Crains New York - December 3, 2012 - (Page 10)

OPINION E Competence in city gov’t The effects would be pernicious. Taxpayers would pay more and get less, agencies would be bogged down by incompetent supervisors, and private-sector stars would be deterred from signing up. City Hall would be consumed by many agendas instead of one: doing what’s best for the city. The risk is not just that New York slips back to the days of unchecked crime, rotting infrastructure and declining population. It’s that it won’t keep moving forward, as competing cities around the world are doing. In the increasingly mobile world of international business, today’s job centers can become tomorrow’s tumbleweed scenes. For all the progress that Mr. Bloomberg has made, the road ahead is daunting. Tax revenue is stagnating, poverty is at a 20-year peak, the middle class is squeezed, and storm preparation looms as an immense undertaking. The city is more attractive to young adults than ever, but when they begin to have families they struggle to find housing they can afford and schools they can trust. Addressing these problems will be hard enough without the burden of placating political power brokers and labor unions. That’s why the contenders for the mayoralty must endeavor to be elected without incurring debts that can only be repaid at the expense of the public interest. CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS editor in chief Rance Crain publisher, vp Jill R. Kaplan EDITORIAL editor Glenn Coleman managing editor Jeremy Smerd deputy managing editors Valerie Block, Erik Ipsen assistant managing editor Erik Engquist senior producer, news Elisabeth Butler Cordova news producer Amanda Fung contributing editor Elaine Pofeldt columnists Greg David, Alair Townsend crain’s health pulse editor Barbara Benson senior reporters Theresa Agovino, Aaron Elstein, Lisa Fickenscher, Matthew Flamm reporters Chris Bragg, Daniel Geiger, Andrew J. Hawkins, Annie Karni, Adrianne Pasquarelli web reporter, producer Nazish Dholakia art director Steven Krupinski deputy art director Carolyn McClain staff photographer Buck Ennis copy desk chief Steve Noveck copy editor Thaddeus Rutkowski data editor Suzanne Panara assistant data editor Emily Laermer researchers Eva Saviano, Amy Stern intern Ali Elkin ONLINE AND INTERACTIVE SERVICES senior web developer, interactive Chris O’Donnell ADVERTISING, MARKETING AND PRODUCTION advertising director Trish Henry senior account managers Irene Bar-Am, Courtney McCombs, Suzanne Wilson account executive Jill Bottomley Kunkes sales coordinator Danielle Wiener newsletter product manager Alexis Sinclair credit Todd J. Masura (313-446-6097) director, audience development Michael O’Connor senior marketing manager Catherine Schutten event producer Courtney Williams reprint sales manager Lauren Melesio production and pre-press director Michael Corsi advertising production manager Suzanne Fleischman Wies TO SUBSCRIBE: For print and digital subscriptions or customer service, e-mail customerservice@crainsnewyork.com or call 877-824-9379 (in the U.S. and Canada) or 313-446-0450 (all other locations). $3.00 a copy for the print edition; or $99.95 one year, $179.95 two years, for print subscriptions with digital access. www.crainsnewyork.com/subscribe TO ADVERTISE: Contact Advertising Director Trish Henry at thenry@crainsnewyork.com or call 212-210-0711. www.crainsnewyork.com/advertise FOR INFORMATION ON OUR EVENTS: Contact Event Producer Courtney Williams at cwilliams@crainsnewyork.com or 212-210-0257. www.crainsnewyork.com/events TO CONTACT THE NEWSROOM: arly in Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s tenure, a bright young investment banker showed up at City Hall for a job interview. It was several hours past 5 p.m., so she expected the government offices to be dark and deserted. But they were buzzing with activity. Impressed, the applicant left her high-paying job to join the administration. Her talent and hard work soon won her the position of senior policy adviser to the mayor. A hallmark of Mr. Bloomberg’s three terms has been his ability to attract smart, hardworking, nonpartisan people truly motivated by public service. After 11 years, it almost seems like nothing out of the ordinary. But longtime New Yorkers haven’t forgotten the days when mayors doled out patronage and enacted policies to satisfy campaign boosters. Concern that such practices might return in 2014 permeated the conversations of business leaders at the Future of New York conference sponsored by this newspaper last week. And who could blame them? The Democratic contenders jockeying for position in the mayoral race are all courting the support of organized labor and union-backed advocacy groups that