City Attorney Memo on Rippey-Tourk Raises More Questions than AnswersPaul Hogarthbyline‚ Apr. 12‚ 2007While many will accept at face value that the $10,000 payments to Ruby Rippey-Tourk were “not illegal,” the City Attorney’s 19-page memo released yesterday raises more questions than answers. Based on the facts presented, the City could be subject to millions of dollars in liability from employees who were denied payments under the Catastrophic Illness Program – while the Mayor’s ex-girlfriend got a large sum for her alcohol abuse. The problem is not that the payments were made retroactively, nor that Rippey-Tourk received them after leaving the Mayor’s Office. The question is why Public Health Director Mitch Katz allowed her substance abuse problem to qualify as a “catastrophic illness” – when all other such applications on the same grounds were denied. Another issue that the report quietly dismissed is whether Rippey-Tourk was working at Benefit Magazine while accruing these payments, which if true would be a clear violation of the Civil Service Code. |