August 13, 2003

MIDTERM MAYORAL REPORT

By James Eugene*

I said that I would not do a summer column unless the spirit moved me. So while I am away on vacation, and my wife is in the casino getting her gambling fix scratched, and my son is watching "Rugrats", the spirit has moved me.

Let's rate the Mayor at midterm. Some of you may argue that the midterm period is not until January, but in reality, the Mayor has now been responsible for two budget seasons, so in a sense, half the Mayor's work is done. Thus, now is as good a time as ever to rate the Mayor. Like any typical report card, I will grade by subject.

BUDGET: B. I was tempted to grade lower, but Mayor Billionaire has his philosophy of growth (which may not be mine, but I will not simply grade him based on philosophy) and other players (namely, the unions and Albany) failed him here, so he gets the benefits of some doubt. My problems here are not enough budget cutting. Government grew under Mayor Prosecutor at too fast a clip and this Mayor has failed to recognize the need for contraction. His tax hikes were fairly reasonable except for one… the reinstitution of the sales tax on clothing, which he accepted without understanding the repercussions.

For many New Yorkers, most of the tax hikes are hypothetical. The property tax increase was felt mainly by businesses and apartment complexes, many of which are rent stabilized and did not feel the full brunt due to a miniscule raise by the Rent Guidelines Board. The income tax hike was only felt by the rich. However, the increase in the sales tax on clothing was felt by everyone and it was big, not 3/8% as for most items, but a full 8.625%. Mayor Billionaire may not think much of that, but for the bulk of New Yorkers, who happen to make less than $60,000 a year, this was the most devastating tax of all. And they will remember at election time. Not a bright move.

LABOR RELATIONS. C. Mayor Billionaire started off smartly, stroking the unions and remember he did not receive any real union support in his election bid. However, he has alienated just about all of them. Now, remember the ultimate antagonist, Mayor Prosecutor. The unions actually got along fairly well with him. Give some credit to a smooth negotiator named Randy Levine. Would it really be too much for Mayor Billionaire to ask for help from a Mayor Prosecutor person? Obviously so. (And it is amazing how Mayor Billionaire has few relations with personnel from Mayor Prosecutor, which I am sure has Mayor Prosecutor seething.) Short memo to the Mayor: swallow your pride.

INITIATIVES: A. Mayor Billionaire has introduced a number of great concepts and ideas. If you want to read about them all, check out my column "A Lesson for Past and Future Mayors" dated February 3, 2003. But all this leads to….

MANAGEMENT: D. This is the grade that amazes me the most (and it could easily have been an "F", but I decided to be generous and leave "F's" for an election year report card, when I will have a full picture of Mayor Billionaire's management skill). If someone asked me before Mayor Billionaire took office what would be the lowest possible grade to give this Mayor for management, I would have guessed B+ and expected an "A". However, a number of agencies are in disarray. This Mayor is somewhat hands-off and seems to think services have not suffered. Guess what? They have and it is not just because of cuts. Most Commissioners are floundering and so are their agencies. (In fact, the management skill of some of the Commissioners reminds me of the management skill of the Dinkins Administration, which in my opinion was absolutely atrocious.) This Mayor appears to take no interest in these agencies. When was the last time you heard this Mayor converse on the Departments of Citywide Administrative Services, Youth Services, Aging, Buildings, or Finance. A city does not run on public safety and education alone. The Mayor needs to spend a little less time with Barbara Walters and a little more time with some of these so-called lesser agencies. We elected him Mayor of all of City government, not just public safety and education.

LEADERSHIP: C. The Mayor gets some credit here for willing to take on some tough issues such as firehouse closings. But the Mayor does not inspire enough. To put it bluntly, he whines. His delivery is singsong, not forceful. Would I want to go to battle with him as my leader? No. This mayor is not inspirational and that is a big problem. We have two political leaders in this state, Pataki and Bloomberg who could not inspire a flea to jump. In moments of great fiscal peril, where a leader can call upon the populace to sacrifice, we have mice. During this budget season, neither dared to go on television to the City or the State and lay out the facts and call for sacrifice. And Patacuomo especially should have done this given his so-called stated desire to fight to the death. If you do not have the confidence and the leadership to do these things, you cannot get an "A" … ever. The most these two can ever hope for is a "B". Communication counts and good flaks (and no one is saying either one has these) are no substitutes. Giuliani led during a fiscal crisis. Koch led during a fiscal crisis. Does either of these current two men give the impression of leadership? Enough said, and "C" may be too generous.

Of course, these grades are mid-term grades and all that will really count are final grades. Ultimately, the grader will be the populace in a mayoral election. However, re-election is not necessarily a passing grade. Sometimes it only means the winner is better viewed than the loser (for example, I did not love voting for Mayor Billionaire, but I was not going to vote for Mark Green and still would not…. And I have no doubt that Green would be getting all "F's". That much said, I would have preferred Ferrer, for example, over Bloomberg.) And it is somewhat scary that I am beginning to pine for Mayor Prosecutor, a man of great political skill, who frankly used it all too sparingly.

AND A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE CITY COUNCIL.

I was originally opposed to term limits and could blast this Council by giving a midterm report on them as well. But that would be unfair to them (considering they are all now part of a re-election campaign after barely being in office). These Council Members still are learning what is going on and you will not see a truly mature Council until year 6. However, at that time, they will only have two years left. Such are the vagaries of term limits.

The problem with term limits is that Council Members become too anxious to do everything now. Sometimes, the best bills are those that are never passed as a cycle of problems simply runs its course. Or a bill that may be possible during one period is ill conceived at another. Politicians on a longer cycle with more senior members to guide the younger members learn this. Politicians on a short cycle can never learn it (unless they are coming from another legislative body, like the State Legislature, although what anyone learns there is anyone's guess).

For this reason, I think no Council in the term limits era will ever be truly wise and effective. While I am not enamored by this Council, I do hope that the Council uses its head, ignores the wrath of the newspapers and uses its recent Appellate Division ruling as an impetus to eliminate term limits without a referendum (as the Court implied it could do).

The spirit has now unmoved me. Stay cool.

* James Eugene is the pseudonym of a veteran of NYC government affairs. Inside The Big Apple will appear exclusively on the Empire Page. If you want to send tips or column ideas to James Eugene, email them to jameseugene@empirepage.com.