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For Immediate Release
Sunday, October 18, 2009
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Contact:
Dick Dadey, (917) 709-2896
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CITIZENS UNION
ENDORSES
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG FOR MAYOR
HISTORIC GOOD GOVERNMENT GROUP
BELIEVES BLOOMBERG IS BEST EQUIPPED TO LEAD NEW YORK CITY
Term Limits Reversal Impacts but Does Not End Citizens Union's Support
for the Mayor
Mayor Discloses That He is Open to Giving CCRB Prosecutorial Power
Makes Final Decisions in November Contests for Staten Island Borough
President and City Council
Chair Peter Sherwin and
Executive Director Dick Dadey
today announce that Citizens Union supports the reelection of Mayor
Michael Bloomberg. In just over two weeks, New Yorkers have an important
decision to make about which candidate is best able to lead the City of New York over the
next four years. We do not make this decision easily given the importance
of the issues that lie ahead and how disappointed Citizens Union was by
Mayor Bloomberg's decision to reverse his position on the issue of term
limits and seek a change to the city charter that overturned the twice
voter-enacted law.
Mayor Bloomberg, however,
has enacted desired political reforms and strongly led the city,
especially during this most recent difficult economic time. The Mayor has
also indicated that he now is open to considering giving the Civilian
Complaint Review Board the power to prosecute its cases. Citizens Union believes, that among those running for mayor,
the most capable candidate to serve as mayor remains Michael Bloomberg.
The organization also endorsed John Luisi for Staten Island borough president and thirteen
candidates for city council.
In 2009, New Yorkers live
in a city that is better run and safer than it was when Mayor Bloomberg
was first elected in 2001 - no small feat given how much crime had
already been reduced by Mayor Giuliani. Under his leadership, financial
support for education has increased dramatically and with it the overall
performance of our school system has improved. Infrastructure investments
like those made in our city parks and a commitment to a greener NYC have
been welcomed and made the city as a whole more livable. Information
about government operations has become more available because of his
commitment to using innovative technology that makes information easily
accessible to the public. Racial discord, though still present, is no
longer as prevalent as it was in the 1990s.
Despite the fact that the
city's expense budget has increased approximately fifty percent since
Fiscal Year 2002 - almost twice the rate of inflation - the city is
weathering the crippling economic crisis because of Mayor Bloomberg's
sound stewardship of the city's finances such as paying down the city's
future debt obligations and prepaying employee health care costs when he
could. While personal financial hardships exist for far too many New
Yorkers, many feel good about the city they live in and that is because
of the way in which the mayor has managed the city, addressed its
problems, and delivered city services.
By banning smoking in
indoor public spaces and foods with trans-fats, he laid the foundation
for New Yorkers to become healthier. He also enacted important political
reforms during the past four years that strengthen lobbying oversight and
improve the city's campaign finance program by restricting pay-to-play
activity and reducing the influence of some, but not all, special
interests.
The interest of good
government is not just about how well democracy is practiced in our city,
but also about how well our government is run and whether it efficiently
and effectively addresses the needs of its citizens. For a good
government group such as Citizens Union, the process of last year's term
limits extension tarnishes the enthusiasm we feel for the notable
achievements that have been realized under Mayor Bloomberg's leadership.
But in the end, term limits was but one of the many issues on which
Citizens Union evaluated the mayor, the comptroller, and other elected
officials and candidates.
Citizens Union
was also disappointed that the Mayor did not fulfill his welcomed pledge
to form a charter revision commission in 2008 to conduct a needed
twenty-year review of the major changes made in 1988 and 1989 to city
government's form and function. If he had, New Yorkers might have had a
chance to weigh in on whether to change the term limits law and other
basic city governance matters. If the Mayor is reelected, we hope that he
will move quickly on this overdue promise. We further recommend that the
commission be comprised of members suggested by other elected officials
and independently staffed. Actions such as these would ensure that our
government meaningfully engages more of its citizens in solving problems
and making New York
a better city.
No review of the Mayor's
record would be complete without noting our concern over the amount of
money he is spending on his reelection. It is surprising that such a
well-known mayor with a strong record finds it necessary to barrage the
public with a large amount of mailings, advertisements and commercials.
His effort, though entirely legal and permissible, is excessive and
arguably undermines the intent of the city's campaign finance program -
which he worked to strengthen - to create equity and fairness among the
candidates who run for office.
Bill Thompson has served
the city well and admirably as city comptroller and president of the
former Board of Education where he put education governance on a path
toward reform. His voice last year was also clear and welcomed in
opposing the extension of term limits through legislation. While Citizens
Union preferred Comptroller Thompson during the Democratic primary
election, he has not sufficiently articulated his priorities, policy
proposals and governance style as strongly or in as much detail as
Citizens Union expects from a mayoral candidate. He has not given us a
clear enough idea of what he would do as the mayor of New York other than not to be
Bloomberg - and for Citizens Union, that is not sufficient for the
challenges our city faces.
