Mayor de Blasio’s trips across the country to promote his progressive agenda — and himself — are being financed through a nonprofit funded by groups with business before the city.
The only event listed on the mayor’s schedule Tuesday was a fund-raiser for that nonprofit, Campaign for One New York, which critics have characterized as a mayoral slush fund that circumvents the city’s strict campaign finance rules.
Last week’s trip to Iowa and Nebraska, where the mayor made two speeches that portrayed income inequality as a national crisis, was paid for largely by the group.
It has raised more than $2 million from unions, individuals and firms with city business, and is operated by Hizzoner’s former campaign firm, BerlinRosen.
Rather than staffers from City Hall, former campaign consultant John Del Cecato of AKPD — the firm behind the popular Dante de Blasio campaign ad in 2013 — accompanied the mayor to the Midwest.
“We’re very disappointed to see the mayor ramping up his unacceptable fund-raising activities,” said Susan Lerner, director of the government watchdog group Common Cause New York.
“If it is a city purpose, it should be billed as a city trip, and not fall on wealthy special-interest groups to pay for it,” she added. “Wealthy special interest groups want something from the mayor and want something from the city: There is no free lunch.”
City officials countered that the mayor was simply being frugal by not spending taxpayer dollars on the trip, and that the city’s ethics board approved the funding mechanism.
“The city could have paid for it, but instead chose not to use city funds,” said City Hall spokesman Phil Walzak.
“The trip was paid for by the institutions hosting the events and the Campaign for One New York — as allowed by and approved by the Conflicts of Interest Board.”
The mayor has said his recent interest in promoting a national, progressive agenda stems from his belief that the city’s challenges with income inequality can only be resolved on a national scale.
Unlike city political campaign funds, the nonprofit — which is registered in New York as a 501(c)(4) — doesn’t have to worry about contribution limits, and only discloses donors twice a year.
That’s allowed groups to give massive amounts to help promote the mayor and his policies — including the United Federation of Teachers, which gave $350,000 to promote universal pre-K during its contract talks with the city early last year.
SEIU Local 1199 donated $250,000 earlier this year, and former Facebook president and billionaire entrepreneur Sean Parker gave $250,000 through the California firm Tektite in July.
A dozen other real estate and other firms, or their principals, that have business before the city have each donated more than $25,000 since de Blasio took office.