Bill Thompson

Despite the recent acquittal of the three police officers on trial for the death of Sean Bell, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly still leads the pack of potential mayoral contenders, according to a new Quinnipiac poll.

That seems in part due to his name recognition and in part because most voters probably aren't thinking about a race that's still a year and a half away. Considering also that most candidates haven't even declared, the significance of the results are limited.  read more »

Technically, Michael Bloomberg’s $59.1 billion budget increases spending -- albeit by one tenth of one percent -- but the loudest critcism it's facing so far is from officials and interest groups that want him to spend more.  read more »

There’s a new system for vetting member items this year, according to an agreement between City Comptroller Bill Thompson and Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler [clarified].

In a letter dated today, Thompson's says that going forward from now on, he will examine all member items worth at least $5,000 (previously it had to be worth $25,000). The mayor's office of contracts will review member items under $5,000.  read more »

In a bit of interesting timing, Christine Quinn is having a fund-raiser on April 24 in Manhattan at the home of David Durst, a Hillary Clinton contributor.

Quinn, a likely mayoral candidate who shaped her public image as a reformer, has spent the last couple of weeks responding to a budgeting scandal at the City Council.

One of her likely mayoral rivals, Bill Thompson, has been critical of the Council, and by extension, Quinn. The other likely participant in the race, Anthony Weiner, has stayed notably quiet on the matter.

Here's the invitation, which was forwarded to me by a reader who received it yesterday afternoon:  read more »

Likely mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner released a summary of his tax returns just now. From his spokesman:

Weiner earned $152,996 of income in the year 2007. He made payments of $13,900 in New York City/State taxes and $24,300 in Federal taxes.

Longshot (but announced!) mayoral candidate Tony Avella already released his, while Bill Thompson and Christine Quinn have not.  read more »

Martin McGuinness, the onetime IRA commander who is now the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, expressed his love for New York during his visit yesterday, shortly after a press conference at which city comptroller Bill Thompson announced a $150 million investment in the region's infrastructure.

McGuinness pronounced New York "one of the greatest cities on earth,” and said, “It is one of the most vibrant places you could ever hope to be. It is absolutely incredible to walk down any of the avenues, see the cosmopolitan nature of it and see everybody getting on well together."  read more »

Dan Squadron is trying to unseat fellow Democrat Marty Connor for state Senate, in the district that represents lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.

But more interesting than the people on the ballot are how Demoratic power brokers are lining up in that fight. Schumer is supporting Squardon, his former aide, against Connor, who didn’t support Schumer in his 1998 primary for Senate.

But as the invitation for Connor’s May 8th fund-raiser at the Ritz Carlton shows, he's got a good chunk of the rest of the party establishment.  read more »

Bill Thompson said not getting an invitation to Christine Quinn's press conference today about seniors had nothing to do with his decision to release a letter today about auditing the City Council's finances. Technically speaking, the event was organized by the city's Department for the Aging and Quinn was just an attendee [added].

(Sally Goldenberg has the story here.)

It's starting to feel like the 2009 mayoral season is underway.

Christine Quinn will announce shortly that she has reached a deal with the Bloomberg administration on a plan to restructure the Department for the Aging.

Michael Bloomberg's plan to overhaul the system of city senior centers, partly by closing many of them, and discontinuing a hot meals-on-wheels program has drawn criticism from advocates for the elderly.  read more »

City Comptroller Bill Thompson announced just now that he is gong to audit all member items from the City Council. This comes in the wake of the secret slush fund that was recently discovered to have been used by Speaker Christine Quinn to mask expenditures.

The letter, dated today, says:

As a consequence of this distortion of the City’s budgetary process, I am taking a number of actions.  First, my office will require all agency agreements that are funded by City Council discretionary monies, regardless of amount, be reviewed by the Comptroller’s office before any funds can be disbursed. Second, my office will direct the City’s auditors, Deloitte and Touche, to independently audit the Council’s discretionary fund budget process upon the conclusion of the ongoing investigations by outside entities.

Quinn is having a press conference on East 12th street about an agreement she reached with the mayor’s administration about senior services, but will probably face more questions about the Council’s finances and this audit.

