Public confidence in the City Council has dropped sharply as a result of the phantom-funds mess. A Quinnipiac University poll found that 47 percent of 1,790 registered voters questioned April 30 through May 5 approved of the way the council was conducting its job, while 38 percent disapproved. That's a 12-point drop from the council's 50-29 approval rating just two months earlier. And voters, by a 52 to 14 percent margin, didn't believe Council Speaker Christine Quinn's claim she was unaware the practice of storing funds in fictitious accounts continued after she ordered it stopped.

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