hitting people up for money in a government building without the board’s OK.
After previously blaming the nonexistent-nonprofit donnybrook on “administrative errors” of a new regime, Adams declined to discuss the matter further on Wednesday or whether he plans to point blame at Oliver-Durrah or other staffers.
Instead, his spokesman Stefan Ringel said in a statement, “At this time, Borough Hall is focusing back on serving the over two-and-a-half million Brooklynites it proudly represents. It is not our policy to discuss internal staffing matters.”