In Wednesday’s New York Daily News, Gotham Gazette editor Ben Max penned an op-ed headlined “So far, one lame mayoral election.”
“This is not how it is supposed to go. Ideally, less than three weeks from Primary Day and three months from Election Day, New York City would be experiencing a robust, interesting, substantive, competitive campaign to see who will be mayor for the next four years,” Max wrote. “Instead, we’ve been dealt a dud. But it’s not so much that it’s a snoozer, it’s that it’s a gutter ball.”
Admittedly, this “race” doesn’t seem to be amounting to much of one. Mayor Bill de Blasio, the overwhelming favorite to win re-election in November, is set to face off in the first debate of the season tonight, and we’d venture to guess that more than half of the voting New York public couldn’t name who BdB will joust with on the Symphony Space stage tonight at 7 p.m.
(It’s Sal Albanese).
While Max is right, and this election – especially for a town that fancies itself the capital of the world – indeed is “a gutter ball,” it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pay attention.
Because, let’s face it, our lives and livelihoods may depend on who’s living rent-free in Gracie Mansion next year.
Yes, de Blasio is enjoying an enormous lead in all the polls, and he has a Brinks truck’s worth of campaign cash, while the rest of the so-called pack are toting the election equivalent of piggy banks. However, think for a moment – has he EARNED another four years?
If you don’t think so, then read up on the competition and decide who you’d like to support.
Albanese was a city public school teacher for 11 years before running for City Council in 1982. He defeated a 21-year incumbent and Republican-Conservative Minority Leader. He won re-election four times, representing the people of southwestern Brooklyn until 1997. As a councilman, Alabanese was a member of the Public Safety, Education, and Transportation committees.
“Sal believes that New Yorkers deserve a mayor who works for the public interest, not special interests,” Albanese website boasts. “Too many candidates depend on contributions from lobbyists and individuals that have commercial interests with the city. When elected, they are unable to make decisions based on the merits. Instead, they make appointments and take stances that appease campaign contributors. Mayor de Blasio’s administration has been paralyzed by these types of conflicts of interest. As a result, corruption and incompetence are eroding faith in government, city services are suffering, and the concerns of residents are ignored.
Richard “Bo” Dietl, a retired decorated City Police detective who now runs a private security and investigations firm and often shoots from the hip, is running on the Independent line in the general election.
“I’m sick and tired of the political corruption that has plagued our great city over the last few years,” Dietl says on his site. “I am not a politician, and not beholden to anyone or any special interests. As your mayor, the only people I would answer to are you, the people of New York City.”
The “leading” GOP candidate, Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, is reportedly trailing BdB by 35 points in some general election polls.
“From her dogged determination to expose the corrupt practices of disgraced Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, taking the Port Authority to court over its lack of transparency and winning, to her battle to stop reckless MTA borrowing and Mayor de Blasio’s policy of harboring illegal immigrants convicted of crimes, Nicole has been ‘tireless’ and ‘fearless’ in her quest to protect the New York taxpayer from being ‘gouged’ by tax and spend liberals,” Malliotakis declares on her campaign page.
Do your homework. The man Dietl derisively refers to as Big Bird may have a gargantuan lead and campaign coffers overflowing with cash, but actions and empty promises speak louder than bank accounts.
This is far from over.
