Siegel's Limited Ambition
Speaking at the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats club last night, public advocate candidate Norman Siegel said he doesn't plan to use the office of public advocate as a stepping stone.
The civil rights lawyer has said before that he is interested in protecting citizens' civil liberties, but he doesn't want to make the painful decisions that an executive has to make. According to one attendee, Siegel said, as an example, that he couldn't bring himself to close libraries on Sundays as a cost-saving measure.
It's not huge news in and of itself that Siegel doesn't have mayoral ambitions. (No one, as far as I know, ever thought that he did.) But the notion that he's not looking to become public advocate in order to move on to an office with real powers is something he's likely to use to help differentiate himself with the other candidates in the race, including, possibly, Eric Gioia and Scott Stringer. Adam Clayton Powell IV is also running for public advocate.
On a somewhat related note, last night’s CBID was the first meeting held by the club's new president, Chris Owens, a 2006 Congressional candidate, son of former Congressman Major Owens and something of a music artist.
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This distinction is particularly pertinent to the office of Public Advocate -- its untapped oversight role seems particularly designed for a political outsider. as opposed to someone only interested in racking up a few nice news stories and a war chest over the next 4-8 years while they lay ground for a mayoral bid...
Designed for a political outsider?
This position wasn't "designed" for anyone. It was part of the great '93 bargain. This position was ceremonial from the very beginning and is an absolute fraud on nyc taxpayers. It should have been abolished along with the board of estimate.
I would agree that under Gotbaum the office has been nothing but ceremony - and very bumbling incompetent ceremony at that. But because of its very vagueness, it is ripe for definition by somebody who has a cohesive vision for how it should operate. With a mere 4 million dollar budget, I think it's hardly been a great expense on taxpayers -- and with a watchdog like Siegel in office, who has specific plans to switch seniors and food stamp recipients over to federal programs that would pay them higher benefits and get them off the city's dole -- the office could actually SAVE NYC taxpayers a lot of money, much like the comptroller ideally does.
Norman is perfect for the job of Public Advocate. His opponents have their eyes on another prize (being the Mayor)and would use this office as ineffectively as Betsy Gotbaum did. Norman is a true public advocate - that what he has been his entire career. He truly helps people and makes a difference.
Can we please elect this guy already? The last thing we need is a political hack in the office. Gotbaum has been an embarassment.
I supported Siegel last time he ran, and last night at the meeting, he inspired me again. The more I know about New York politics, the more it makes sense to get this man into office. I hope people reading this donate to his campaign, which can be found at http://normansiegel.com/ .
I'm not on his campaign staff, but he's someone I would gladly work for.
Why should we vote for him if he's not a Republican?
Damn the Democrats.