Bloomberg at Midterm:
An Acquired Taste

Henry J. Stern
January 2, 2004

Mayor Bloomberg is at midterm. We have seen the reflective year-end interviews, and the release of positive statistics. On Thursday, he will deliver an upbeat State of the City address in the Silvercup Studios in Long Island City, Queens. Last year he spoke in Brooklyn in the Botanic Garden greenhouse in Prospect Park. Next year - the Bronx or Staten Island?
 
But what will happen to the mayor in November 2005? Will he win a second term?
 
We all want to know the future. If you could ask one question about the future that would be answered, I would suggest that it be the place of your death. Then you wouldn't have to go there until you were good and ready. Of course, if someone took you there without your consent, that would be a problem.
 
I am anything but clairvoyant. (Does anyone remember the Daily News comic strip many years ago titled "Claire Voyant". She had extra-sensory powers, which were not derived from an insect bite [e.g., Spider-Man {sic}]?)  ←Note the four consecutive punctuation marks.
 
Back to business (Rule 14-B). The Mayor's re-election prospects depend on factors which are unknown at this time. For example, if he were running against Arnold Schwarzenegger, he would lose. But he would have a pretty good chance to win against a Cruz Bustamante, or his local surrogate.
 
The West Coast version of our Gifford Miller is Gavin Newsom, a thirtyish preppie who was the establishment Democratic candidate for Mayor of San Francisco. He barely defeated Matt Gonzalez, a member of the Green Party, 52.6%-47.4%. This shows a substantial minority supporting radical change in government in San Francisco. How they could pay for what they want is, of course, another matter.

New York's Miller is torn between the moderate persona he implies that he has to his large contributors and the leftist posturing in which he engages as Speaker of the Council. People could reasonably assume that, from their votes and public statements, a majority of City Councilmembers would be more ideologically at home in the Working Families or the Green party. However, votes in New York City, except in special elections, come on the Democratic line. The result of this fence straddling can be a grievous wound in that part of the anatomy exposed to the spikes of the fence. On the other hand, the skillful straddler escapes unhurt and successfully balances multiple constituencies by sleight of mouth. To do this, a Southern accent is helpful.
 
Mayor Bloomberg's problems are threefold:

1) Financial: The city is not in extremis; it is better off than California, etc., but its condition remains weak, in part because of burdens imposed by State laws and formulas, and the tax revenues snatched from us five years ago because the City's "protector" in Albany, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, made a multi-billion dollar mistake.

We usually spend more than we receive, but are required by law to make the budget come out even. The mayor, however, cannot balance the budget without hurting a lot of people, and that creates a negative constituency, even if the Mayor were a charmer, which he is not.
 
2)  Attitude: His personality was formed over the years in Medford, Mass., Johns Hopkins, Harvard Business School, Salomon Brothers, and then as CEO of a huge business which he created. He has made many successful decisions in life and work. It is only natural that he thinks well of himself; if he did not, he would not have been able to accomplish what he did.

But politics often requires a kind of mock humility, a sort of 'aw, shucks' attitude as if the King cannot imagine how he attained the throne, and wants everyone to know that he is just like them, except for happenstance. Too much of this makes you obsequious, but too little deference conveys arrogance and hubris, which regular people find offensive.

Some critics feel that "it's bad enough that you're a multi-billionaire (yes, 4.9 is multi) and the most charitable person in New York, as well as being the Mayor, but do you have to remind us of that with the way you behave?" I happen to like the private jet and the weekend getaways, they remind me of the Batmobile and the Batcave. The man needs space, let him have it. Beside, why shouldn't the capital of the world (as Pope John Paul said to Mayor Giuliani) have the world's richest mayor? He didn't inherit it, he didn't marry it and he didn't steal it. He earned it, and he gives a lot of it away, so let him be.
 
In the press and to the public, Bloomberg has come off as somewhat standoffish and self-important. The attackers are often unfair, but there is a nubbin of credibility there. He doesn't do town meetings, the way others don't do windows. He does meet with community groups in non-confrontational settings, out of the press spotlight. He seems to find more comfort with his financial peers than with ordinary people. His attitude and behavior are relatively normal (for who he is). He is certainly no Louis XIV (even though his furniture may be). However, when you are King of the World, you have to compensate for that by mannered behavior indicating you are really a country boy, or a city boy. Since he sets great store on integrity and truth-telling (Rule 28-A), it is not easy for him to pretend to be what he is not. Hopefully, he's learning.
 
3) Delegation: Another rap on the mayor deals with over-delegation. It may be all right in the business world, where you can act quickly to correct errors and you have quarterly profit and loss statements to measure progress. In business, people are supposed to be appointed on the basis of competence, as measured by their ability to make a profit and avoid loss for the company. In politics, there are measures of ideology, loyalty, gender and ethnicity which one balances with ability. In the past, symbols were occasionally selected for high visibility positions while staffers or City Hall aides did the actual work. Overdelegation props up the weaker commissioners, diffuses accountability, and limits achievement. City Hall could be a bit more hands-on, as I am certain Bloomberg LLP must have been.
 
The three problems we discussed today do not go to  many operational issues, matters of policy and program. On the theory that articles, like food and drink, should be served in modest portions, especially on holidays, we defer those questions until Monday.

Enjoy the weekend.