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Bill de Blasio
De Blasio Proposes Alternatives To Teacher Layoffs
Mar 7th - 9:45 am
NYC Public Advocate Bill de Blasio was on Good Day New York this morning calling on the Mayor to cut the budget from other areas, and not teachers.
“I’m really worried. The last thing we should be cutting is teachers. We could cut technology consultants, $24 million was spent this year. We can also cut teacher recruiters which could save us hundreds of thousands of dollars,” de Blasio said.
De Blasio went on to admit that he believes Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to layoff thousands of teachers is just a ploy to help push through a bill on Last In, First Out.
Public Advocate: Save Teachers, Cut Other Services: MyFoxNY.com
Peralta On The 31-31 Question
Nov 4th - 4:45 pm
As the 31-31 scenario becomes increasingly possible in the Senate, both sides are boning up on the tie-breaking powers of the lieutenant governor, who presides over the chamber.
While insisting he still believes the Democratic conference he only recently joined (after blocking expelled ex-Sen. Hiram Monserrate from regaining his Queens seat in a special election), Sen. Jose Peralta admitted today it looks like LG-elect Bob Duffy could indeed end up being a very important person in Albany next year.
“They’re doing their homework just in case that is the scenario, that it is deadlocked,” Peralta said.
“We know that we in the Senate are doing our homework. The Democrats are doing their homework. I also heard that the Republicans are doing their homework. So, I’m pretty sure Cuomo’s people are doing their homework. So, I think everyone is looking into that possibility.”
As you’ll no doubt recall, former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno claimed that in the absence of an LG following Gov. David Paterson’s move to the governor’s office, he, as the next in the chain of ascension, should be afforded two votes on procedural matters – including leadership.
De Blasio vs. Pataki
Oct 28th - 3:14 pm
NYC Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is stepping up his pressure on George Pataki, launching a Website from which visitors can send a blast e-mail to the former Republican governor, demanding that he disclose the names of donors to his Revere America committee.
There’s also an accompanying Web video, which appears below.
This is all part of the downstate Democrat’s crusade against the US Supreme Court’s Citizen United decision that removed the fetters on corporate political spending.
Pataki is using the cash he raises through Revere America to travel the country and call for the repeal of “Obamacare” and also run TV ads against select Democratic House candidates in New York and New Hampshire (ahem, 2012) who voted “yes” on the health care reform law.
Because Revere America is a 510(c)(4), Pataki does not have to disclose the identity of its donors. He told me during a CapTon interview last week that he’s all for transparency and disclosure, but also worries about corporate donors being “targeted and boycotted” if their identities are revealed.
Demand Disclosure: Revere America from Bill de Blasio on Vimeo.
De Blasio vs. Google
Aug 5th - 12:20 pm
NYC Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is going up against seach engine mega-giant Google, calling on the company to disclose the full scope of its efforts to influence policy in Washington, D.C. by spending some of its considerable resources on political contributions.
As Maggie Haberman reports, de Blasio has had discussions in recent weeks with Google on the heels of his successful effort to get Goldman Sachs to agree not to spend on political ads in this election cycle – even though a recent US Supreme Court decision allows corporations to drop unlimited amounts of cash to try to elect of defeat candidates running for federal office.
De Blasio’s office made this handy Web video to illustrate its efforts. It makes clever use of Google to demonstrate how little information there is on Google’s own contributions, while there’s plenty of stories out there about how the company has managed to become something of a political heavyweight in D.C.
This strikes me as a smart issue for de Blasio as he tries to position himself for a likely run for mayor in 2013. It’s in keeping with his populist ideology, which will make his allies in progressive labor circles happy, and also is just edgy enough to perhaps catch on with younger, tech-savvy voters.
De Blasio isn’t the first New York pol to go up against Google. Assemblyman Richard Brodsky recently asked AG Andrew Cuomo to investigate the company, alleging it is violating a privacy law he penned several years ago. In 2007, Assemblyman Mike Gianaris took on Google Earth, claiming its images were too detailed and could help terrorists plan attacks.
De Blasio: I’d Be A 7-Day-A-Week Mayor
May 11th - 12:26 pm
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio today took a bit of a swipe of Mayor Bloomberg for being AWOL when the Staten Island ferry crashed last Saturday, saying he would opt for a seven-day-a-week schedule if he were in charge.
NY1′s Bobby Cuza caught de Blasio at this morning’s ABNY breakfast. The public advocate was asked during the post-event Q&A what he thought of the fact that Bloomberg had monitored the crash and its fallout from an undisclosed location (that was not, according to the Times’ Michael Barbaro, Bermuda).
“The history of mayors in the city is of being very hands-on and being at the site of each incident,” de Blasio replied. “And I think it’s important for the public to see that. I think the public values seeing their chief executive at the scene of any particularly difficult moment.”
“I think we understand the mayor has a lifestyle, and it doesn’t mean he isn’t a good mayor on many levels. I wouldn’t do it. It wouldn’t be my lifestyle. It wouldn’t be my choice. I think it’s better for the mayor to be here seven days a week. But I still think he’s been a very effective mayor on many levels.”
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