Dear friends
Williams has long advocated for less police interaction with individuals experiencing mental health crises, noting that 18 people have died during confrontations with cops over the last six years. He’s pressed for a separate 988 call-in number that would dispatch social workers and mental health professionals instead of cops.
Williams is right to ask about the $52 million allocated to the centers. It’s a worthy investment, but only if the program is operational. The center in the Bronx has not opened and the other center, in East Harlem, has served fewer than 50 people.
“There is no lack of demand for these services but there appears to be a substantial lack of delivery,” Williams noted.
Asking questions is one of the important ways that the public advocate speaks on our behalf. It’s a watchdog position, which involves a fair amount of barking. Less well-known is the fact that the NYC Public Advocate is second in line for the top job should the mayor be unable to execute their responsibilities.
Williams has put his body on the line in pursuit of racial and economic justice. As a legislator, he opposed Stop & Frisk and helped pass landmark legislation to end job discrimination against people who were formerly incarcerated. He has the Working Families Party endorsement, and that affirms my good feelings about Jumaane Williams.
Luckily, there is almost no chance that Williams won’t prevail because I’d be hard-pressed to rank a number #2. The other Democratic candidate, Theo Chino, has no record of public service. For me, this is disqualifying. Independent Tony Herbert ran in 2016 for the same position and boasted at the time of being endorsed by all the police associations.
The WFP endorsement for Brad Lander, provides some clarity for the comptroller race. Lander has done a lot of good work in his two terms in city council. In addition, Lander’s 8-person campaign staff just unionized, with his enthusiastic support, which is pretty cool.
The comptroller is our fiduciary. A fiduciary has a duty to act in a client’s best interests. In this case, we are the clients, and the comptroller has to audit municipal spending and keep an eye on finances generally — including city contracts and public pension funds — on our behalf. The pension funds alone are valued near $225 billion. Because of the scope of the job, the NYC Comptroller manages a staff of about 800.
After the public advocate, the comptroller is next in line for the job of mayor. (I confess that I have never thought about the line of succession for the city, although it’s clearly a matter of importance.)
There are ten Democrats in the race, so we really have to rank responsibly. My plan for today was to have finished my research on the comptroller candidates in order to work on the rankings. But during the pandemic, I discovered procrastination.
This is a true confession. In my previous life, the closest I came was to put off grading papers by doing (much-needed) housework or lesson-planning. Now, with less to do, I have had a taste of how difficult it can be to hit deadlines (even when they are self-imposed).
Well, we have four weeks until the primary. I will research comptroller-wannabes this week. Meanwhile, my favorite earthling is in the kitchen, talking to their father.
Here’s your action for today: practice saying the word fiduciary without laughing.
with love,
L