Here is Thompson’s whole letter:  read more »

Here's a shot from a congestion pricing forum in Brooklyn last night, where Anthony Weiner made an unannounced appearance, alongside likely mayoral rival, and fellow critic, Tony Avella (far right). In the middle, that's Steve Harrison, another critic of the plan and current candidate for congress.  read more »

So, how will today’s revelation affect Christine Quinn's political future?

Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf said, “We’re required to give Speaker Quinn the benefit of the doubt, especially since she announced today she was the person who alerted law enforcement to the problem.”

“We don’t know the impact because we don’t know what will occur here," added Sheinkopf, who has worked for likely mayoral candidate Bill Thompson. "The good news is, from a P.R. and political perspective, she got in front of the story. The bad news is that she’s in the story. And only time will tell if she remains in the story.”  read more »

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Here’s video of Christine Quinn explaining how the $4.7 million her aides diverted to fake organizations was spent on “mid-year budget needs.”

She goes on to say that the practice of “holding” money "in reserve" is done by “numerous city agencies.”

Citizens Union, a group that promotes government openness and transparency, is urging state lawmakers to pass congestion pricing.  read more »

City comptroller Bill Thompson, who is also a possible mayoral candidate, just released a letter to Governor David Paterson that urges state lawmakers to pass congestion pricing by the April 7 deadline.

There are, however, a few amendments he would like to see.

Thompson wants to eliminate the discount that drivers would receive if they pay the tolls prior to entering the congestion pricing district. As the letter puts it, that change “ensures that all drivers will contribute equally.”
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Council member Tony Avella, a congestion pricing opponent and, as of Sunday, longshot mayoral candidate, was on WNYC this morning discussing his theory of how the measure passed the City Council.

With characteristic outspokenness, Avella told Brian Lehrer, “We did have the votes [to block it], until the mayor and the speaker started leaning on people, or shall we saying influencing? Or bribing people, depending on how you want to look at it.” When Lehrer asked how he saw it, Avella replied, “I look at it as bribing people.”

Avella has identified the three main issues of his mayoral campaign as taxes, overdevelopment and education, but his real niche, such as it is, will be as a foil for the better-financed -- and more typically disciplined -- competitors like Christine Quinn, who’s expected to announce eventually.

During the radio interview this morning, Avella insisted on answering questions about congestion pricing from his office phone and then switching to his cell phone to talk about his campaign, to avoid using government property while stumping. It's the sort of off-beat behavior that might not get him elected, but should, at least, serve to distinguish him from his competitors.  read more »

Here’s a shot from the breakfast hosted Sunday morning by the Council of Orthodox Jewish Organizations on the West Side, which, as Grace Rauh noted, attracted nearly every 2009 candidate for citywide office.  read more »

Has anyone else noticed that Anthony seems a lot more, well, serious lately?

Perhaps fittingly for a maybe-front-runner for mayor, he seems to have toned down the old act, purposefully passing up opportunities to crack wise at the expense of his opponents.

For example: I asked Weiner to comment on Michael Bloomberg’s $500,000 donation to Republicans in Albany—a solid opening for the old Anthony Weiner, especially given the fact that his two likely mayoral opponents, Christine Quinn and Bill Thompson, were so recessive in their on-the-record reactions.  read more »

This Sunday, likely mayoral candidates Bill Thompson and Anthony Weiner are among those expected to deliver remarks at a breakfast organized by the West Side Community of Orthodox Jewish Organizations.

Notably absent from the invitation is Christine Quinn, another likely mayoral candidate who does, after all, represent parts of the West Side.

The March 30 event is taking place at the New York Historical Society, and will also include remarks from Representative Jerry Nadler and a tribute to Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.  read more »

Here’s a copy of an invitation to an April 2 fund-raiser geared towards young professionals for likely 2009 mayoral candidate Bill Thompson. The invite was sent to me by a reader, but it's also available on Thompson's campaign website.

Among the event organizers are Luther Smith, the Democratic consultant recently hired by Governor Paterson; Kevin Wardally, who worked with Luther Smith at Bill Lynch Associates, and Matthew Silverstein, a candidate for president of the N.Y.S. Young Democrats.

