Why Working Families Are Voting for Bill Thompson

How can we make a City that works for everyone?

That’s the question the Working Families Party asks when deciding which policies and candidates to support in New York City.

And that’s why, on Tuesday, we’re backing Bill Thompson for Mayor.

Our current mayor has his own ideas about how New York City should work, but it has become increasingly clear that many New Yorkers are left out of his vision.

After eight years under Mayor Bloomberg, we are concerned that homelessness in the City is actually on the rise, the achievement gap for black and Latino kids hasn’t closed, and many development projects have become boondoggles that drain tax dollars and divide communities instead of creating new jobs and affordable homes.

The Mayor says he just needs more time to deliver — but the way he has tried to get that time offends our basic democratic values.

First the Mayor ignored New York City voters and extended his own term limits. Then, when he realized the backlash from that move might still cost him the election, he began burning through unheard-of amounts of campaign cash — spending in just three hours what the average New Yorker makes in a year.

As a great political leader once said, we need a change — and Bill Thompson has what it takes.

Bill was born and raised in Brooklyn and has dedicated his life to improving New York City, serving as a strong City Comptroller for the past eight years.

Bill has proposed clear, compelling plans to put NYC on a better path through these tough times. He will make our tax system fairer, cut class sizes and give parents back a voice in our children’s education, and actually deliver on a vision of truly sustainable development that empowers middle- and working-class New Yorkers, not the super-rich.

But most importantly, when Bill Thompson goes to work for New York City, he’s going to ask the same question the members of the Working Families Party ask every day:

How can we make a City that works for everyone?

With your support on Tuesday, Bill Thompson will have the chance to answer that question, and we will start to see a City that puts working families first again.

On November 3, we can make a brighter future for New York. I urge you to vote for Bill Thompson on the Working Families Party ballot line.

 

Follow Dan Cantor on Twitter: www.twitter.com/workingfamilies

Comments

[gjdagis]

We can all make suppositions about why the election turned out the way it did but even a perfunctory glance at the election returns, broken down by district, illustrate the most accurate assesment. I noted that Thompson was supported extremely strongly in black neighborhoods, and Bloomberg in Jewish ones. The election appears to clearly suggest that there was more than a hint of racism as evidence by this fact.In summation: There doesn't seem to be any political inferences that can be made from this election.

[JHMarshIII]

It's true about Mayor Bloomberg's campaign targeting and changing the message as needed.

Bloomberg did little for affordable housing during his terms. He worked to gut the existing rent regulation system and to enrich the landlords by stacking the RGB board with pro landlord members.

In Stuyvesant Town - Peter Cooper Village, Bloomberg worked against the historic tenant led 4.5 billion dollar bid to buy their homes, favoring instead "the free market" (AKA his buddy Jerry Speyer, now owner.) He told us instead we could live in work-force housing that would someday be built in Queens.

As early as May, Bloomberg targeted voters in our community a known treasure trove of prime voting Democrats

When the response was tepid he suddenly changed his message, championing tenants, even having chutzpah to tout his minor and irrelevant tenant accomplishments.

Many of us here in Stuyvesant Town are glad that his margin of win will not yield the mandate he had hoped for. But we are fearful of his next four years as now he can make bold moves without fear.

Despite having spent close to $100 million, he only achieved a 5-6 point lead over his publicly funded opponent Bill Thompson, who ran a poor campaign, only spending 10% of what his opponent spent. That speaks volumes.

I predict the WFP did well in this election. Because of the 3-term mayor, it will gain ground continuing to be an influential force in NY politics.

John - Tenant Advocate