A man who donated significantly to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was given a seat on an influential coronavirus response board a week before his company received a massive no-bid contract from the city for masks and ventilators.
Charlie Tebele, CEO of Digital Gadgets, was appointed to the board of the New York City Economic Development Corporation a week before his company was selected to receive nearly $119 million in no-bid contracts for masks and ventilators, according to the City News.
.@NYCMayor appointed one of his donors to the board of the NYC Economic Development Corp. in March — a week before the city awarded their company nearly $119 million in no-bid emergency COVID contracts. https://t.co/FsHzQb6R8z
— Gabriel L. Sandoval (@gluissandoval) August 20, 2020
The City reported that Tebele’s firm secured the three emergency contracts in late March to sell masks and ventilators to the city at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The largest of those contracts, totaling $91 million, was later canceled, but not before $9.1 million was advanced to Digital Gadgets.
The New Jersey-based company had never sold goods to New York City before, and the emergency contracts bypassed standard contract reviews that companies typically go through thanks to an executive order from de Blasio.
The company also received between $150,000 and $350,000 in federal aid from the Paycheck Protection Program.
The company currently has an F rating from the Better Business Bureau as a result of its failure to respond to customer complaints, the City reported.
Tebele and his family contributed at least $32,000 to de Blasio’s presidential campaign.
“Charles operates a tech-focused company that conducts business locally and internationally, and his guidance in those areas is relevant to EDC’s work,” de Blasio’s press secretary Bill Neidhardt said in a statement.
The news comes as de Blasio faces criticism for $2 million in taxpayer funding directed to the 14-person team of his wife, Chirlane McCray, that works on initiatives such as the mental health program ThriveNYC.
“This work is about the needs of the people of this city, especially in this crisis,” de Blasio told reporters about the funding.
