| Question on Cutting Costs
Liu- Look at the DOE, they have no bid contracts and they're insulated from the Comptroller's office.
Weprin- Reduce outside consultant costs and put money into the agencies themselves instead of contracting outs. I have the experience to implement these cuts.
Yassky- We have to examine ever piece of the budget. E.G: Tourism bureaus in overseas countries are wasteful. New jails in the Bronx and Brooklyn are higher on priorities list, which is wrong. Public health ads have value but they're not really essential. We need to make some hard cuts, but classroom funding is sacrosanct.
Question on Term Limits and the Repeal of 2 term limit into 3 term limit. Should Comptroller be 3 term instead of 2 term?
Weprin- I was a leader against term limit proposal because it invalidated the public referendums. I was planning to run from Comptroller from the start and we all knew about term limits when we were elected.
Liu- I agree with Weprin entirely. The way it was changed was terrible and I voted no. This instance showed how much power Bloomberg wields. Politicians are going to do what they do but you always have the Fourt Estate to keep people honest, the media. The media failed to do their job on this issue (except for Newsday!). NYC is being dominated by big dollars, which was revealed in the term limit debate. Goes off on a side tangent about Times Square/Herald Square closing and how that would be bad for small businesses.
Yassky- I support 12 year term limits as opposed to 8 year term limits across the board, because you need a strong check and balance. I believe in separation of powers and term limits is bad policy because it weakens city council. I consistently said it was bad policy. It would have been better to do it by referendum so that's why I offered an amendment to force it to a referendum. I voted this way even though it was bad for me because it was the right decision.
Liu- The answer is that you get a 4 year term and if the voters want you back, you'll get another four year term. The voters decided that they would limit their choices. We all are against term limits but the voters decided and we have to respect that. It's wrong to use the legislative process to do an end-run.
Weprin- Yassky tried to argue that he did the right thing but he tried to make everyone happy and actually made no one happy. It was up to the public to decide and he knew that his amendment wasn't going anywhere. He was not acting genuine.
Yassky- I knew that my votes would not make anyone happy but it was the right vote.
MTA- What's the best solution/what role does the Comptroller play?
Yassky- Comptroller Thompson put our a great proposal about raising registration fees on cars throughout the region. It would be fair, charge the bigger cars more, etc. Ravitch and the Silver plans are before us right now and I would support that rather than seeing subways going backwards. Even though Thompson's idea is terrific, we need to do anything other than let the subways fall apart.
Liu- Side comment about how Katz also supports Yassky on term limits so it wasn't a fair 2 on 1. MTA is not transparent at all and there are pockets of money squandered on unnecessary things and left "under mattresses" at the MTA. I was the official who exposed the MTA having two sets of books in 2003. That was my Tom Cruise A Few Good Men moment (does a rendition of it). That's part of what I've done as Transportation Committee Chair. The latest fuzziness was the false choice about either supporting the bridge tolls or the buses and subways will be cut. That's a crock. We need to bail out the MTA and it requires the 8% increase and the payroll tax. The bridge tolls are not necessary or needed, and they're a function of Manhattan corporate interests.
Weprin- I agree with almost everything Councilman Liu said. I was the only elected official who testified against the fare hikes. I support the Senate plan. The Senate plan says no tolls, lower fare increase, payroll tax to solve the immediate plan, and put in place auditing the books. The Senate wanted to solve the problem in the short run and figure out a long term plan. I'd like to see a 1% commuter tax, .5% to the MTA and .5% to the city to plug lost revenue of the commuter tax. Commuter tax is the non-resident income tax based on income and this 1% is only 25% of what NYC residents pay. They benefit from services and it's a fair tax.
Here are my impressions from the event:
I thought Councilman Yassky's answer about term limits was fairly lame. Councilman Weprin appropriately called him out for proposing an amendment that was DOA and then claiming here was in the right on the issue.
Councilman Liu was the most animated of any of the candidates, as you can see from his re-direct during the term limit debate. I was most impressed with him, as I felt he demonstrated the right mix of knowledge, charisma, and experience.
Councilman Weprin was also impressive but slightly off-putting. He basically came out and said that he planned to run for City Comptroller from the first moment he was elected City Council. That's a slightly odd thing to admit.
What are your thoughts about the race? |
