What a sweet deal!
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who is running for re-election this year, spent nearly $6,000 of his campaign cash on chocolates from the fancy Jacques Torres shop in Brooklyn for staff gifts and gift bags, records show.
Markowitz, who has a relatively easy race this year, bought $3,115.78 worth of gift bags from the high-end chocolatier in December, and another $2,875 in staff gifts from the store in December 2007, according to his semi-annual filing released yesterday by the city Campaign Finance Board.
The trendy sweet shop sells a box of 12 chocolates for $18.
“This illustrates yet again the laxity of oversight and guidance the New York law provides for what is and is not an appropriate campaign expense,” said Susan Lerner of Common Cause, a government watchdog group.
She said contributors probably “expect their money” will be spent on campaign expenses, like “communication with voters,” and not sweets.
Markowitz spent $448,877 of the more than $1.4 million he has raised for his re-election bid.
He issued a statement saying the chocolates “were holiday gifts, and not a single penny of public funds was used to purchase them.”