Mike Bloomberg Q&A: ‘The People Will Render The Final Verdict’

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has declined to comment on his predecessor’s warning that crime would increase under Thompson administration.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has declined to comment on his predecessor’s warning that crime would increase under Thompson administration.

by Adam Dickter
Assistant Managing Editor

Bloomberg stresses jobs, quality of life in third-term bid, defends term-limits change as ‘pragmatism.’

Michael Bloomberg, 67, has been mayor of New York since 2002, and is the founder and primary owner of Bloomberg LP, the financial information giant. Formerly a Republican, he became an independent last year and is running this year on the Republican and Independence ballots.
The Jewish Week requested an interview with Mayor Bloomberg early in the campaign. On Tuesday his campaign agreed to relay questions to the mayor via e-mail. Here are the questions and answers:

What would you consider the single most important goal of a third term?

Like we have done since I took office, we will pursue an agenda that improves our entire City. We will continue to improve student performance in the City’s public school and lower crime. We will work to create or save 400,000 jobs. And we will find new and innovative ways to improve quality of life issues, like expanding park and waterfront space and making our City the greenest big city in America

Why did you oppose a public referendum on extending term limits?

The City Charter gives the City Council the authority to amend the term limits law, and so the question for Council members - and for me - was this: Is it in the best interests of the city to extend term limits from two terms to three, giving voters more choices next November, a time when we could be (and now are) in a full-fledged recession?
I believed then and still believe the answer is yes. And after considerable debate and lengthy public hearings, the majority of the City Council agreed - choosing substance over process – pragmatism over ideology. Ultimately, the voters will have the chance to decide whether they agree. And that's important to remember: the people will render the final verdict on this bill, because it empowers them to decide who they want in office.

Even as more terror plots are uncovered, the amount of federal funding to protect “soft targets” here has been cut by Washington. How will you work with our congressional delegation to get more funding to fight terrorism?

We recently announced $24 in federal funding to expand the Ring of Steel into midtown Manhattan. We’ve implemented greater security in our mass transit system. And we’ve stood with some of our congressional delegation to call on Congress to fully fund the Securing the Cities program. As you can see, I have actively worked with the Federal Government, and I will continue to do so if I’m election to a third term because keeping the City safe is a top priority.

New Yorkers are nervous about more tax hikes and rate increases as they struggle to recover from the recession. The city is looking at a projected budget gap of $12 billion in the next few years. How can you reassure them that the worst isn’t yet to come?

During the boom years, we paid down billions in future debt and we are better off for it than many municipalities across the country. The budget gap for next year is approximately $5 billion, and we’ll look everywhere possible to eliminate waste in a way that won’t affect core services. As I have said, I don’t believe that raising taxes is an option because New Yorkers have reached the limit when it comes to taxation.

You have drastically increased spending, for example raising pension contributions from $1.4 billion to $6.3 billion. How will we pay for this?

While I believe that we need a well-paid workforce that is held accountable for delivering quality City services, I have been an outspoken proponent of the creation of a fifth pension tier for new City government employees, and applauded Governor Paterson’s efforts to work with municipal governments and labor unions to forge a deal. The creation of a new pension tier, which our Administration has long been urging, is the only responsible way to address the long-term fiscal health of our City and State. It will save City taxpayers billions of dollars. Regrettably, the Legislature has not yet passed the necessary legislation to create this tier, but we will continue to fight for the new tier because it is essential to our fiscal future.

You've made a point of trying to be mayor to all New Yorkers. Yet campaigning with former Mayor Giuliani brought back, for some, the days when Giuliani seemed not to be a mayor to all New Yorkers. What do you say to those who felt the former mayor’s comments last week were divisive or fear-mongering?

I am phenomenally proud of our record of bringing people together from all neighborhoods and every community. And I think we’ve successfully resisted attempts to divide this city for the past eight years. I’ve worked well with virtually everyone, I don’t point fingers. I try to lower the volume and the temperature and not raise it, and I’m not going to start trying to raise it now. I can only speak for my record and the results, I think, speak for themselves. Crime is down nearly 30% since 2001. We have the best counter-terrorism program in the nation, we’re the safest big city in the country and, given the opportunity to serve another four years, I’m confident that we can do even better.

Do you believe your opponent would dismantle the structures now in place at the police department, like Compstat, that have maintained the drop in crime?

You have to ask Bill Thompson. All I can say is that we’re looking at new technologies to assist the NYPD when they are investigating crimes, and it’s my goal to build on the already historic drops in crime. That’s why I plan to adopt new innovative methods to reduce crime, including by expanding the Real Time Crime Center to include facial recognition software and creating a new Footwear Recognition Database so we can apprehend suspects and solve and prevent more crimes.

Are you concerned that stop-and-frisk policies impact too heavily on minority communities?

There is nothing I take more seriously than my duty to keep New Yorkers safe. New York is now the safest big city in America and I intend to keep it that way. NYPD is the best trained, best prepared police department in the world. Commissioner Kelly places great emphasis on officer training because we want to preserve the trust and support of communities. I will not tolerate racial profiling and signed a tough law to ban it. But the NYPD needs all the tools at its disposal to combat law-breaking and stops are proportionate to the descriptions provided by the victims of crime in New York. The overwhelming majority of those victims are minorities. We’ve worked very hard to improve the tone of police-community relations, in part by having a police department that is more reflective of the city. Today, for the first time in our history, the rank of police officer, which is the largest in the police department, is majority minority.

