Kennedy Was Spared Financial Disclosure as a Top Aide at City Schools

[wyldwolf]

Once again, I don't have a horse in this race....

----


Like it or not, roughly 7,000 employees of New York City file 32-page disclosure forms each year divulging personal information about their family finances in an effort to bolster confidence in open government.

But when Caroline Kennedy was employed by the city Department of Education from 2002 to 2004, as the chief executive of the Office of Strategic Partnerships, she was not required to file, even though two people who worked for her had to disclose information about their finances.

City officials have offered a variety of explanations over the last few weeks why Ms. Kennedy did not have to meet this filing requirement despite her title and the responsibilities she has cited in her efforts to convince the public that she has the experience to take Hillary Rodham Clinton’s seat in the Senate.

City officials have most often pointed to Ms. Kennedy’s decision to accept $1-a-year in salary. More recently, Joel I. Klein, chancellor of New York’s schools, explained that she was ultimately exempt from the requirement because the department did not deem her to be a “policymaker.”

On Friday, Ms. Kennedy’s spokesman, Stefan Friedman, declined to comment on the issue.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a billionaire who takes $1 a year from the city, is required to file disclosure forms each year. At least three of his appointees who have worked for nothing over the years have also filed — a sometimes awkward process, but one intended to serve as a conflict-of-interest safeguard for city officials and the public.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/nyregion/04disclose.html

[Thrill]

1. She said she would disclose after she is appointed. Whats wrong with that?

Shes really really Rich. We all know that. Why do we need to know it before she is appointed?

[Blarch]

3. LOL.

You forgot the sarcasm tag.

We need information in order to know who to support. It's called being an informed cititzen.

If she has nothing to hide, why is she hiding everything ?

[GarbagemanLB]

5. I'm sure you would have been alright with the Clintons disclosing Bill's library's donor list AFTER

she was appointed, right?

[paulk]

7. are you serious?

the whole purpose of financial disclosure is to bring to light any possible conflicts of interest someone serving the public might privately have.

It's a key part of the process...

[Egalitariat]

2. You mean they have different rules for a Kennedy?

I'll pretend I didn't know that as I read the article.

[Smarmie Doofus]

4. Who appoints the "conflicts of interest board"?

>>>> Though the Education Department is supposed to follow the same rules as every other arm of city government, it has issued its own regulations over the years as to who must file. The conflicts-of-interest board has not protested the department’s decisions regarding the Office of Strategic Partnerships, which Ms. Kennedy headed.

Last week, the board again referred all questions about the matter to the Education Department.>>>>


I think it's Bloomberg. Note the bureaucratic doubletalk.

[GarbagemanLB]

6. More special treatment for Caroline. What a surprise.

[Colobo]

8. I started supporting her, but the more I read about her the less I like her.