Assemblyman Vito Lopez and RBSCC chief Christiana Fisher fight off concurrent investigations. — Photo by Aaron Short

Aaron Short fields questions actual and hypothetical for those still trying to wrap their heads around the latest political scandal set in Bushwick, and makes a few predictions, but nobody’s sure how it will end.

Assemblyman Vito Lopez is set to begin an aggressive regimen of cancer treatments Thursday so it’s a good bet that the media scrum surrounding the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council (RBSCC) and its concurrent investigations may tamp down a bit.

Then again, the Vitoland story has been wildly unpredictable as the dailies are competing for scoops and three of the four most powerful men in New York politics (Cuomo, Paterson, and Bloomberg) have been dragged into the narrative against their wishes.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

In the meantime, let’s put together ten questions to sort through the media hype and better understand the story.  

Q. Reports in some papers say that RBSCC has $100 million in public funds. That doesn’t sound right. Where are they getting that number?

A. Beats the hell out of me. The Post has reported that the state has halted $25 million in new and existing contracts and the city has halted $12 million of its own new contracts to the nonprofit last week. This is for everything from meals programs to housing assistance, adult education and youth services. A representative of Governor Paterson’s office confirmed 331 open contracts with a total value of $82 million, of which $55 million remain undisbursed.

In its tax filings, RBSCC reported $21.2 million in total revenue in 2009, compared with $16 million the previous year. Over the past five years, the nonprofit has reported its total support at $77.7 million and it lists $105 million in assets. Also, inexplicably, in these tax filings BushwickBK is listed as RBSCC’s website.

For the past year, total expenses were $17.8 million, of which $11.8 million were for salaries. The nonprofit reported $9.8 million in net assets for the end of the year, last year. Its numbers for this year have not been reported.

But the important figure is really how much money RBSCC carries over year after year — not total contracts or assets — which it can dip into as an emergency fund to pay employees in case something happens. Like, say, having its existing contracts halted indefinitely.

Q. Wait a minute, did the city and state freeze RBSCC’s contracts? Will they be able to meet payroll?

A. The short answer is yes they will meet payroll, and no the contracts aren’t frozen. But they’re not exactly liquid. Think of it like a granita.

According to a mayoral spokeswoman, all new city contracts to the nonprofit are on hold pending the state attorney general’s review of a new audit. Andrew Cuomo, the current AG, said on Sunday that the audit was still being reviewed.

Governor Paterson went further than the Mayor, calling for all contracts to be held, new and current, but said on Tuesday that he was open to releasing funding for current contracts to ensure services continue.

RBSCC executives believe that this will happen soon, though it hasn’t just yet. 

Q. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, a candidate for governor, is investigating Vito Lopez? Doesn’t he need Vito’s support to shore up Democratic votes in Brooklyn? Doesn’t this put him in an awkward position?

A. I’d say so from the looks of these photos of Cuomo’s poorly planned campaign spin through South Williamsburg on Sunday. But then again, there’s some video where Cuomo is heard saying, “The assemblyman is my good friend. We do good work together.”

The point is Cuomo knows the media is aggressively covering the Lopez story. It has already been raised in the attorney general’s race where Dan Donovan has accused Eric Schneiderman of being too close to Lopez. If it looks like Cuomo is closely aligned with Lopez he could risk losing voters in other parts of the city. But he probably could use a high turnout of Democratic voters in Brooklyn if the race with Carl Paladino becomes closer.

Q. So what are the five best articles written by someone other than you that best encapsulate the Lopez story to date?

A. Glad you asked! The best articles have provided readers who don’t follow politics in New York with a lot of context about why the story is important while telling those who do pay attention something they don’t already know.

*Start with Joseph Goldstein’s New York Post report on the salary increases for RBSCC’s top two executives, Christiana Fisher and Angela Battaglia, and their ties to Lopez.

*Then pick up Erin Durkin’s startling interview in the Daily News with Carmen Orlando, a retired senior and reluctant RBSCC board member.

*Goldstein has another big story with the release of a five-year-old recording of Lopez trying to intimidate several elderly Latina leaders in Williamsburg into supporting his candidate.

