Crains New York - March 4, 2013 - (Page 12)

REPORT 2013 ELECTIONS See DEMOCRATS on Page 15 12 | Crain’s New York Business | March 4, 2013 Bio The 46-year-old became City Council speaker in January 2006, outmaneuvering several colleagues to win the post and an inside track on the mayoralty. A former tenant organizer, she was named chief of staff by Councilman Thomas Duane, then won his seat when he joined the state Senate. The Chelsea resident would be the city’s first female and first openly gay mayor. buck ennis Years in sectors public/private 22 3.5 WAR CHEST The public advocate since January 2010, Mr. de Blasio began his path to the mayoralty with a stint on a Brooklyn school board in the 1990s and then eight years on the City Council. A former campaign strategist, the 51-year-old served in the Dinkins and Clinton administrations, including under then-Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo, who remains an ally. Years in sectors public/private newscom 24 3 WAR CHEST Before resigning as Battery Park City Authority chairman last year to focus on his campaign, Mr. Thompson, 59, of Harlem, was city comptroller from 2002 through 2009. Previously he was deputy Brooklyn borough president and president of the Board of Education. The employment figures below reflect simultaneous stints as a public official and an investment banker. bloomberg news Years in sectors public/private 34 9 WAR CHEST The 46-year-old city comptroller was elected to his post in 2009 after eight years as a member of the City Council representing Flushing, where he lives. Before entering politics, he was an actuary for PricewaterhouseCoopers. Mr. Liu’s parents moved the family from Taiwan when he was 5. He graduated from Bronx High School of Science and Binghamton University, majoring in mathematical physics. Years in sectors public/private buck ennis A trail of evidence indicates what Dems would do Bill de Blasio E ducation. Public safety. Business regulation. Pick just about any Bloomberg administration policy and there’s a Democratic mayoral candidate ready to change it. Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Comptroller John Liu, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and former Comptroller Bill Thompson would each bring a new set of priorities to City Hall. While Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a billionaire businessman who personally bankrolled his three mayoral runs, his potential Democratic successors are longtime politicians courting support from special interests and donors. How exactly will they break from the Bloomberg way? Many of their positions on major issues facing the city—from the budget, to crime, to public pensions—are murky. But a trail of evidence left over the years offers a window to how they might govern. Ms. Quinn has left the least space between herself and the mayor, although she is suing to alter his homeless policy. Pressed by New York magazine recently on how she would differ from Mr. Bloomberg, Ms. Quinn finally indicated she would be more responsive to public opinion. Mr. Thompson, who focused on the mayor’s unpopular termlimits extension in his 2009 run against Mr. Bloomberg, has been cautious in staking out positions this time. Mr. de Blasio, a frequent Bloomberg basher, has taken progressive stances on several issues. Mr. Liu has been arguably the most liberal and critical of the mayor of all. Education. The public schools stand to undergo the biggest changes if, as expected, one of the Democrats wins. All but Ms. Quinn have publicly eviscerated the mayor’s education policies. And none appears willing to embrace the mantle of education reformer as intensely as Mr. Bloomberg has during his 11-plus years in office. Most significantly, the Democrats are likely to dial back the city’s emphasis on standardized testing, education experts said. “It’s not only standardized testing per se, but it’s how Bloomberg used standardized testing in particular for school report cards and teacher evaluations, including tenure decisions,” said David Bloomfield, a professor of education at Brooklyn College. “That is the area that’s most endangered.” To some, Mr. Thompson represents the furthest departure from Mr. Bloomberg’s education legacy. He ran the city’s now-defunct Board of Education prior to 2002, when Albany handed Mr. Bloomberg control of the school system.Mr.Thompson has spoken of having more children attend their local schools, seeking more input from the teachers’ union and having a career educator as schools chancellor. (Mr. Bloomberg named a litigator, a magazine publisher and a deputy mayor to the post.) Both Mr.Thompson and Mr. Liu have spoken against letting charter schools share space with traditional public schools. In the past, Mr. de Blasio was once supportive of co-locations but now calls the process fundamentally flawed. Ms. Quinn has called the issue a distraction from more important ones. The Democrats have all criticized Mr.Bloomberg’s practice of shutting down struggling schools. And the public debate over education— typified by loud, contentious Panel for Education Policy meetings about Bloomberg reforms—is likely to be less vociferous under a Democratic mayor. Mr. Bloomfield predicted that class size, an issue largely dismissed by Mr. Bloomberg, will make a comeback under the next mayor. Bill Thompson BY CHRIS BRAGG AND ANDREW J. HAWKINS John Liu Many Bloomberg policies would go if leading Democrats have their way Christine Quinn THE DEMOCRATS City Hall contenders chart new course 12 13 WAR CHEST

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - March 4, 2013

Crains New York - March 4, 2013
IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
THE INSIDER
SMALL BUSINESS
REAL ESTATE DEALS
BUSINESS PEOPLE
OPINION
GREG DAVID
REPORT: 2013 ELECTIONS
CLASSIFIEDS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE LUNCH
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crains New York - March 4, 2013