Here's Tony Avella's first (probably not last) mayoral video.  read more »

It’s a pretty crowded room upstairs in the City Council chambers, where testimony about congestion pricing is being given by city Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and the Director of Long-term Planning and Sustainability, Rohit Aggarwala.

In one exchange, Aggarwala told City Councilman Robert Jackson, “[Y]ou don’t have to get 20 percent of the people off the road to have 20 percent reduction in traffic.” She continued, “Sometimes, if you take one or two cars off, it takes a crowded, congested condition and it turns it into traffic that can flow.”  read more »

A Quinnipiac poll released this morning finds that, among possible mayoral candidates, Ray Kelly is favored by 22 percent of respondents. He's followed, in order, by Anthony Weiner, Marty Markowitz, Christine Quinn, Betsy Gotbaum and Bill Thompson.

Polls at this stage in an election cycle should be taken with a massive grain of salt (as in, many of these candidates haven't officially declared they are going to run for mayor yet, and Betsy Gotbaum has said she won't run), but it seems to say something, at least, about Kelly's potential if he ever chose to get in. Also, although the poll was taken without listing party affiliations for the candidates, it is expected that Kelly would run as a Republican.

More of the release after the jump.  read more »

Here’s a shot of Christine Quinn and Bill Thompson--two likely mayoral candidates--at the all-inclusive St. Patrick’s Day parade in Sunnyside yesterday afternoon. Quinn marched behind the parade’s official banner, while Thompson marched behind the flag for the Stonewall Democrats, a major gay Democratic club in the city.

The parade is an annual event, held in response to a larger parade in Manhattan that doesn’t allow gays to march under their own banner. (That parade will be held this year on March 17).

More after the jump.   read more »

Yesterday I got the chance to ask a number of Democratic elected officials about the $500,000 Michael Bloomberg quietly donated to the Republican Senate campaign committee recently.

Their reactions, which I gathered at the Riverdale Jewish Community Council legislative breakfast, seemed to be collective shrug of the shoulders (and in some cases, a touch of promotion for the party).

City Comptroller Bill Thompson: “I think I was a little surprised, but then again, Mike has been very supportive of the Republican Party on the state level before, and has had a good working relationship with Joe Bruno. A little surprised, but it wasn’t a huge surprise. He’s been a strong contributor and supporter before, of him [Bruno] and it was kind of a continuation. Mike still has to get things done in New York State and I think that was indicative that he still has a good working relationship with Joe Bruno.”

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn: “Mayor Bloomberg has long supported lots of different candidates in all different parties. This doesn’t seem like any change from anything Mayor Bloomberg has done throughout his whole life. Certainly not at all different from what he’s done since he became the mayor."

More after the jump.  read more »

St. Patrick’s Day is coming up, and so is the big parade, meaning it's once again for local politicians to make a statement one way or another on the organizers' decision not to allow gays to participate under their own banner.

I asked a few possible citywide candidates about their parade plans, and here’s what I heard back so far.

Mayoral candidates:

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The city and state comptrollers want America’s 10 largest companies to disclose who they make political contributions to.

“Shareholders need full and complete disclosure of companies’ political expenditures to fully evaluate the political uses of the corporate assets,” Bill Thompson said in a public statement.

The companies targeted include Halliburton, Wal-Mart, Entergy and Charles Schwab.

More info over here.

One last clip from last night’s congestion pricing debate. Here's Richard Brodsky saying that if congestion pricing comes to pass before the 2009 mayoral elections, Anthony Weiner, who opposes it, will get elected.  read more »

Bill Thompson has a problem with congestion pricing.

Here’s part of the transcript from a television interview Thompson did this morning with NBC’s Jay DeDapper which will air on Sunday:

Mr. THOMPSON: I've got some problems with it. I mean...
DeDAPPER: Name one big problem you have.

Mr. THOMPSON: Well, how do you allow deductibility of tolls for people
coming in through the George Washington Bridge and coming in from Jersey...

DeDAPPER: Like the Holland Tunnel, right.

