La-La-La-La, It’s Going To Take More Than Even That To Get Me Not To Vote For Thompson

Look, the guy has one of the shittiest jobs in city government, given the last couple of years, but you just can’t cut him any slack now, can you:

The New York city comptroller, William C. Thompson Jr., is staking his mayoral campaign on his skills as a financial manager, which he says are exemplified by his supervision of the nation’s largest municipal pension system.

But a review of how the $80 billion system has performed since he took office shows it has consistently lagged behind many of its public pension peers even as the city tripled the number of money managers it uses and the fees that it pays those firms.

Over the last seven years, four of the five city pension funds performed below the median for similar funds around the country. In fact, more than two-thirds of the nation’s large pension funds did better than the city’s largest fund, the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, the data shows.

How Will We Pay For TWU Raises?

You know, the ones precipitated by the DC37 contract? Through fare hikes, of course:

The acting head of the MTA said on Tuesday she can’t rule out a fare hike to pay for raises granted to bus and subway workers, which hiked their pay 11.3% over three years.

Irony alert: Bloomberg has the gall to grandstand about it.

Then there’s this tidbit, from the Post: “The MTA will have to raid $360 million from its federal stimulus dollars, the budget that funds mega-projects like the Second Avenue Subway, and from its reserves to fund fat raises for rank-and-file transit workers, angry officials said yesterday.”

Or even this, from the Times:

During contract talks, the agency dropped its demand for one-person train operation, instead of two, thinking that Transport Workers Union Local 100 would make health care concessions in return.

But an arbitration panel has found there had been “no evidence” of a quid pro quo — handing a victory to the workers, who had been seeking to limit their health care contributions.

Establishing one-person train operation has been a major goal of New York City Transit for more than a decade. Using one-person crews would save millions in labor costs, and the agency, which wanted to start the program on the No. 7 and L lines, has already invested in new compatible subway cars.

Gruesome Thought Of The Day

No comment necessary:

Mayor Bloomberg swore he wouldn’t run for a third term — and then he did. He recently promised he wouldn’t seek a fourth term, but Thursday wouldn’t rule that out either.

Asked if he’d be interested in making it 16 years at City Hall, Bloomberg responded, “The law does not permit it.”

. . .

Later Thursday, Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser pointed out that the mayor in June said he won’t seek a fourth term — “period.”

Notably, it was Loeser who, back in January 2008, insisted: “The mayor is absolutely not seeking a third term.”

“Therein Lies The Problem”

Seems like help is on the way.

Until you request an area code 718 Queens number to put in the newspaper so Little League execs and coaches can call to volunteer.

Then a Parks spokesperson tells you to have them call 311, so that your request to help the department can be screened by the Big Brother of the Mayor’s Office and then ground through the bureaucracy while the outfield grass grows another 6 inches.

This is a runaround and not helpful.

Therein lies the problem.

Earliest Editorial Board Endorsement Ever?

The Queens Courier has endorsed Bloomberg for mayor. I wasn’t cranky today . . . until now:

The Queens Courier is proud to endorse Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in his quest for a third term because he cares about our city, its people, its cultural institutions and our future.

Over the years, we have watched as Bloomberg rode the good times, but always with an eye to the next budget shortfall. His business acumen is invaluable to the city.

He is a builder and an innovator. The 3-1-1 system is a tremendous success. His NYC2030 Plan, which includes planting one million new trees, is turning our city green again.

He knew from day one that education was the key to the city’s future. Under Bloomberg’s Mayoral Control plan — and with the aid of Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein — the scores in math and reading have been going up steadily and the graduation rates are increasing.

Michael Bloomberg is his own man; he takes no money from lobbyists or special interest groups. No one has control or influence over his decisions — he makes them for the good of the people of Queens and the other boroughs.

A tough leader in a tough town, he has fought crime with a modern, well-equipped police force using leading-edge technology. Year after year, crime has decreased in the city, including a 17 percent drop just this past year.

Bloomberg knows that jobs and their creation are vital to keeping businesses in New York. He observes how resilient the private sector can be. Restaurants watched their patrons downgrade from steaks and a bottle of wine to burgers and beer and rebound to meatloaf and a glass of wine during the past few months.

It takes a leader, not a follower, to navigate the kind of economy that we will all have to live through for the next several years. Bloomberg is a true visionary who looks for the traps and pitfalls before we fall victim to them. He is already worrying about the 2011 budget as he keeps his eye on what Albany is doing too.

There is no other candidate currently running or contemplating a run for mayor that is as qualified and worthy of your votes in the coming Primaries and November elections. To cast your vote against Bloomberg and for someone else is simply throwing your vote, and maybe your future, away.