In The Bronx, A Check's Timing Is Questioned

Though a large campaign check might have arrived just days before City Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera's wedding, his aides insist the timing is merely coincidental.

A review of campaign finance records has found that Bronx Community Board #6 District Manager Ivine Galarza was paid a $10,000 consulting fee by the Bronx Democratic County Committee. In addition to serving as district manager, Galarza is also the mother of City Councilman Rivera, who is also the son of Bronx Democratic County Committee Chairman Assemblyman Jose Rivera.

The check was written to Galarza on July 11, 2006, just days before Councilman Rivera's wedding to Valerie Vazquez, the director of communications for the City's Board of Elections. That wedding took place on July 15, 2006. Joel Rivera's wedding to Vazquez took place at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan with a reception at the Puck Building. Both the wedding and the reception combined are reported to have cost up to $100,000. The wedding was so lavish it was featured on the Style Network's popular cable television program "Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?"

Neither Galarza nor Gerald Shieowitz, treasurer of the Bronx Democratic Trustees Committee, could be reached for comment. But Mike Nieves, an aide to both City Councilman Rivera and Assemblyman Rivera, explained that Galarza did legitimate consulting work for the Bronx Democratic Party during the 2006 campaign.

Nieves said that, among other things, Galarza authors Spanish-language jingles used by the Bronx Democrats that are played over speakers on sound trucks during drives through Borough neighborhoods. Additionally, Nieves said that Galarza helped to organize the Bronx Democratic Party's women's luncheon that year and is instrumental in deciding just which street festivals are worth attending, a skill she has picked up during her service as district leader.

"We tapped her natural talents," said Nieves.

Nieves added that Councilman Rivera would be "extremely insulted" at the insinuation that the campaign funding was used to pay for any part of his wedding, since he saved for two-and-a-half years on his own to pay for the extravagant affair.

"To say that this money was used to offset the wedding cost is wrong, especially given that the wedding cost far more," said Nieves, who confirmed that Councilman Rivera's wedding to Vazquez cost around $100,000.

As for the timing of Galarza's check, Nieves said the proximity to the wedding had nothing to do with it.

"It is absolutely, 100 percent pure coincidence," said Nieves, adding that "Joel paid for his own wedding."

Only one other time has the Bronx Democratic Trustees Committee paid out such a large sum to an individual, according to available campaign finance records.