De Blasio’s Dark Money Group Cleared, Then Slammed

The city's Campaign Finance Board sent a stern rebuke to Mayor Bill de Blasio over his now defunct political non-profit on Wednesday, but stopped short of formal sanctions.

The CFB cleared de Blasio's Campaign for One New York of violating current law, since in large part its activities wrapped up well before his 2017 re-election year.

“The fundraising conducted by the Campaign for One New York plainly raises serious policy and perception issues and illuminates the ways in which the jurisdiction of the [Campaign Finance] Act is limited,” CFB Chair Rose Gill Hearn read in prepared remarks.

“More than 95 percent of the funds it received would have been prohibited under the laws that apply to candidates for office — including contributions from corporations, limited liability companies, and people doing business with the city.”

The group was a non-profit run by former de Blasio campaign advisers and staff, ostensibly to promote his policy agenda. It initially operated under the name UPKNYC and supported the administration's public push for universal pre-kindergarten, but it later branched out into other issues.

Since it wasn't a campaign committee, it could raise unlimited contributions from real-estate developers, unions and other entities. Such committees are not required to disclose fundraising information, but De Blasio did so for reporters who asked.

The Campaign Finance Board called on the City Council to take legislative action that would more closely regulate the actions of elected officials and non-profit organizations, especially the so-called 5-01(c)(4) organizations like the Campaign for One New York.

Good government groups are also calling on the city to change current law.

"We're pleased the Campaign Finance Board expressed concern about the fundraising around the Campaign for One New York," said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause/NY, who filed the initial complaint about the group's activities with the CFB. She said it was also gratifying for the CFB to go on record supporting legislation that would strictly limit fundraising by organizations tied to elected officials.

Dick Dadey, executive director of the group Citizens Union, said groups like the Campaign for One New York should be treated like candidate committees.

"The should register with the Campaign Finance Board, and disclose their activity, and also disclose their donor contributions and expenditures, much in the way that most candidate committees do now," he said.

Dadey said capping contributions of such groups prevents a pay-to-play culture in government.

Dan Levitan, a spokesman for the mayor's campaign, said they are pleased with the CFB's decision.

“The Campaign for One New York was formed to advocate for New York City’s progressive policy agenda,” said Levitan. “It never engaged in any election campaign activity for any candidate and shut down more than a year and a half before next year’s election.”