From Gothamist:In the first Democratic mayoral debate between City Comptroller William Thompson and City Council Tony Avella, the pair mostly attacked each other. But last night, Avella went after Thompson, questioning city's pension fund performance and comptroller's acceptance of donations from money managers and his past as head of the school board.
Avella called the pension fund situation "a huge scandal." As for Thompson's education record, NY1 reports that when the Comptroller "said he was proud of his work on the board and said it paved the way for mayoral control of the city's schools. 'Yeah, it led to mayoral control because you did such a terrible job,' Avella argued."
...in its article about the debate, the Times found, when responding to the first question (what would you do as your first act as mayor), that Thompson "seemed flummoxed, pausing for a painful six seconds, fumbling through a couple of false starts, then settling on a boilerplate answer: fire all of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s commissioners...When asked what steps he had taken to improve the environment, Mr. Thompson paused, then said that he was now chauffeured around the city in a hybrid sport utility vehicle."
13 comments:
shame, no money, no exposure, no knowledge, no votes.
reading the queens paper endorsments is like something out of the 19th century. the rich keeping the peasants ignorant.
and they call themselves roosevelt & kennedy democrats.
pathetic
A voter's ignorance is the clubhouse candidates bliss!
I thought Avella did a great job of answering the questions and found him to be a breath of fresh air. I hope the Channel 7 ABC exposure will help him. We need a fresh start. Thompson's been around too long and hasn't been as effective as he should have been. Avella has my vote. Please spread the word if you want a change in mayoral government.
actually he said he drove around in a hybrid vehicle, both candidates didn't seem to take the subway. and while all avella did was attack, i think thompson might have given some good answers. Though managing the board of ed, and collecting money from real estate people isn't a good way to win voter approval.
Tony carried himself well in the debate.
Thompson comes across as not very dangerous. But, he is. He takes money from developers.
They want to purchase their own elected officials. Thompson has a big "For Sale" sign on his back.
So, as seemingly mild as Thompson appears, it is a campaign facade.
With Tony Avella, what you see is what you get: A decent, honest, honorable, intelligent man of character.
Tony is not and will not be for sale - or rent. That's why fellow council members are so frightened by him. Tony is the one man that the Commissar fears.
An honest man makes the corrupt quake in fear of exposure.
You want control of your life and your family's future back in your hands where it belongs?
Vote for Tony Avella. Don't just trust him. Trust your own observations and instincts.
You already know how dangerous the Commissar is to you and your family. Dump him.
Sorry, but Thompson is only a tad better. He's just not rich enough to be an imitation Commissar.
But, after six months with developers' kickbacks, and Thompson will be comfortably well off enough to screw all New Yorkers.
Sadly, Tony will probably never be rich - or even upper middle class - but, no matter, it's just against his genetic grain to screw constituents.
Trust yourself. Vote for Tony Avella.
It was interesting that while Avella got his digs in against Thompson, Bill Thompson kept his attacks totally against Bloomberg. Thompson did give some good answers, but his take on Mayoral control of the Board of Ed isn't a good sign. Avella seemed to be more for communities and people. He must be doing something right because he doesn't have too many friends on the City Council. He's not a suck up.
Whatever you say about Tony is true, but a tree falling in the forest with no one around is a tree that never existed.
The system did a fabulous job of keeping him hidden and unknown. In politics, timing an image is everything.
Take a page from Queens history as an example. Edward Hart wrote the Flushing Remonstrance, but Bowne House ignores him for John Bowne who ducked out of town when the heat was on, and put his name on the line when it was all over but the shouting.
Tony is a man before his time.
Tony will loose.
Any Democrat who doesn't vote for Tony is a fool.
Let's face it, Lord Bloomturd and his gazillions will likely win against any challenger, but TONY is the ONLY one who can make the race interesting and force all of the city's ISSUES to the forefront, where they belong.
Thompson will be made a laughing stock,
so please vote for TONY AVELLA and make this raqce for Myor a good one.
NYC's David vs. Goliath mayoral election
will become a nationally covered event,
so please vote for Tony!
The system didn't keep Tony down, Tony kept Tony down.
Tony has great ideas, and is certainly a moral, honest person.
But Tony is a failure as a legislator. He was so abrasive and inflexible during his career that he couldn't even get a piece of legislation through his own committee. His district suffered, and the city as a whole suffered, because of his inability to cooperate and compromise.
If we would have had one of these political hacks, we may not like them so much, but they would have the juice and know how to pass legislation when their community needs it. To save our community before its destroyed by these rogue developers.
I like Tony as much as anyone, but he has failed.
Sometimes the people we like the most are just not cut out for being leaders. A mayor, and Council Person for that matter, needs to know how to work will all kinds of people and always stays focused on getting the job done for their constituents.
Tony has sacrificed the good of his district for nothing more than stubbornness and adherence to his own personal beliefs.
Moraled and honest...yes. Selfish and short sided...unfortunately so.
There is no excitement with Thompson. He has no chance against Blooomberg. I am a big fan of Avella, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.
Anonymous said:
"Tony has sacrificed the good of his district for nothing more than stubbornness and adherence to his own personal beliefs."
- - -
Drivel.
Whose beliefs must he adhere to? Yours? Mine? The Commissar's? Quinn's? The New York Times'? Daily News'? Post's?
Next time, try to think like a grown-up. It is more fun than looking like a moron.
"But Tony is a failure as a legislator."
Please, dear troll, why not prove your point by citing specific examples? Otherwise, go back to Parkside and tell them that you have failed to persuade us. Get it?
Excerpts from Councilman Avella's official website:
Since taking office in January 2002, Tony has authored important legislation that helped end a seven-week long private bus strike, encouraged boating safety and protested Neo-Nazi organizations that spread racism and bigotry.
Tony's historic "Demolition by Neglect" bill was signed into law by the Mayor in February 2005. This legislation enables the Landmarks Preservation Commission to prevent the willful destruction of our City's treasured landmarks by unscrupulous property owners. Tony's legislation was strongly supported by 46 preservation and civic groups including the Landmarks Conservancy, the Historic Districts Council and the National Historic Trust.
Working with the Mayoral administration and the Department of City Planning he has created new zoning districts such as R2A, which prevents the construction of "McMansions" and rezoned major portions of his district as well as numerous other neighborhoods in the City to preserve the unique residential character and quality of life.
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Seems like someone forgot to fact check their blog entry. Oops!
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