Downtown

Crain’s backs Lhota for mayor

October 21, 2013 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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In a campaign where almost nothing is going right for Joe Lhota, the Republican candidate for mayor got a boost late last week when Crain’s New York Business endorsed his bid for City Hall.

In an editorial published on Oct. 18, the business publication touted Lhota over Democrat Bill de Blasio as the best choice ton run the city for next four years.

Crain’s cited Lhota’s managerial skills as a major reason New Yorkers should vote for him on Nov. 5.

“Boiling down the two mayoral candidates to their basic experience and skill makes our choice clear,” the endorsement reads.

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The ability to run a city as complex as New York “depends not on ideology or charisma, but on management skill and familiarity with government,” the editorial reads.

Lhota, the former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, served as a deputy mayor in the Giuliani administration. Prior to serving as deputy mayor, Lhota was a city finance commissioner and a budget director.

The editors of Crain’s described Lhota as having “resume tailor-made for the job.”

“The first function of the city’s CEO is to run its sprawling bureaucracy, and Mr. Lhota has the ability and experience to do that exceptionally well. He would break down the silos in which some city agencies reside, ensuring that they work together and within a clear chain of command. At the same time, he would not run roughshod over commissioners who understand their fields far better than he does. Mr. Lhota possesses a refreshing combination of competence and humility,” the editors wrote.

By contrast, the editors wrote, de Blasio, the city’s public advocate, has a thin resume when it comes to managerial experience “and he has not made a case for himself as chief executive.”

The Democrat’s plan to raise taxes on the wealthy to fund universal pre-kindergarten is unlikely to happen, the Crain’s editors predicted.

The editorial was a bit of good news in what has been a trying mayoral campaign for Lhota, who trails de Blasio by more than 40 points, according to most polls.

The results of a NBC 4 New York-Wall Street Journal-Marist College poll released on Oct. 10 showed de Blasio, who represented Park Slope as a city councilman before he became public advocate, with a commanding 67 to 23 percent lead over Lhota.


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