Mr. THOMPSON: ...and Long Island, and at the same point, you say to New
Yorkers, you have to dig deeper in your pocket? You know, those are the sins of the city. I mean, I think there's an unfairness there. So that was one of the big complaints I had before. I still have that complaint. I just think it's unfair to New Yorkers.

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The co-chairs for Adolfo Carrion’s comptroller campaign will be former state comptroller H. Carl McCall and business executive Leo Hindrey Jr. of InterMedia Partners, the campaign announced this morning.

Hindrey, the former C.E.O. of the YES Network (which broadcasts Yankees games) also helped raise money for another Bronx politician seeking citywide office: Fernando Ferrer, who ran for mayor in 2005.  read more »

Michael Bloomberg’s executive budget includes some cuts to education but, for now, preserves a $400 property tax rebate (which was introduced by the mayor during just before an election year).

Two mayoral candidates, Bill Thompson and Christine Quinn (who haven't formally declared), are out with statements praising the plan.

Thompson called it “prudent fiscal planning," Quinn said it was “sobering and fiscally responsible.”

I wonder what Anthony Weiner will say about it.

The full statements are after the jump.  read more »

A reader pointed out that Adolfo Carrion’s absence from the mayor's race alters the landscape for Anthony Weiner's candidacy.

In the Democratic primary, a candidate must get 40 percent of the vote to win the nomination and prevent a run-off. Without Carrion in the race, it’s more likely that Bill Thompson, the only black candidate, will earn at least that number.

Assuming that if Carrion had run, Thompson and Carrion would have split support from the black and Latino communities, Weiner then would have been in a run-off with one of them, and earned a second chance at capturing the nomination.

More after the jump.  read more »

Some reactions from the 2009 circuit to Adolfo Carrion’s entry into the comptroller’s race:

Fernando Ferrer, the most recent Hispanic candidate to run for mayor, told me via cell phone, “Well look, I think that he’s staked out for himself a race where he’s going to be a dominant figure.”

Asked if he was disappointed that Carrion would not be seeking the mayor's office, Ferrer replied, “I’ve just given you my comments.”

More after the jump.  read more »

Adolfo Carrion is entering the city comptroller's race, according to prepared remarks of his speech to ABNY, a business and civic group which is hosting a breakfast for Mr. Carrion in midtown this morning.

Money from Carrion's citywide 2009 committee will be eligible for his comptroller bid.

Today's announcement is great news for Bill Thompson, the current city comptroller and the only minority candidate seriously eyeing a mayoral bid. Thompson's presumed ethnic base of support could have been split by a Carrion candidacy.  read more »

Here are some lines from last night's birthday roast of United Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, who turns 50 on December 18:

“I’m sure many people have gotten you Depends and other things like that, so get used to it.” -- Bill Thompson

“I do remember, and will always remember, that you left me, for Joel [Klein].” -- Former Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew

“She runs through relationships like she runs through her staff directors.” -- Finance Commissioner Martha Stark

More after the jump.  read more »

Jackson Heights City Council candidate Danny Dromm hosted a number of influential local politicians at a fund-raiser this weekend, most notably city Comptroller Bill Thompson, who will be a special guest at a fund-raiser for Dromm’s opponent in the Democratic primary, Alfonso Quiroz [time clarified]. Quiroz's boyfriend and treasurer is Thompson's director of communications.

More after the jump.  read more »

The city’s top fiscal manager, Bill Thompson, has a largely flattering profile in the latest issue of BuyOut Magazine, a financial trade publication.

At one point, Thompson explains why he diversified the city’s pension fund portfolio to a much greater extent than previous comptroller Alan Hevesi (who later made news as the state comptroller, and continues to now that he left office).

Thompson told the magazine the city now has invested its pension funds mostly in stocks (about 70 percent) and the rest in bonds (about 30 percent).

“I wasn’t trying to undercut the previous comptroller,” Thompson tells the magazine. “I just thought it made more sense…to have a more balanced portfolio perspective, and we tried to do that.”

