I think a little love for Mayor Bloomberg is in order. I don't agree with the man on all of his views and policies, but I have to give him credit for sticking it to other politicians where it counts.
New York City gets shortchanged on everything from schools to homeland security, while rural areas outside of the five boroughs receive far more public funds across the board. Why? NYC is the most high risk area in all respects. Our schools need the most help and our security is obviously vulnerable 24/7. Remember the WTC? Or is that just old news already? Are we no longer at risk of terror attacks? Are little towns upstate in greater danger of attack and therefore entitled to a bigger cut of federal and state funds? Obviously not. So what's the problem here? Why is NYC always getting the short end of the stick?
Bloomberg is also fighting the good fight with respect to gun laws. He is right when he says "...how can you look at what happens in the inner city streets, and even in small communities? There are just too many guns on the streets." If you read the news in NY everyday and saw how many subway shootings there have been lately, you would have to agree.
I find it laughable that republicans who are aggravated by Bloomberg right now claim that he is only doing these things to score points with democrats in time for re-election. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! How any career politician could point a finger at Mayor Bloomberg, who is not a career politician, and claim that Bloomie's number one concern is re-election, has obviously not been paying attention throughout the duration of his mayoral career. Don't get me wrong, everyone wants to get re-elected, but Bloomberg has never been a popularity whore. He's been quite frank in telling NYers that he's doing what he thinks is best for the city and he's never been concerned with his approval ratings, as long as he's doing what will benefit NYers in the long run. Whether or not he's always doing the right thing from my perspective is not as significant as the fact that I think he genuinely cares about manifesting benefit and safety for the general public.
I remember when Bloomberg won the election. Rob fumed. Then he started to fall for Bloomie and we got in a couple of arguments about his policies. But over time he grew on me too. He's real. Not a phony. And I can't help but respect that. He's shown an earnest concern for the homeless and his desire to find better ways to deal with the root causes of homelessness, he's worked hard to close the huge budget gap (even when it meant sacrificing his approval rating in light of property tax hikes and what many perceived as a massive ticket blitz), he's made a huge effort to reform the city's education system, (though not always in the ways that I think would be most effective - at least he's trying new strategies) and in general I think he's been an acceptable mayor.
High five Mike!
Posted by Maria at June 24, 2004 10:31 AM | TrackBack