How much is the mayor of New York, in 2009, involved in day-to-day police procedures and decision-making? Has terrorism changed the nature of the job?

When I took office in 2002, people said crime would increase and New York would fall victim to more terrorist attacks. So I hired Ray Kelly, who’s regarded as the best Police Commissioner in our city’s history, and led the men and women of the NYPD. We proved them wrong. Crime is down 35 percent over the last eight years. Rapes are down nearly 40 percent. This year, we expect to set a new record low for murders.
We did this through innovative programs like Operation Impact that focus efforts in neighborhoods with high crime rates. We invested in technology, like the Real Time Crime Center, so detectives can solve crimes faster. We took on the NRA and led the fight against illegal guns by conducting undercover stings against out of state gun dealers that illegally sold guns that end up in the hands of criminals. Perhaps what I am most proud about is that we reduced crime while building strong relationships with every community. New Yorkers can rest assured I will never let up in the fight against crime.

You have faulted Mr. Thompson for saying he would replace Commissioner Kelly. Has the commissioner agreed to stay on the job for the full four years of a third Bloomberg term?

Ray Kelly is best in the city’s history. New York City is the safest big city in the country while relations positive with members of all communities. I will not comment on private personnel conversations but would like to keep a strong team in place with the commissioner at the helm, while Bill Thompson wants to fire the leadership that has brought crime down to over 40-year lows.

You've been a strong proponent of charter schools, yet those schools threaten to balkanize education in this city —an Arab-language school, a Hebrew-language school, etc. Aren’t our schools meant to be a melting pot where kids learn about all cultures?

Special interest groups care about the legal status of a public school—I believe parents care about whether or not the schools provide a quality education for their children. By every measure, charter schools provide an excellent education. Students have achieved higher test scores than students at district public schools and, in fact, their performance has nearly equaled that of students in Westchester schools. Given these results, it’s no surprise that there are 40,000 kids on charter school waitlist shows because parents want these options. I want to create more options for children via charter school plan and make sure all communities have access to these high-quality schools, which is why am working to improve special education in charter schools and ELL outreach

Graduation rates have risen as have test scores, but critics say our schools are only “teaching to the test” rather than raising the actual skill levels of our students. Your response?

Our students are held to the same standards as kids in other parts of the state. And the bottom line is that they are doing better today that at any other point in recent memory.

The New YorkTimes reported that social services agencies were pressured by your administration to testify at the City Council in favor of extending term limits. Councilman Simcha Felder later said his name was retroactively added to a grant to two powerful charitable groups giving them $1.5 million. Shouldn’t social services be free of, and insulated from politics?

In my time as mayor, I’ve worked to make government more open and accessible. That’s why I won the endorsement of the city’s premier good government group, the Citizens Union. The Council held upwards of 20 hours of hearing on the term limits question, and voted overwhelmingly in favor of the bill.

For various reasons, prominent Jewish politicians, including you and Sens. Bernie Sanders and Lieberman end up as independents. Is that a coincidence? Does a Jewish historical status as an outsider foster the attitude to stand apart from the traditional party structure?

I’m an independent because I believe you have to shed partisan politics if you want to move this city forward and work with people of all parties. Partisan politics simply get in the way of progress. You’d have to ask Senators Lieberman and Sanders their motivation for switching parities.

Do you support some form of tax-relief for families paying private school tuition? What more can be done to help those families? Do you believe that those who place thousands of children in private schools are taking a burden off the city school system?

I turned around a public school system that failed a generation of schoolchildren by stressing accountability and focusing on results. Since I took control of the public school system, new schools are being built across the city, the graduation rate has increased, test scores have risen, and the achievement gap between white and minority students is closing. Our children’s classrooms are safer – school crime is down 44 percent since 2001.

But I’m also working hard to support every single school in New York City, not just the public system. Since taking office in 2002, I have been a strong supporter of our yeshivas, providing transportation, textbooks, technology and other vital services. I have delivered quality after-school programs for 1,800 yeshiva students through City-funded Priority 7 vouchers, pushed for Title 1 Educational Services for over 14,000 yeshiva students and provided school nurses to yeshivas for over 6,000 students

We owe it to all our kids to provide a top-notch education.

The Administration for Children’s Services has proposed eliminating Priority 7 Day Care vouchers. You have announced that you would like to see it maintained. Is that a firm commitment?

Despite a budget deficit, I worked with Councilmember Felder to restore Priority 7 vouchers. That’s a firm commitment.

There have been reductions to senior centers and programs. Are you satisfied with the level of services to the aging or can you commit to finding more money to help the city’s increasing elderly community?

I’ve worked extensively to make New York an age-friendly city, including investing in 50 senior centers across the five boroughs. I’m looking to provide a taxi and livery cab voucher to seniors who use Access-A-Ride, so they have a practical and reliable way to get around town. We’re also looking to expand free legal services for seniors, provide free bus riders to grocery store and free fitness club memberships. Seniors are some of our most vulnerable residents, and we must do everything in our power to make sure that we make this city as accessing and caring as we can.

Westchester Jewish Conference

Westchester’s Jewish Community Relations Organization