Bill Thompson has an audit out this morning saying RCN Telecom Services, a company that provides cable, phone and internet services throughout the city, failed to report more than $26 million in revenue and owed the city about $1.8 million.

In response to the audit, RCN has already written a check for $1,286,637, but still owes the city $497,957, according to Thompson’s office.

Bill Thompson just opened up a new front in his fight (if that's what a tiff between two such mild-mannered officials can truly be called) with Michael Bloomberg, releasing an audit saying that the city’s Parks Department overpaid a vendor by $6 million.

“The Parks Department absolutely dropped the ball when it came to the Ferry Point Golf Course.

[skip]

“The Parks Department paid for work for which the City was not liable, and lost out on millions of dollars in revenue. More than seven years after the concession agreement was signed, the golf course is not nearly complete, and as a result New York City does not have a world-class golf course.”

Recently, Thompson and Bloomberg traded barbs over education.

Granted, this latest audit isn't exactly a direct personal attack, and it doesn't even get close to the level of vitriol that characterized, say, the Giuliani-Hevesi exchanges in the months before 9-11. But then, the mayor's race, as Bloomberg would say, is still a ways away.

Another 2009 mayoral hopeful has weighed in on Eliot Spitzer's plan to allow illegal immigrants to obtain a New York State driver's licenses.

Here's a statement the office of Representative Anthony Weiner just sent over to me:

 

“Governor Spitzer is right to try and solve the problem of thousands of drivers without documentation or insurance. While the opposition to the plan has often been hyperbolic and unnecessarily divisive, there are legitimate problems that the Governor’s plan presents. I’m going to work on the immigration subcommittee in Congress to solve them.”

More after the jump.  read more »

At least two possible 2009 candidates are hiring, according to the following, somewhat random list of political jobs I turned up in a quick search yesterday:

Press Secretary for City Comptroller Bill Thompson

Communications Coordinator for Assemblyman Rory Lancman

Communications Director for a City Councilman

Policy and Research Intern for Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum

GOP-hating campaign workers for the Working Families Party

District Manager for Manhattan’s Community Board 8

 

Bill Thompson is making another education-related announcement today, unveiling a program that will “invest millions of dollars to create affordable housing for educators in New York City.”

Joining him for the roll-out will be teachers union head Randi Weingarten.

About two weeks ago, Thompson issued an audit saying the city’s education department underreported violent incidents at schools.

Lots more to come from him on the schools issue, I suspect.

So, where do the 2009 mayoral candidates stand on Eliot Spitzer’s plan to allow illegal immigrants to obtain a New York State driver’s license?

When asked for a position, a spokesman for Christine Quinn emailed me to say, “She supports it.”

A spokesman for Bill Thompson said he was "supportive" of the issue.

I'm not sure from his answer what Adolfo Carrion thinks:

“Pretending that a whole segment of the population does not exist lacks integrity of thought and response. However, this is not without risk, given the seriousness of a state sanctioned identification and how it can be used. Unfortunately, the burden of finding appropriate and reasonable solutions to this complex challenge has been transferred to the states once again, just as was recently done by Congressional failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform. On national issues of this nature, it is the federal government's solemn responsibility to act in the interest of all the states of the union. Anything less is an abrogation of that awesome responsibility.”

I’m still waiting to hear back from Anthony Weiner.

A spokesman for John Catsimatidis said he opposes the plan, explaining, “He agrees 100 percent with Mayor Bloomberg.” The mayor raised some questions about the plan but said it’s the governor’s call.

UDPATE: Marty Markowitz's office just sent me this statement: "Brooklyn and New York City's cultural and economic vibrancy is due in large part to our immigrant communities—therefore, as long as we ensure security loopholes are not inadvertently opened to our nation's real enemies, I believe the Governor's plan has great merit as a way to ensure more safety on the roads and get a much more reliable assessment of the hard work we know those in our immigrant community
are already doing every day."  read more »

City Comptroller Bill Thompson just released an audit that found the City Council under its previous speaker, Gifford Miller, violated the City Charter and its own internal regulations when it came to mailings, "spending $1.67 million for printing without entering into formal contracts,"

The report, which I haven't read yet in its entirety, is here.