EIGHT IS ENOUGH!! PART II

EIGHT REAL REASONS WHY BILL THOMPSON MUST BE ELECTED MAYOR TO SAVE THE SOUL OF NEW YORK AND WHY WE CANNOT AFFORD BLOOMBERG EVER AGAIN

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Fire Commissioner Scopetta, according to Barrett failed to make sure that the mandatory inspections were made to ensure Deutsche Bank’s safety during post 911 demolition. No one knows how much this may have contributed to the fatal fire. Add that to the fact that there was a rise in construction incompetency, increased safety violations during that time, with few, if any, permits to Black contractors. None of which were reviewed upon Ms. Lancaster’s stepping down. Per Barrett, Lancaster was forced out over failings unrelated to Deutsche Bank, with deputy Building Commissioner LiMandri elevated to commissioner, and former Deputy Mayor Doctoroff becoming the president of Bloomberg LP. By the way, watch for an increase in demolitions as Bloomberg cronies rush to get a jump on properties should he not be re-elected next year.

Barrett also pointed up Bloomberg appointees who have served no useful purpose to the City of New York. Among them “Giuliani's cousin, Ray Casey, installed by Bloomberg as a favor to Giuliani“ who apparently took a profitable Off-Track Betting (OTB) Corporation into such a “financial tailspin that, six and a half years later, Bloomberg finally prevailed on the state to take the nearly bankrupt bookie over.”

Robert Walsh, who was appointed Small Business Services commissioner, mishandled two great minority initiatives. When his agency's mishandling of both was revealed, the mayor said "nobody read" the damning critique. Per Barrett, Bloomberg garnered “half of the black vote and a third of the Hispanic vote in 2005 as a white Republican running against Fernando Ferrer. During the 2005 campaign, he spent millions buying the minority vote, and announced a new City Hall program designed to recruit black and Hispanic apprentices into the construction trades. Bloomberg's Commission of Construction Opportunity targeted minorities during that campaign, but never followed through once he was re-elected.

To further entice the Black and Hispanic vote, he also initated an executive order creating a new Minority and Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) program. Subsequently these programs which he highly advertised during 2005 campaign, are no where to be found. SOUND FAMILIAR? BLOOMBERG MAKES BIG PROMISES, WITH LITTLE TO NO RESULTS.

Bloomberg’s minority hiring and contracting are a joke. According to Barrett, after the 2005 election “the implementation of both initiatives was immediately relegated to an obscure city agency called the Department of Small Business Services (SBS)—which had, surprisingly, more blacks at the top under Rudy Giuliani than it does today under Mike Bloomberg.” The four Black commissioners no longer exist, and the department is being run by white employees. (???!!)

Incidentally, where is the mainstream media in the call for accountability? Per Barrett: "If it were anyone else, there would be much more accountability on these promises." He also points out that the media "quiescence" has selectively protected the Bloomberg administration. "I have never seen it so still," he says, contrasting the media's lack of penetrating questions about Bloomberg's second-term record with the intensive coverage of his three immediate predecessors: Giuliani, David Dinkins, and Ed Koch. But if you check the members on Bloomberg LP’s board, you’ll find Rupert Murdock, owner of Fox TV, New York Post and other media outlets. Get the picture?

What is called Bloomberg’s self financing of his campaign, can also be called blatant attempts at vote buying. How many votes can a candidate buy whether with dollars or false promises. And how deep does the commitment go? It is rumored that among the individuals or organizations said to endorse Bloomberg in the Black Community are Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Floyd Flake and Rev. Calvin Butts. Fact or rumor, the assumption is that their constituencies will follow lock step behind them. The assumption that their endorsement will actually trickle down to their followers is (hopefully) erroneous.

One has only to look back at the Nixon “trickle down theory” to remember what it felt like to get trickled on.

Bill Thompson the right choice for Mayor of New York City.

Stay Tune For Part 3 'Eight Is Enough'

Stay Blessed and Eclectically Black,

Gloria Dulan-Wilson