New York faces many serious challenges over the next four
years that require strong and decisive leadership. Increases in labor and
pension costs threaten to cripple the city's budget at a time when tax
receipts are declining. Rising incidents of stop-and-frisk searches have
led to record complaints against the police, yet the system of redress
available to New Yorkers under the Civilian Complaint Review Board lacks
public confidence because the police department controls too much of the
disciplinary process. It is why Citizens Union supports giving the CCRB
the power to prosecute the cases it substantiates.
During its evaluation
process, Citizens Union was pleased to learn that the Mayor is open to
considering the recommendation to grant the CCRB the power to prosecute
the cases it substantiates, a position supported by Bill Thompson. We
hope that he moves soon to implement the memorandum of understanding
executed in 2001 under Mayor Giuliani that would transfer prosecutorial
power. It would be an important and welcome step in addressing some of
the concern that rightfully exists over the alarming rise in the number
of stop-and-frisk incidents.
The revitalization of New
York however remains elusive to some communities in the boroughs outside
of Manhattan that have not experienced the same level of vibrancy and
success under the Bloomberg administration as is evidenced in parts of
the city like Manhattan. Affordable housing is still out of reach for far
too many New Yorkers as development needed to grow the city displaces low
and middle-income families from their home neighborhoods and the rate of
homelessness remains unacceptably high. Though our economy is less
reliant on Wall Street than it once was, our city still needs greater
diversity in its industries to become the 21st century city it aims to
be.
Should he win reelection,
Mayor Bloomberg can avoid the pitfalls that often plague third-term
executives by embarking upon on an ambitious effort to further reform
city government operations and structure. In addition to establishing a
charter revision commission that undertakes a thorough review of city
government, he should take steps to increase voter participation and
turnout. In particular, it may even be worthwhile to reconsider the issue
of nonpartisan elections. Campaign finance laws could be further
strengthened by tackling the outsized influence of institutions such as
unions during elections. The Mayor should also work to revamp ethics and
lobbying oversight to make it more effective. Equally important, his
voice could be helpful in advancing state government reform.
With respect to education,
the Mayor must do more to engage parents in the education of their
children and provide them with more opportunities for input.
Additionally, he should expand his efforts to make government data more
available so New Yorkers can independently evaluate city performance.
Critical and far-reaching reform that would end the political party and
partisan management of our elections is also overdue, both at the city
and state level, and though there is little he can do in this arena, his
continued voice is needed.
One of the reasons the
term limits reversal continues to resonate is because it crystallized for
some New Yorkers the disconnect they can experience from city government
when it acts in the public's interest yet fails to meaningfully engage
them before making its decisions. A third term for the Mayor therefore
should be characterized by a renewed commitment to a political reform
agenda that reengineers government to make it even more accessible and
accountable to the citizens it serves.
Based on his strong record
of achievement, his commitment to political reform, and his non-partisan
approach to addressing issues and solving problems, we have confidence
that Mayor Bloomberg will continue to manage the city soundly and lead New York well. And
for these reasons, Citizens Union supports the re-election of Michael
Bloomberg to the office of Mayor of the City of New York.
COUNCIL RACES and STATEN ISLAND BOROUGH PRESIDENT
Citizens Union
today also announced its endorsements for City Council and Staten Island
Borough President. After evaluating thirteen council races for the
general election, the organization continues to support Diana Reyna in
council district 34 during the general election as she faces a
particularly challenging race for reelection because she has proven
herself to be a strong, independent representative for her community. In
council district 23, Citizens Union also endorses Mark Weprin, whom we preferred during the primary
election, because of his long-standing relationship with the community
and work with the organization on reform issues. Also in Queens, Citizens Union endorses Eric Ulrich in
council district 32 as an energetic new member of the council with fresh
perspectives who we hope will be an ally on advancing reform proposals.
The organization also
endorses the election of John Luisi for Staten
Island borough president, and the election of council candidates Daniel
Garodnick and Jessica Lappin in Manhattan,
Kevin Kim, Peter Vallone Jr., and Elizabeth
Crowley in Queens, Vincent Gentile in Brooklyn, and Debi
Rose, James Oddo and Vincent Ignizio in Staten Island.
Additional information
about the candidates is available now at www.citizensunion.org
and our decisions will soon be available in our voters
directory which will be online next week.
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Citizens
Union of the City of New York,
a nonpartisan force for good government for more than 100 years,
works to inform and engage New Yorkers, to ensure local and state
government values its citizens, addresses critical issues, and
operates in a fair, open, and fiscally sound manner.
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