September 2001

Everything You Manhattan/Bronx Chapter Hosts Mayoral Candidates Meeting

Though only several months old, the Manhattan/Bronx Chapter recently got off to a good start by hosting a successful mayoral candidates meeting.

One of six new New York State Society of CPAs chapters, the Manhattan/ Bronx Chapter flexed its political muscle and invited every single candidate running for mayor to a Sept. 6 breakfast gathering at the Princeton Club in Manhattan. While many of the better-known candidates were not able to attend because of scheduling conflicts surrounding the primary election initially slated for Sept. 11, they all sent representatives in their stead. The event drew about 100 guests and coverage by the New York Daily News and The New York Times.

“I thought it was informative…For a first-time event and not knowing how to go about it exactly, I think we made a real step forward, and I think the Society will be taken seriously in the future (on these kinds of occasions),” said Manhattan/Bronx Chapter president William Aiken.

Though the breakfast allotted for eight-minute speeches to discuss individual platforms, followed by a question-and-answer session, the predominant message amongst the major and even some of the minor New York City mayoral candidates focused on picking up where the Rudolph Giuliani administration will leave off.

“This election is about ensuring the successes over the last several years are maintained,” said Dan Hevesi, son and representative for Alan Hevesi, Democratic candidate for mayor.

Several other representatives echoed Hevesi’s sentiments.

“[Mike] Bloomberg has asked everyone to remember where the city was eight years ago,” said John Ravitz, campaign spokesperson for Republican candidate Michael Bloomberg. “We have had a renaissance in this city and we can’t go back.”

Republican candidate and CPA Herman Badillo championed Giuliani administration policies too, but emphasized the need to reform the city’s public school system through improved standards, which he believes will lead to more job opportunities for city residents.

Though John Siegel, representative for Democratic candidate Mark Green, stopped short of praising the current mayor’s administration, he spoke of Green initiatives that seemed fundamentally Giuliani-like. Among those, Siegel said Green supports dissolving the city’s Board of Education while holding the mayor accountable for the public school system’s failures; opposes funding for new social programs; and is a strong advocate of commercial growth, in favor of a revitalization project in Brooklyn. Green, however, draws the line when it comes to Giuliani’s unwielding approach to crime, which Green believes has permitted too many instances of police misconduct and created distrustful relations between minorities and the police department, Siegel indicated.

There were other Giuliani detractors as well, with the most obvious being Libertarian candidate Kenny Kramer, Green party candidate Christopher Brodeur and Kenneth Knuckles, spokesperson for Democratic candidate Fernando Ferrer. “He does not believe the policies of the last eight years need to set the stage for the future,” Knuckles said of Ferrer. “We need someone who understands that New York City’s greatest strength is in its diversity. In a diverse and complex city like New York, the mayor must set a tone that brings New Yorkers together, does not divide them.”

Police misconduct aside, however, the underlying message of the meet-the-candidates breakfast meeting appeared to be a pledge to expand upon the city’s prosperity over the last eight years, with a particular focus on creating affordable housing, reducing crime and improving the city’s school system.

Other attendees included a representative for Democratic candidate Peter Vallone, as well as independent candidates Bernard Goetz and George N. Spitz.