So says Tony Avella, the first City Council member to call for ending the system allowing his colleagues to dole out funds to nonprofit groups of their choosing.

Avella (D-Queens), a maverick and long-shot mayoral candidate, also wants to strip the Council and its speaker of control over annual pots of discretionary budget funds that has led to an indictment of two staffers and ongoing probes.

This year, the 51 Council members individually dispensed varying chunks of $26.4 million that were directed to nonprofit groups of their choice, in addition to an additional $21million controlled by Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

“City government must restore New Yorkers’ faith in the system,” said Avella. “It is time to end the slush fund.”

In a plan he intends to formally announce later this week, Avella stops short of calling for full abolition of the discretionary funding of nonprofit groups – as has been urged editorially by the Daily News and other news organizations.

Saying many such groups provide essential community services, Avella called instead for stripping Council members and the speaker of direct control over funds granted to nonprofit groups.

Grants larger than $50,000 would have to be allocated through the city budget as distinct separate items. The mayor and the Council, as a whole, would have to approve the allocations when they adopt the city budget, Avella said.

Under Avella’s plan, grants under $50,000 would be disbursed by setting up a community funding team in each Council district, consisting of the Council member, a community board representative and a city agency representative.

All groups seeking city funds would first have to pass a city contract screening review called Vendex and sign city contracts.

Some of those features are similar to a much-criticized request for a proposals process originally suggested by Quinn. She pulled it back after many members said it would cede Council powers to the executive branch.

Source: NY Daily News