By LILLIAN ROBERTS
Executive Director
District Council 37, AFSCME, AFL-CIO

FOR EIGHT YEARS District Council 37 has been exposing the vast waste in the city's $10 billion contracting-out budget. We have questioned the relationships between the contractors and the city offi cials who hand the public's money to the private sector, and we have called for investigations.

We did the research that documents this outrageous misuse of public funds for work our members can do with greater cost-efficiency and greater accountability to the public. We published White Papers, and we shared our findings with the City Council, the state Legislature and even the federal government.

In mid-January, the federal prosecutor arrested four crooked contractors on the overdue, over-budget CityTime project for stealing an astounding $80 million. They took millions of dollars in kickbacks from overpaid consultants, and their family members laundered the proceeds through shell corporations and foreign banks.

While DC 37 members worried about layoffs and struggled to make the rent, these thieves enjoyed life in million-dollar homes.

When CityTime ran its costs up 1,000 percent, there was not one word of protest from Mayor Bloomberg, who kept budgeting more of our tax dollars for the project as its original $63 million price tag mushroomed to $780 million. We heard not an angry word from City Hall as the Science Applications International Corp. billed the public three times the salaries of union computer professionals for the same work. Now we can see the administration's attack on the costs of our pensions as a coverup for the disgraceful misspending on CityTime.

The mayor finally admitted that CityTime is a "disaster." But he took no action until September 2010, when Comptroller John Liu forced him to cancel the deal and give the work to city employees effective June 30, 2011.

I want our political leaders, the media and the public to understand that CityTime is not an isolated case. It is just one terrible example of the administration's unregulated contracting out, which is causing severe pain to our members and all city residents.

This colossal drain on city finances - almost one-sixth of the New York City's revenue - causes the constant increases in fees and taxes that plague New Yorkers, the cuts in vital services that hit all of us, and the layoffs that ruin the lives and careers of loyal, hardworking city employees.

Review all contracts

Contracting-out is a giant loophole in public accountability for the public's work that opens the door to the behavior the civil service system was created to end. Consultants and contractors skip the process of exams and background checks that civil service workers go through. Tammany Hall - the last century's symbol of corruption and patronage - has returned in the form of contracting out under the current administration.

The CityTime scandal this allowed should put city government on high alert about all contracting-out. Here's what we have to do:

• Review the rest of the Bloomberg administration's 18,000 outside contracts for possible thievery and waste.
• Freeze all layoffs and new contracts until this review is completed. Why fire people while the mayor squanders the money that could save their jobs and public services?
• Enact tough new procurement rules to prevent future CityTimes.

While I have received a lot of praise for DC 37's persistence in sounding the alarm about contractors and consultants, I want to share the credit with two outstanding public servants and one union leader. City Council Contracts Committee Chair Letitia James held hearings on CityTime a year ago and demanded an investigation. Comptroller John Liu showed independence and strength as he blew the whistle on CityTime. DC 37 Assistant Associate Director Henry Garrido leads the White Paper team that does our research on CityTime and contracting-out.

The members of DC 37 should feel great pride, for once again our union has led the way for all city employees, for the taxpayers and for integrity in government.

As we begin 2011, I want to wish all our members and retirees and their loved ones a New Year of happiness, health and peace.