The job of probing the City Council’s slush fund has grown so large that the city’s top watchdog said yesterday she needs more investigators to handle the “crushing” workload.

Investigations Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn told a council budget hearing that she has asked City Hall to let her hire four more investigators and auditors to help in the far-reaching probe that has so far resulted in two federal indictments.

The Department of Investigation is probing the council’s use of fictitious organizations to park $17 million since 2001. The funds were dispensed to community groups after the budget was adopted each year in June.

Hearn said her investigation so far is looking at 42 not-for-profit organizations, including a dozen reported to a city hot line set up after the indictment last month of two council staffers.

Testifying before the Committees on Finance and Oversight and Investigations, Hearn was asked if the probe had put a strain on her department, which has lost 28 percent of its investigators over the last six years.

DOI now has 172 investigators and auditors, down from 242 in January 2002.

“Yes,” she said, explaining that she’s already talked with Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler, who earlier suggested that she request additional investigators.

“I’m going to take him up on that,” she said.

Hearn would not say how many investigators she has assigned to the case.

But she said her staff has been overloaded with the combined task of investigating the use of the council’s discretionary funds and “vetting” new contracts – an extra level of scrutiny that had not been taken in the past.

“I’m happy to do it. It’s good government to do it,” Hearn said.

“But it’s a crushing amount of work, I can tell you, and it’s being done by the same amount of people who are trying to investigate cases at the same time.”

Hearn’s request comes as her agency’s budget is slated to be cut next year from $18.6 million to $17.7 million. Eric Gioia (D-Queens), chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Investigations, said DOI is one agency that should be protected from the budget ax.

“I think she should get as much staff and as many resources that she needs to get the job done,” Gioia said.

“The cost of not funding DOI is to have a government that you don’t have faith in.”

Source: NY Post