Does The New York Times have a double standard favoring Mayor Michael Bloomberg? Leonie Haimson, executive director of Class Size Matters, says yes.

Via Leonie Haimson and The Huffington Post:

The New York Times was a great cheerleader for continued mayoral control over our schools - including Bloomberg’s ability to appoint a supermajority of members to the Board of Education (which he likes to call the Panel for Educational Policy, to make clear it has no real power to overrule him.) The paper also supported his overturning of term limits, without a peep of dissent.
Read rest of story…

‘Ugly Side’ - CWA Local 1180 Ad from Elizabeth Benjamin on Vimeo.

Via Elizabeth Benjamin:

Here is one of the anti-Mayor Bloomberg TV ads that will be hitting the airwaves tomorrow as part of CWA Local 1180’s $500,000 campaign to assist Democratic mayoral nominee Bill Thompson by giving heft to his claim the mayor is an out-of-touch billionaire.

At a rally later this morning, the union will be handing out “Bloomberg Bucks” that feature a photo of the mayor wearing a (drawn-on) crown and read: “This note is legal tender for buying votes, third terms and the City of New York.”

Bloomberg Bill Draft Proof

There’s also a Web site: NYCisnot4Sale.com.
Read rest of story…

Via City Hall News:

Faced with no primary opponent, Democratic incumbent Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. thought he would cruise to his third term in office. Vallone, who holds the same Queens seat his father held for almost three decades, had only $40,000 on hand a few weeks before election day, and decided to forego matching funds, figuring that they were a waste of taxpayer money.

But that was before Lynne Serpe, a 38-year-old environmental activist and Green Party candidate for the seat announced that she had $100,000 on hand and qualified for over $70,000 in matching funds.

“There are people in the district who have wanted resources that they haven’t gotten in 35 years,” she said. “I think people are ready for a change.”
Read rest of story…

From Josephine Lee:

What does your community report card say for Mayor Bloomberg?

While his $200 million budget in campaign ads have covered up the reality of most New Yorkers, the Chinatown community recently publicly grade doomberg on the impact of his administration on the working families and small businesses, making up the majority of our communities.

Is your community better off now than they were eight years ago before Bloomberg came into office?

We urge other communities in the five boroughs to issue their own report cards.

Score the Mayor on the issues below and how he has affected your community in the last 8 years.
Read rest of story…

* Because of Bloomberg’s “hubris for changing rules,” Eileen and James Cohn will vote for Bill Thompson on Nov. 3, nor will Mimi Burnham, who opposes the TimesLedger Newspapers endorsement of Bloomberg. These are fed up New Yorkers.

* Rudy Giuliani is campaigning for Mayor Bloomberg, reports New York magazine.

* Bill Thompson supported Hudson Rise last night.

* Thompson also revisited the term limits hearings from last year, and gave New Yorkers a chance to reread their speeches and remind the City that they have not forgotten Bloomberg’s arrogant reversal of the will of the people.

By Neil Fabricant

“Michael Bloomberg is the most corrupt politician New York has seen in our generation.”

Isn’t it about time that someone said that? Well, I just did.

Hyperbole?

In the past eight years Bloomberg has paid millions of dollars to the Republican Party and ended up with its ballot line three times. He did the same with the Independence Party, which also received sole source contracts from the Bloomberg administration. As far as I know, these contracts have never been questioned, let alone investigated. Is nobody interested? Taxpayer money aside, Bloomberg simply says:

It’s my money and I can spend it any way I want. And it’s all legal. And you’re a disgrace to even question it. I stand for progress, not politics.

Giving public officials cash in exchange for favorable government action is of course a crime. Granted, the real estate lobby, the hedge fund operators, the predatory equity crowd, and to be bipartisan about it, the trial lawyers do it all the time. If the exchange or the promise is explicit and can be proved, people go to jail. But the quid quo pro is rarely contemporaneous. Instead, the players carry around ledgers in their heads, political due bills. But it’s corrupt and everyone knows it. It’s just that the beneficiaries have made so much of it legal.
Read rest of story…

From the Thompson campaign:

On Friday, October 16 beginning at 11:30 a.m. on the City Hall steps Bill Thompson will host a rally of New Yorkers angry over Mayor Bloomberg’s decision to overturn the term limits law. Bill will once again denounce the Mayor and will invite individuals that testified last year to once again read their testimony. Bill will be joined by various elected officials including Council Member Bill de Blasio, Council Member John Liu, Council Member Leticia James Council Member Rosie Mendez, Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito and Council Member David Weprin

On October 16, 2008, hundreds of ordinary New Yorkers lined up to testify against the multi-billionaire Mayor‘s efforts to overturn the will of the people. Tomorrow they will have a chance to let the Mayor hear their voice again.

Via Adam Lisberg and The Daily News:

Mayor Bloomberg’s campaign may look unbeatable - but some insiders see troubling signs that he could be tossed out of City Hall.

They fear lingering voter anger about term limits, low-turnout primaries, passionate anti-Bloomberg Democrats and complacent Bloomberg supporters could combine to create the biggest political upset of a generation.

“I’d be worried,” said one of the mayor’s prominent backers, who fears moderate pro-Bloomberg voters won’t bother voting Nov. 3 if they assume the mayor will win.

“If you’re just a voter who kind of likes Bloomberg, you don’t come out,” this backer said. “If you hate Bloomberg . . . you come out.”
Read rest of story…

An anecdote by Adam Kornfield:

“Mayor Bloomberg, nice to meet you. I’m Adam Kornfield.”

Its this past Sunday in Union Square in NYC as I shake hands with New York’s Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

Searching for Martin’s Pretzels at the farmers market as recommended by a Toastmasters friend, I came across a Bloomberg supporter handing out fliers. Bloomberg spent two terms (8 years) in office and recently had city council change the rules so he could run for a 3rd term.

“What’s Bloomberg going to do in the next 4 years that he couldn’t accomplish in the past 8?” I asked. “He’s right over there, ask him yourself” the supporter told me.

As I turn around, Mayor Bloomberg comes walking directly towards me. After introducing myself, I inquire:

“Why do you think you can change the rules for yourself?”

His responded by shrugging his shoulders, giving me a quizzical look, and walking away.

His face read: I did it because I can.

My lesson from Bloomberg:

X Change the rules to benefit yourself
X Don’t apologize

Mike Bloomberg is worth $17.5 billion dollars, the country’s 8th richest man: He must know something.

* Bloomberg says if he is elected a third term, he’ll get rid of the Public Advocate, reports the Staten Island Advance.

* The Downtown Express reports that Bloomberg thinks parents do not need a role in deciding issues like school crowding, school zoning or the planning of new school sites.

* College kids are actually talking about the mayoral election, reports The Ticker.