February 3, 2003

A Lesson for Past and Future Mayors

By James Eugene*

Okay, I am now writing a column in praise of Mayor Billionaire and will for the remainder of this column, actually call him by his real last name.

During my years in City government, I was always astounded by the simple inability of government to handle more than one topic at a time. If there was tobacco legislation on the agenda, it dominated both sides of City Hall for an inordinate amount of time. Safe Streets, Safe City and more police… do not even think about discussing education. Homelessness? Well then, there is no time for the Health and Hospitals Corporation. Budget time? Then don't bother me with a zoning proposal.

That has not been the case under Mayor Bloomberg. In his first year, he has handled many different topics simultaneously juggling taxes, budget, education (first school control and then school curricula), homelessness, tobacco, the Olympics, noise, housing, and keeping crime on the defensive. (And yes, I could name more.) It is a rather impressive, and frankly for government, staggering list. And it seems as if things move along after an initial announcement as well. It was one thing to announce a tobacco bill, but it is also moved into law relatively quickly, given attempts to forestall it. And simply because the bill was moving slowly did not stop other items.

It is Bloomberg's ability to juggle many balls at once that far surpasses any prior Mayor. It is the key to his success, and it may also be the reason for his current low standing in the polls.

Bloomberg juggles many balls well because he is literally a "CEO" mayor. He sets the broad agenda and then tells his Commissioners and staff, "go reach my goal." And they try to do so. He then critiques, and they rework until an acceptable result is reached. The result has been a great array of proposals, some impressive results and some promising movement of some of the proposals. By allowing his staff a freedom to innovate outside and inside of City Hall, he allows for better management efficiencies and few redundancies.

But that may be what also causes his problems in the polls. I bet you Ray Kelly has a higher approval rating than Bloomberg. And some of his higher profile Commissioners and staff may as well. People think Bloomberg is cold and blunt, but the fact is, so was Ed Koch and his opinion polls were higher. The cold billionaire aspect is being overplayed. The press is looking for it and, of course, is finding it.

But think about how ideas from Bloomberg are presented. Often it is Bloomberg with another official. And there is the rub. The other official is the Commissioner or the expert and the Mayor does not get the complete credit (imagine if this happened under Mayor Prosecutor…. You can hear it now… "off with the Commissioner's head!"). That credit is worth brownie points for the Mayor and as a result the shine on the Mayor is not exactly the same as it would be if he were the sole star.

But the ironic thing: staff is more likely to produce if they are given the opportunity to become stars in their own right. Sure there must be ground rules. The Mayor must always approve proposals. The Mayor should always get credit. The Mayor must always be the leadership for the issue. But there is more excitement among staff if they can get the opportunity to shine. There is nothing worse than being a Commissioner and knowing that whether you do a great job or a poor job, no one will notice.

In some respects, the press likes all these new programs and has been somewhat positive about this Mayor. But the press seems to think the public does not like this Mayor. However, I think the public is currently indifferent and will come around. At least by the time the Mayor runs for reelection. The reason I think so is quite simple.

I think the city will be on a sure uptick when the Mayor runs for reelection and I think the Mayor will justifiably deserve some credit for that. The Mayor is making some difficult decisions right now that will cause pain and he is being blamed for that… This happens. (Frankly, I think it would be smarter for the Mayor to inflict all the pain at once, but he seems afraid to do so.) However, the Mayor is also laying the groundwork for accelerated success once some of that pain begins to subside. By inflicting the pain and laying a blueprint for success, the Mayor is properly steering the ship and at election time if the ship is in the right direction, the Mayor will get the votes of the people. And in being able to juggle so many balls, the Mayor gets the ship moving faster, quicker.

Of course, all this is contingent upon the Mayor going no further with new taxes (otherwise the macro-economics of his increase might trump his programmatic juggling) and actually being able to figure out how to implement some of his housing programs and keep other new proposals going.

And this becomes a lesson for other Mayors. You can handle more than one item at a time. You can have multiple priorities and push them quickly and efficiently. Bloomberg has done it in his first year at an impressive and dizzying pace. It will be interesting to see if he can keep it up and if he can implement them all in accordance with his vision.

But either way, the bar has been raised. Dealing with more than one issue at a time… No problem, Bloomberg did it. Future Mayors had better pay attention and better be prepared.

THE PATAKI LEAKS.

At the time I write this, the Governor keeps leaking different ways he is seeking to help the Mayor with a series of one-shots. I keep looking at the proposals and keep seeing some sort of Trojan horse attached to them. Everything has some catch or downside, either obvious or hidden.

The Governor has simply shot his wad and it is truly time for him to show some backbone. Hey, he had a 20 point win in the election and said so much nonsense and now he can't back it up. In fact he can't even come close. I am beginning to wonder how much this is happening throughout the State (if he is trying to con New York City, is he also trying to con Troy? Schenectady? Buffalo?). So from now on, until Governor Pataki speaks honestly, we are going to call him Governor Patacuomo. Oh, if it were only three years and nine months from now?

Elliot Spitzer, save us!

* 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.