Who Controls the Comptroller?
By Henry J. Stern

July 31, 2003

 
    Articles on public affairs in the Village Voice do not usually receive great attention.  For one thing, the Voice readership is largely young, and most are more interested in the back of the paper than the front, seeking apartments, entertainment and personal relationships more than enlightenment on local politics.  There is a measure of hostility in the major media to the alternate press, particularly its inclination to describe some business and political relationships as criminal conspiracies.  The dailies also do not like to be seen as being beaten to a story by the Voice, which means they do not investigate on their own or follow up on an expose.  For that reason, unless the story is about outrageous criminality, a Voice attack is considered in politics to be like an inoculation; it hurts some, but it may keep you from getting a worse disease (page B-1 in the Times or page one in the tabloids).
 
    In fact, the Voice often publishes distinguished investigative reporting.  I call to your special attention an article by Wayne Barrett, with assistance by Naomi Lindt, which appears on page 22 in this week's issue. (If you want to read the hard copy, the Voice is distributed free.)  The headline is "Billy's Boondoggle: The Comptroller's Payroll Becomes a Political Playground".  Every elected official has people on his staff who helped him/her get elected, that is an accepted practice and a reasonable one.  The issues that Barrett raises deal with quantity and geography.  The last paragraph of his article is particularly well done, the money quote being: “Thompson and his staff treat any press pursuit – whether the issue is patronage or the budget-balancing role of city unions – as if it is a breach of civility, so accustomed is he to patty-cake coverage.”  But you should really print out the whole article, because, like God, the devil is in the details.

    Making Wayne Barrett’s column more widely available to people who are interested in New York City affairs should not be regarded as a personal attack on Comptroller Thompson.  He is an affable public servant, courteous and thoughtful in his dealings with others.  He was born to politics, his father was a Supreme Court Justice in Brooklyn.  I appreciate his signature on my monthly pension checks, and thank him for the helpful messages he encloses, which he also signs.  He is not a rabble-rouser, nor does he stir up one group against another.  In budget predictions, he is more fiscally conservative than the Mayor, which is where a comptroller should be.  He inherited a capable professional staff, whom he has treated fairly.  At this point, he is worthy of re-election.

    But even decent elected officials require public scrutiny, which hopefully will generate pressure on them to resist the demands of their political sponsors.  The people we elect should rightly be judged by the people they appoint.  Why not rely on ability, integrity and diligence, rather than the wish lists of county leaders?


Henry J. Stern is the director of NYCivic.