will expect something in return—wage and benefit mandates imposed on private employers, overly generous contracts for public-sector workers, and administration jobs and commission appointments for their leaders and allies. Democratic Party bosses who back the winning candidate will also expect to be paid back. The fear: a City Hall filled with political hires CRAIN’S ONLINE POLL COMMENTS End city’s biz subsidies? CRAIN’S ‘FUTURE’ CONFERENCE SPARKS AN ONLINE DEBATE SHOULD FAST-FOOD WORKERS BE PAID $15 AN HOUR? Yes. These workers are not making enough to live on in New York City. No. Employers shouldn’t have to pay more than the law requires and the market demands. Date of poll: Nov. 29 289 votes 37% Yes 63% No I rarely agree with Comptroller John Liu, but this time he had it right when he told the audience at the Crain’s Future of New York mayoral contenders’ panel that the city should end all tax subsidies for business (Crains NewYork.com). Why is the government picking winners and losers in the first place? And if a project is so good, why does a business need the government to pay for it? I, too, could make a lot of money if you, through the government, paid for my office. Mr. Liu is pointing out that the subsidies rarely produce the promised results and are therefore not a good use of our money. He is also saying that if the playing field were level— e.g., lower taxes across the board—more companies would stay here and thus more people would benefit rather than a select few. Let’s hope more politicians take up Mr. Liu’s argument that we can achieve better results by lowering taxes rather than rewarding those select few who are well connected. —dave I agree with John Liu, but let’s face it: He is the last guy on earth to implement such changes. —staten island taxpayer All hope is not lost if even a Democratic hack like John Liu can see the light on subsidies. And he did in fact propose to cut taxes with the money saved on subsidies. —george It is impossible to build anything but the highest-end housing in Manhattan without tax breaks. No one would finance it. If taxes here were closer to the national norm of one-twentieth of revenue instead of one-third, subsidies would not be necessary. —dan m. John Liu’s comments fly in the face of reality. Go check the economic-development arms of the so-called low-tax states and you will see they still offer incentives and tax breaks on top of their low rates. Mr. Liu is running as a Democrat but fails to realize that his own party touts targeted incentives and subsidies. The president specifically plans to offer tax breaks to companies that bring back manufacturing jobs from overseas. Please, Mr. Liu: Explain how that is different from New York City’s tax breaks and subsidies to select businesses. Theory is one thing. Reality on the ground is another. The fact is that cities, states and nations all compete with each other and all offer some sort of subsidy. To deny that shows that someone shouldn’t be considered for leadership. —andre 711 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017-4036 editorial phone: 212.210.0277 fax 212.210.0799 Entire contents ©copyright 2012 Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. ®CityBusiness is a registered trademark of MCP Inc., used under license agreement. PUBLISHED BY CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. chairman Keith E. Crain president Rance Crain secretary Merrilee Crain (1942-2012) treasurer Mary Kay Crain executive vp, operations William Morrow senior vp, group publisher Gloria Scoby group vp, technology, circulation, manufacturing Robert C. Adams vp/production, manufacturing David Kamis chief information officer Paul Dalpiaz founder G.D. Crain Jr. (1885-1973) chairman Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. (1911-1996) FOR THIS WEEK’S QUESTIONS: Go to www.crainsnewyork.com/poll to have your say. CRAIN’S WELCOMES SUBMISSIONS to its opinion pages. Send letters to letters@crainsnewyork.com. Send columns of 475 words or fewer to opinion@crainsnewyork.com. Please include the writer’s name, company, address and telephone number. 10 | Crain’s New York Business | December 3, 2012 http://www.crainsnewyork.com/subscribe http://www.crainsnewyork.com/advertise http://www.CrainsNewYork.com http://www.CrainsNewYork.com http://www.crainsnewyork.com/events http://www.crainsnewyork.com/poll

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - December 3, 2012

Crains New York - December 3, 2012
In the Boroughs
In the Markets
The Insider
Business People
Opinion
Greg David
Report: Best Places to Work
Classifieds
For the Record
Small Business
Real Estate Deals
New York, New York
Source Lunch
Out and About
Snaps

Crains New York - December 3, 2012