By Henry J. Stern
December 2, 2005

Three weeks after the election, the changes in personnel that will take place for Mayor Bloomberg's second term are under way.  The mayor has minimized the adjustments ahead, saying that 47 out of 50 commissioners would stay.  This contrasts with the Bush administration, where 9 out of 15 cabinet members were replaced for his second term.
 
The mayor's style is different from that of the Giuliani administration after he was decisively re-elected in 1997.  At that time, commissioners were advised that they had to be individually reappointed for the mayor's second term, and reminded that they serve at the pleasure of the mayor.  Eventually, nearly all stayed, because if they had not pleased the mayor, he would not have waited until the end of his term to dismiss them.  There was, however, some agita or angst in the agencies, which was probably the purpose of the ploy.
 
In an offhand manner Wednesday morning, Mayor Bloomberg mentioned after opening a drive for used coats that Patti Harris, who is the person in the administration who is closest to him, would become First Deputy Mayor.  The two have worked together since she joined his company, Bloomberg, LP, in 1994.
 
Ms. Harris has a justified reputation in city circles for effectiveness, reliability, courtesy and tact.  She had responsibility for major public events in the first term, as well as coordinating the mayor's schedule and overseeing several agencies in the fields of parks and recreation, cultural affairs, and art. .  Her spiritual home is the Art Commission, where she was appointed executive director by Mayor Koch in 1980, when she was just 25.  She had served on Koch's staff when he was a Congressman from Manhattan's east side in 1978.
 
The MSM (mainstream media), in describing the appointment, played up the angle that, for the first time in history, a woman would be running the city while the mayor was out of town, whether for business or on a brief vacation.  With today's instant communications, the prospect of a female Acting Mayor is essentially symbolic.  Nonetheless, it is a pleasant symbol, and Ms. Harris is not a threatening figure, except to those who malign Mayor Bloomberg, oppose his wishes, or contribute to his opponents.  She only uses necessary force.
 
Patti Harris is thought of as a hard-working and devoted public servant.  At the same time, she is the wife of a lawyer involved in civic affairs (Mark Lebow), and the mother of two teenagers who appear to be well brought up.  She is firm in carrying out the mayor's will and gracious in soothing the feelings of those who are being told what to do.  A peacemaker, rather than a shouter, she does not court the press, promote herself, throw tantrums or berate her staff, as some more volatile personalities might.
 
For the past four years, her formal portfolio has been relatively limited to parks and culture, in addition to the work she has done on mayoral projects.  She was particularly helpful during the campaign.  Her effectiveness is due in part to the fact that everyone knows that she enjoys the mayor's trust.
 
The significance of her nominal promotion has yet to be revealed.  Will her responsibilities increase with regard to line operations?  Her predecessor as First Deputy Mayor, Marc V. Shaw, was theoretically in charge of most city operations, but he was not an enormous presence in that area, concentrating instead on the financial area, where his expertise was widely respected.  Shaw had been the second of Mayor Giuliani's five budget directors (Lachman, Shaw, Lhota, Harding and Barsky) and executive director of the MTA during a period in which the agency experienced difficulties.
 
Within the city administration, Shaw was viewed as more of a financial overseer than operations manager.  What precisely he did is difficult to ascertain, this being a relatively leak-proof or at least leak-resistant administration.  But his four years of public service should lead to an honorable discharge.  He should not have to slip away as the Duke of Windsor did in 1936.

The casual manner of the mayor's announcement of Shaw's leaving office at an undetermined time for an unspecified position in the private sector raised the issue of how highly the mayor valued the services of the departing official.  Normally such changes are accompanied by encomia to the retiring official, whether or not anyone believes them.  We assume that the oversight, if it was not intentional, will be remedied on a future occasion, where appropriate appreciation will be shown for Mr. Shaw's public service (unless there are other circumstances of which we are unaware).  Since odd departures lead to speculation which is most likely unwarranted, we suggest that, if warranted, there should be an appropriate ceremony marking a pause in what to us appears to be a distinguished public career.
 
It is a fact, though, that he did not fill the traditional role of First Deputy Mayor for Operations, a task performed for Mayor Giuliani by Peter Powers, Randy Mastro and Joe Lhota, for Mayor Dinkins by Norman Steisel, and for Mayor Koch by Nat Leventhal and Stan Brezenoff.  Whether that was intentional on Mr. Shaw's part, or at the direction of the mayor, is not clear to those outside the bullpen.
 
What Deputy Mayor Harris will do in her new position is also so far unknown.  Building on her present duties, will she assume managerial oversight of other city agencies?  Will she become more of a policy advisor to the mayor?  Does the mayor want policy advice?  How will she relate to Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff, who has been one of the most powerful and influential figures in the Bloomberg administration?  One obvious place where Ms. Harris' duties could be expanded is the City Planning Commission, where esthetic interests and business judgments are melded into decisions on land use.  That agency is now in Mr. Doctoroff's extensive stable.
 
During the campaign, realignment was not discussed; one does not change horses or rock boats in midstream.  With the campaign concluded successfully, we should look forward to necessary changes to improve, where possible, the work of the mayoral staff and the agencies.  A high retention rate of personnel is on one hand a sign of stability and on the other a sign of ossification.
 
This administration should realize in its heart that to say there are ways to improve does not mean that its present performance is inadequate.  Santayana's statement, now a truism, is that "those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it."  To paraphrase, one should learn from experience, or be required to repeat the lesson.
 
Our elected officials are aware that, no sooner are they elected, busybodies tell them what they should do.  Hopefully, the ins will be aware that sometimes busybodies, whether editorial writers, bloggers or outspoken citizens may have a point.  Not being personally invested in the success of the administration, they may have a more objective view of what ought to be done.  The goal is to help what has essentially been a very good administration, honest, decent and reasonably efficient, to be even better in its second term.  History suggests that such improvement is unlikely -- administrations tend to slow down with time and the third term (now prohibited by term limits) has been the worst for many fine mayors.  Nonetheless, we are optimists by nature, and we hope that the new term will show openness to new, and possibly different, lines of thought.