The longtime director of the Ridgewood-Bushwick social-services empire, one of the largest and most powerful such agencies in New York, has been handed her walking papers by the city, The Post has learned.
Sources said that Christiana Fisher, the agency’s CEO and a close ally of powerful Brooklyn Democratic leader Vito Lopez, was recently informed that she had to leave by Jan. 15 to prevent the city from yanking $69 million in contracts from the group.
Fisher’s fate was sealed two months ago when the Department of Investigation issued a blistering report that charged she had “recreated” missing documents to justify a compensation package worth an astonishing $782,000 in fiscal 2009, more than double the $336,000 she received the previous year.
Fisher also approved hefty raises for others, including Angela Battaglia, a Ridgewood executive who is Lopez’s girlfriend and a member of the City Planning Commission. No action was taken against Battaglia, who took in $343,000 in 2009, up from $198,000 in 2008.
The sources said the city is demanding assurances that Fisher won’t be receiving any future government funds, except for salary and benefits she’s already accumulated.
In further actions to tighten controls at the politically powerful agency, Ridgewood-Bushwick will be asked to: institute written timekeeping policies for its executive staff; allow the city to approve appointments of both the new CEO and members of the board of directors; and shift former chief financial officer Wesley Hitner to a non-financial position.
Mike Gilbert, a lawyer for the agency, said yesterday it is negotiating with the city and expects to come to terms shortly, possibly within 24 hours.
The actions come as a direct result of DOI’s findings that Hitner didn’t do anything to stop Fischer from adding hundreds of thousands of dollars to her paycheck, claiming the board of directors had approved retroactive payments dating back years.
But six of eight board members questioned by DOI said they couldn’t recall any discussion of additional compensation. They also said they had no idea how their signatures got on resolutions approving the payouts. The board has since been reconstituted.
Fisher’s time sheets for 2008 and 2009 couldn’t be located to determine if she worked the hours claimed, investigators reported.
Fisher’s departure would be a blow to Lopez. She’s been with him since Ridgewood-Bushwick was formed nearly 40 years ago and now serves as his campaign treasurer.
Lopez no longer has an official role in the nonprofit goliath, which has an annual budget of $120 million and operates a nursing home, housing complexes, senior citizen centers and a home care program. But it continues to serve as his power base.
The city has significant leverage over Ridgewood-Bushwick since it’s been providing services for the last six months without getting paid, pending the outcome of the DOI investigation. Loans from the city have kept the agency afloat through Dec. 31, 2011.
Further contract extensions would require agreement to the city’s terms.
Sources said Ridgewood-Bushwick also stands to lose out on its core business — senior centers — when new contracts are put out to bid in February if it doesn’t resolve the issues raised by DOI.