I sent this letter to the following Queens publications: Forum South, Queens Chronicle, Queens Gazette, Queens Times, Courier Sun, Queens Ledger.com, and the Rockaway Wave...The only one with the courage to print it was The Forum South...I'm not saying the other editors were led by the vast amount of money they received from the Bloomberg advertising machine but it is a plausible reason for their lack of exposing their readership to an alternative view of King Bloomberg...By the way, they all happened to endorse the Mayor...You Decide...
Dear Editor:
I am writing to advise my neighbors about the upcoming election for mayor and the 32nd city council seat.
I feel it it is imperative to our very existence as a community to elect Bill Thompson for Mayor and Frank Gulluscio for City Council and in turn to throw out Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his sycophant City Councilman Eric Ulrich.
Having paid close paying attention to Mike Bloomberg's claims that have inundated my mail box and my television screen.
To listen to his claims you would be led to believe that Mike Bloomberg is the best thing to come down the pike since sliced bread.
Unemployment in the City is the highest it’s been since 1993 (16 years) - 10.3% ;
Water rates have risen 98%;
MTA fares have increased, and services reduced or cut - his appointees on the MTA board have voted for fare increase after fare increase – 50% since he took office;
Despite lacking desperately-needed affordable housing, the Mayor has advocated for more luxury condos, many of which now sit unfinished or empty in the current economy – a blight on our communities;
Homelessness in the City has risen over 9% since 2005 – A record number – over 12,000 people;
We have 15,000 children sleeping in our City’s shelters every night;
His appointees on the rent guidelines board have voted for increase after increase – 37% since he took office;
Under mayoral control of our schools, parents have been locked out of having a voice in their children's education, our children are being taught to take tests and arts, music, physical education, class trips, civics are being cast aside to make time for more test prep;
Our neighborhood parks are in a state of disrepair, while Central Park is being rented out to the highest corporate bidder for private functions;
Working families are leaving the city because they can no longer afford to live here; and
While working families struggle to make ends meet, the Mayor gave out $69 million in raises to the City’s top managerial employees.
The truth of the matter is quite different in my estimation, here are some details that Mayor Mike leaves out of his message to voters and why I feel New York City is worse off because of his misplaced priorities and bad decisions.
And let's not forget, that in 2002 Republican Michael Bloomberg (please notice that neither the Mayor nor the Councilman has their Republican party affiliation on any of their campaign literature – another attempt to deceive the voters) vetoed an attempt by the City Council to overturn term-limits, saying that signing the measure would “undermine the will of voters.”
In 2005, the Mayor said that it would be “disgraceful,” to overturn the law, which was voted on by the voters by referendum not once, but twice.
The Mayor showed as early as Spring 2008 that he was about to flip flop – and began to develop a course of action to run for a third time. Changing the law was now in own best interests - since it became clear that his presidential aspirations were going nowhere and after courting both candidate in hopes of a vice presidential selection - he then moved forward and decided to overrule the will of the voters.
In October 2008, Republican Mike Bloomberg told the world he was officially going to seek a third term. The mayor used the economy as an excuse to go against the will of the people he serves, claiming he was the only person who could guide us through the economic crisis.
I would ask the obvious question, if he is such a financial wizard why didn't he see the upcoming downturn in the economy coming?
The Mayor's financial heavy-handedness reared it's ugly head in the term-limits battle with heavy pressure put on the non-profits who receive his largesse to testify to amend the term limits law – I was there and saw it for myself.
As we're taxed to death the Mayor would not abide by the fair spending cap set by the Campaign Finance Law - his outrageous spending has meant more of our tax money is doled out by CFB to help level the playing field. - a near impossible task given Bloomberg's wealth and his outrageous spending.
This brings me to the City Council race, upon review of the Campaign Finance Board records it is clear that Bloomberg's obscene wealth has pervaded this contest, as well.
Of the $58,295 raised by the Ulrich campaign, $28,600 or 48% came from 24 people from outside the district with job titles such as Investment Banker, Real Estate developers, Hedge fund operators and other corporate moguls. It is clear that these expenditures are meant to influence the candidate – if placed in office who will Councilman Ulrich be beholden to - us the voters of the district or the mayor and his moneyed interests.
Therefore based on the above, I urge my neighbors to vote for the hard-working Democratic candidates who care about the people of New York City - Bill Thompson and Frank Gulluscio.
Thank you.
David M. Quintana