*The New York Times broke that Lopez and RBSCC are the subject of two federal investigations but the Village Voice‘s Tom Robbins provides some context to show that this didn’t happen overnight.

*Finally, Sarah Ryley is pounding the pavement at the Post, digging up a story about questionable renovations at an RBSCC housing project, but it is the El Regreso story that will linger: recovering drug addicts politicking for Vito on Primary Day and earning money, in exchange for member items and “janitorial services” payments. Classic NY Post story.   

Q. BushwickBK commenter Andy J. Marte says there is a disparity between my coverage of Lopez and Council member Diana Reyna: "As for the allegations that Short is somehow in Velazquez’ or Reyna’s pocket, it is a valid accusation. I do not allege that Short is being paid off but it is fair to say that Short does report more negatively about Vito Lopez and more positively (or at least more neutral) about Velazquez and Reyna."

A. I write about Vito Lopez because he is the state legislator in the neighborhood that I cover and he’s usually got a lot of things on — such as being the subject of two federal investigations for example.

Q. But really, why all the Vito coverage now? Hasn’t this stuff been going on for decades?

A. Crain’s New York posed the same question a week ago. Yes, much of what is coming out in the papers is old news (exhibit A: Vito sleeps in Queens with his girlfriend) but what is different this time is the intensity between the News and the Post, and the widening scope of the stories. The coverage is not just about Vito the man, it’s about RBSCC, its executives, board members, Lopez’s staff, friends of Lopez, and so on. And both Paterson and Bloomberg have temporarily halted RBSCC’s contracts, which rarely happens to a nonprofit of this size. Yet I’ve heard from a number of longtime Bushwick residents and leaders who believe this will all blow over and Vito will be fine. 

Q. If it does blow over, what will change at RBSCC?

A. The organization’s executives have promised to follow the city’s corrective action plan, which includes hiring a nonprofit compliance attorney, submitting an audit, adding three new board members, and improving internal controls to prevent fraudulent activity, perpetrated by two RBSCC-managed community-center employees, from occurring again.

I would also expect the existing board to come under increased scrutiny, and it may be put into receivership, following the attorney general’s audit.  Even if it doesn’t, the nonprofit would be wise to take steps to wean itself off the government trough, which it has been so steadily dependent on for decades. Launching a development office focused on submitting grants to private foundations is a start. Supporting affordable housing with more market-rate commercial space could help, too.

Also, I don’t think we’ve heard the last of the issue of RBSCC executives’ massive salaries; Fisher and Battaglia may be forced to submit W2s to an oversight agency (or an investigator) to determine how additional compensation was spent.

Q. What if it doesn’t blow over?

A. It’s too early to tell what can happen, which depends on a number of things including who wins statewide office on Election Day. Attorney general candidate Dan Donovan is gunning for Lopez, and his opponent, Eric Schneiderman, is not exactly Lopez-friendly, so even if Cuomo doesn’t do much with the audit, the new attorney general could take up the investigation again.

Sources within the city also assert that the Department of Investigation probe is still continuing though it is unclear what its focus is at this time.

It’s also unclear whether other public officials will continue to earmark as many member items to RBSCC as in the past as the media’s scrutiny has intensified. For five years, the organization’s government contributions have increased substantially. Will this be the first year RBSCC shrinks?

Finally, two federal probes, managed by Eastern District and Southern District attorneys in coordination with the FBI continue to investigate the connections between for-profit developers, RBSCC, and Lopez. This could become the most important part of the story going forward.

Q. What exactly are the feds looking for anyway?

A. Sorry, they’re declining to comment.

Q. Is Vito Lopez bad for Bushwick?

A. Matt Chaban at the New York Observer argues that he is. I’m going to disagree. Lopez’s legacy is the introduction of over one thousand of units of below-market-rate housing and a bevy of senior and youth services to an unserved neighborhood starting in the 1970s. Yes, Lopez was able to rise to — and maintain — his political power because of it, but that does not mean the organization he founded has and does not help people. The real contributions of RBSCC to improving the quality of life of Bushwick residents over the past 30 years shouldn’t get lost in the media coverage — and it’s a shame that it has.