Print

Segarra Threatens to Subpoena Budget Info

By Jeffrey B. Cohen

July 22, 2009

The budget process is long over, but Councilman Pedro Segarra still says he isn't getting the information and cooperation he needs to oversee the city's finances.

In a letter Monday to Mayor Eddie A. Perez and the city council, Segarra says he has held two meetings of the budget committee he chairs to discuss the city's third-quarter report -- and in neither case did the necessary department heads show up.

After calling the city's financial situation "dreadful" and telling the mayor that his "administration has been either unable or reluctant to provide this committee with an accurate update on the financial status of its budget," Segarra threatens that the council will "use all its power, including the power of subpoena," to get the information and cooperation it needs.

Sarah Barr, Perez's spokeswoman, said the mayor is working on a response. We'll post it when we get it. In the meantime, click on the link in the "Related Links" box to see Segarra's letter.