Monday, January 03, 2011
Best Of Both Worlds
The first two days of 2011 brought much-welcome 50-degree weather to New York City -- a gift that helped produce a Great (though Incomplete) Melting of the Great Blizzard of 2010. However, the diminution of the white stuff has hardly restored the pre-storm political status quo in the city. As a wise man, once said, there's no Republican or Democratic way to pick up garbage. Well, there's hardly a liberal or conservative way to spin the reaction to how Bloomberg mishandled the snow clean-up, thus, this Daily Kos diarist basically nails it.
One of Michael Bloomberg's worst weeks in office began one week ago, as the city revolted over his administration's non-handling of the 19" storm. That this huge failure on the part of city sanitation department occurred just weeks after:
1) the full revelation of an $800 million cost-overrun city-consultant scandal;
2) Bloomberg declaring that the city should take over from the state the responsibility of the incarceration of juvenile criminals;
3) Bloomberg, again, gearing up what seemed to be a strategy for national office.
So, at a time when the mayor calls for more power and more responsibility, he's shown incapable of dealing with a major part of his current portfolio. Not so good. The storm also hit at a time when the mayor has been taking major hits for his naming of Hearst publishing executive Cathie Black as city schools chancellor. Bloomberg won that battle, but it was just one more indication that -- like previous big New York political figures -- third terms can become a disaster.
The one minor saving grace in the storm story, however, was The Post's scoop that -- as bad as Bloomberg's management was -- there may have been another factor in the non-cleanup: The Department of Sanitation workers union may have staged intentional wildcat work "slowdowns" to protest announced layoffs. If true, given an already increasing backlash against public sector unions and their generous benefit packages, this story could be the proverbial straw to break the union-camel's back -- even in historically pro-labor New York. Look for their to be much support for the launch of an investigation into the DSNY workers.
If the fallout from the snow could end up being the deserved comeuppance of both an arrogant out-of-touch billionaire mayor and an arrogant out-of-touch public labor force, well, the temporary misery of New Yorkers may well have been worth it.
Catch my drift?
|
One of Michael Bloomberg's worst weeks in office began one week ago, as the city revolted over his administration's non-handling of the 19" storm. That this huge failure on the part of city sanitation department occurred just weeks after:
1) the full revelation of an $800 million cost-overrun city-consultant scandal;
2) Bloomberg declaring that the city should take over from the state the responsibility of the incarceration of juvenile criminals;
3) Bloomberg, again, gearing up what seemed to be a strategy for national office.
So, at a time when the mayor calls for more power and more responsibility, he's shown incapable of dealing with a major part of his current portfolio. Not so good. The storm also hit at a time when the mayor has been taking major hits for his naming of Hearst publishing executive Cathie Black as city schools chancellor. Bloomberg won that battle, but it was just one more indication that -- like previous big New York political figures -- third terms can become a disaster.
The one minor saving grace in the storm story, however, was The Post's scoop that -- as bad as Bloomberg's management was -- there may have been another factor in the non-cleanup: The Department of Sanitation workers union may have staged intentional wildcat work "slowdowns" to protest announced layoffs. If true, given an already increasing backlash against public sector unions and their generous benefit packages, this story could be the proverbial straw to break the union-camel's back -- even in historically pro-labor New York. Look for their to be much support for the launch of an investigation into the DSNY workers.
If the fallout from the snow could end up being the deserved comeuppance of both an arrogant out-of-touch billionaire mayor and an arrogant out-of-touch public labor force, well, the temporary misery of New Yorkers may well have been worth it.
Catch my drift?
Labels: Michael Bloomberg
