From the desk of Betsy Combier: We asked Mr. Miller 4 years ago to do something to help the children in New York City public schools; he did nothing, and his assistant recently told parentadvocates that the disaster of special education and the segregation at Booker T. Washington were all Betsy Combier's fault anyway.

In the articles below find the names of the people who think Mr. Miller's actions are commendable, as do Councilmembers Mr. Koppell and Mr. Liu. We should look at their support carefully.

MAD GIFF TRA$HES GARBAGE TRAITORS
By FRANKIE EDOZIEN, NY POST, June 30, 2005

LINK

City Council Speaker Gifford Miller is exacting his revenge on members who double-crossed him and backed Mayor Bloomberg's garbage plan - slashing funding for their pet projects, legislators charged yesterday.

Councilwoman Madeline Provenzano (D-Bronx) is among those who told The Post she got a call from a Miller aide, bluntly informing her that money for some of her community projects had "been reduced."

"I'm not surprised," she said yesterday, because she was among the 19 members opposing Miller on the garbage issue. "I knew there'd be repercussions."

Council members usually get about $80,000 to fund programs in their communities, although some can receive hundreds of thousands more if they have clout. They also get more than $250,000 in additional allocations for youth and aging programs.

Five members told The Post that they had been informed by Miller's aides that their regular annual allocation will be slashed.

"I've been a consummate colleague and I've upheld the standards of this institution, but I'm not going to compromise my values," said one miffed member who sided against Miller and with Bloomberg.

Another added, "I should have expected it, because at this stage of the game, what else can he do?"

The members have now turned to Bloomberg to cover their expected cuts and been told that the mayor will make up the difference from the share of the budget that he controls.

Miller is steaming because a large group of his Democratic colleagues refused to override Bloomberg's veto of the speaker's trash plan. That handed Miller - who is running for mayor - an embarrassing defeat and gave a big win to Bloomberg.

Miller will release the list of members' funding allocations today, just before the council approves the new $50 million budget.

"How can one get reductions even though the budget is not a meager budget?" a member asked.

Another said, "If you're in the double category of not supporting Gifford [for mayor] and you voted against [his plan on] garbage, then you felt real pain."

Miller aides insist they had to make adjustments to members' funding because there were many new initiatives that had to be funded - not because of retaliation. "I look at all budget decisions through one lens and that is what is in the best interest of all New Yorkers," Miller said.

"They can look at it through the lens that they look at it."

Meanwhile, in another case of Miller's wrath, a clean-air bill championed for years by Councilman David Yassky (D-Brooklyn) was redrafted with new sponsors and will be passed today without a mention of Yassky - who voted against Miller on the garbage plan.

July 1, 2005
Council Speaker Is Accused of Retaliatory Budget Cuts
By MIKE McINTIRE, NY TIMES

LINK

In an unusually open and personal display of anger, a handful of City Council members yesterday accused Speaker Gifford Miller of cutting their budget requests in retaliation for their decision not to support his fight against the mayor's citywide trash plan.

The accusations arose as the Council approved a $50 billion city budget for next year that delivers millions of dollars for community groups, social service providers and cultural institutions in council members' districts. The members had competed for a share of that money in recent weeks, and at a meeting yesterday in City Hall it became apparent that some believed their requests fell victim to political retribution by Mr. Miller, a Democratic candidate for mayor.

The sharpest criticism came from Councilwoman Madeline T. Provenzano, who asserted that a decision had been made to "cut the money of the dissenters because the speaker needs that money for his friends." Saying she resented being told how to vote on the trash plan, Ms. Provenzano, a Democrat whose Bronx district has two landfills, added, "I know more about garbage than Gifford Miller will ever know in his lifetime."

She continued, "If he chose to punish my constituents for my vote, he has a very big problem and he's a very immature person."

Another Bronx Democrat, Councilwoman Maria Baez, said she, too, had been punished, and, directing her remarks at Mr. Miller, added, "While you can take away the money for right now, you cannot take away the self-respect from our districts."

Councilman Tony Avella, a Democrat from Queens, said that what had happened to certain members was "a clear example of a particular vote and the retribution."

The angry words focused attention on the byzantine process of allocating money in the budget each year for the Council's 51 members to use in their districts. It is a process that rarely sees the light of day, and while disagreements over requests are not uncommon, they are mostly kept behind closed doors.

Complicating matters this year was timing: budget negotiations coincided with Mr. Miller's attempt to derail Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's plan to create transfer stations around the city and ship New York's trash away by barge.

Mr. Miller tried but failed to muster enough votes to scuttle parts of that plan.

At a news conference yesterday, Mr. Miller brushed off the charges that he had punished individuals who had not sided with him.

"In every budget, you never make everybody happy," he said. "But this is a budget that reflects the needs and priorities of all New Yorkers, and we looked at how to address those needs through one lens, what is in the best interests of the people of the city of New York."

It was a measure of how important the budget requests are to council members that they saw fit to take the highly unusual step of publicly criticizing him. Some were also clearly emboldened because term limits mean that neither they nor Mr. Miller can seek re-election this fall. Ms. Provenzano, for one, made note of her own lame-duck status during her attack on the speaker.

The accusations prompted other council members to come to Mr. Miller's defense.

Councilman G. Oliver Koppell, a Democrat from the Bronx, forcefully defended Mr. Miller's actions as an appropriate use of discretion, and he accused the critics of shedding "crocodile tears" by not acknowledging that the mayor also wielded a carrot and stick when trying to round up support.

"It is rumored to be true that certain people have gained certain discretion from the administration because of their actions," Mr. Koppell said. "And I don't hear them saying that I, who has displeased the mayor, should get the same discretion from the mayor."

Councilman John C. Liu, a Democrat from Queens, belittled those who complained as "a few crybabies."

"I've ordered a bag of lollipops," Mr. Liu said. "It will be in the members' lounge."

But the critics were intent on being heard. Councilman Simcha Felder rose to Ms. Provenzano's defense, saying, "When somebody's charities or institutions and things that are critical to them get cut because of a vote, that's unconscionable."

"It shouldn't be up to the speaker to decide which nonprofit institutions get the money at all," said Mr. Felder, a Brooklyn Democrat. "It should be up to the members who understand the communities."

Nicholas Confessore contributed reporting for this article.