With the Sept. 15 primary almost here, City Councilwoman Maria Baez has punked out of debating the two challengers for her West Bronx seat.

There’re a lotta questions she may not want to answer at the debate, which airs 9 p.m. Monday on Gary Axelbank’s BronxTalk (channel 67), co-sponsored by the Bronx News Network.

Though Maria says she’s had health problems, she has the Council’s worst UNEXCUSED absentee rate, tried to fund a defunct tenants group in her old apartment building, switched positions after receiving developers’ campaign contributions, backed a pro-landlord bill and has residency issues involving the Poconos and Throgs Neck.

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Despite the Big Apple’s fiscal crisis, City Council members went on a spending spree with taxpayer money last year, snatching up expensive furniture, flashy electronics, wedding invitations and a bizarre order of school supplies.

A Post review of the council’s expense reports at Staples and J&R, where city lawmakers have tax-free business accounts, revealed a slew of unusual purchases for the 10 months from July 2008 through May 2009.

In one of the more peculiar purchases, Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo (D-Bronx) spent $1,176 on school supplies, including 162 glue sticks, 95 boxes of crayons, 200 rulers and 10 easels.

She bought the goods from Staples at the start of the school year, but her spokeswoman insisted the supplies were kept in the office to occupy the kids of constituents who visit. None of her 50 council colleagues made similar purchases.

She also spent $186 on junk food, like Twizzlers and muffins, and $105 on Tylenol.

“Any item purchased is to help staff with constituents or to serve constituents directly,” said Arroyo’s spokeswoman, Carmen Aquinas.

Another eye-catching buy was made by Councilman Miguel Martinez (D-Manhattan), who spent $511 on packets of wedding invitations, envelopes and accompanying labels.

His staff insisted the cards were sent as thank-you notes to constituents in his district.

Councilman Vincent Gentile (D-Brooklyn) splurged on a $586 swivel chair. By comparison, several of his colleagues who purchased chairs spent less than $200.

Each member is given $277,000 to spend on salaries and the costs of running an office, including rent, maintenance bills and office supplies.

Councilwoman Maria Baez (D-Bronx) bought three cameras during the year: a $379 camcorder and two digital cameras, for $200 and $187.

Most members who bought cameras at all got only one.

Source: NY Post

The city is struggling through tough times, but you’d never know it from the way the City Council is doling out pork — including $85,000 earmarked for a group Mayor Bloomberg disqualified from getting taxpayer money last year.

The grants to the Davidson Community Center in The Bronx are included in the council’s spending report for fiscal year 2010, released last night and expected to be approved by lawmakers today.

Following the discovery last year of a City Council slush fund that stashed dough for fake groups to later spend on pet projects, a rigorous review process was put in place. As a result, Bloomberg’s office yanked $10,000 slated for the Davidson center earlier this year, citing “poor performance on past contracts.”

But that didn’t stop Councilmembers Maria Baez and Joel Rivera. Both of the Bronx Democrats earmarked a combined $85,000 for the group in the budget, according to the lengthy list of grants.

The money is designated for a commercial revitalization program and educational programming and computers for job training.

Maria Alvarado, a spokeswoman to Council Speaker Christine Quinn, said Davidson is among many groups that are still in the “full review process” and will not receive the money until it “demonstrates that it has improved sufficiently.”

Overall, council spending is going up $300,000, reaching $48.8 million when the new fiscal year begins July 1.

The largesse is split up among the council’s 51 members for pet projects and nonprofits in their districts and more expensive programs they fund with the speaker’s pot of money.

It will be a good year for outdoor festivities, with a total of $132,500 being handed out to a variety of parades, $32,000 going to an organization that shows films outdoors and $10,000 paying for block parties.

Another $10,000 is going to a program to teach disadvantaged kids in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, how to play golf, and $4,000 will pay for helping children learn about fashion modeling to build their self-confidence.

Alvarado pointed out that the entire council spending package is down to $362.3 million this year from $411.3 million last year when citywide programs funded by the council are added.

Source: NY Post