April 21, 2010 08:51 AM UTC

At Least He's Not Your State Senate Majority Leader

• 3 Comments
• by: Phoenix Rising

( – promoted by Middle of the Road)

New York State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada (D-Bronx) is spending his year riding the roller coaster that is NY state politics.

What has Sen. Espada been up to?  Well, for starters:

• Joining Republicans and the now-expelled State Senator Hiram Monserrate to oust the first Democratic Senate Majority leader in, well, forever “to end the gridlock in state government”.  (A move which ultimately failed, leading to the compromise which put Espada – a freshman Senator – in the leadership role and Democrats back in charge.)
• Hastily moving in to his otherwise empty Bronx apartment after an investigation showed he apparently lived exclusively in a $700,000 out-district mansion in Westchester County.

But wait, that’s not all…

New York Democrats have known for a long while that Espada was dirty, and they’ve been looking for the opportunity to oust him.  But perhaps they didn’t suspect he was as dirty as the picture now being painted.  Two stories out in the past few days signal the probable beginning of the end of the ride for Espada.

First, an IRS investigation asks how closely Espada is tied to an “A-1 Multi-Service LLC” – apparently a front complete with false mailing address.  A-1, says the IRS, appears to be involved with money laundering and tax fraud; Espada is believed to have used the company to avoid paying taxes.

And now State AG (and runaway Gubernatorial favorite) Andrew Cuomo has filed suit against Espada accusing him of “siphoning $14 million from his government-funded clinic in the Bronx for lavish restaurant meals, trips to Las Vegas and his own campaign.”  Yes, that’s right – $14 million in government money to “run” a community health clinic, taking more than 20% of the clinic’s total budget over a period of five years.  The suit seeks to remove Espada and the other board members and to gain restitution on the misspent government funds.  Of course, should Espada leave his post, his contract with the clinic guarantees a $9 million severance package, which the AP reports is sufficient to bankrupt the clinic entirely.

Good thing he’s got a challenger, Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter, a reform activist.