Trying to Reverse the Trend

Will John Burnett become NYCs first Republican comptroller since 1945?

By ROBERT GOLOMB ell John Burnett, the Republican Party nominee for New York City comptroller in the November election, that there are six registered Democrats

ELECTION 2013
for every registered Republican in New York City, and youll be a bit surprised to see a smile coming to his face. Tell him that in New York Citys last citywide election in 2009 the Republican candidate for comptroller, Joseph Mendola, won less than 20 percent of the popular vote in losing to current and now retiring Comptroller Democrat John Liu, and youll see the smile remaining. Tell him further that you have to go back to Joseph D. McGoldrick, who served from 1938-1945, to find the last elected Republican comptroller of New York City, and you will see that he still appears unbothered. When I brought all this New York City electoral history to Burnetts attention during an interview in his

like and respect Joe, but he did Manhattan campaign office not run an active campaign, held Sept. 11 the first and the Republican Party quite interview he has granted folfrankly did not encourage him lowing the previous days to do so. I promise you I am Democrat Party primary running to win and will have won by Scott Stringer the Republican Party fully he appeared undaunted. behind me. In addition, unlike Actually, I am well aware of Joe, who had an opponent runthe disparity [between ning against him on the Democrat and Republican Conservative line, I will be on registered voters], and I know how handily John Liu defeat- John Burnett, Republican candidate for New York City the Republican, Conservative and the Independent School ed Joe Mendola, but none of comptroller. Choice lines. that alarms me, he said. As to the point about The reason the 6-1 outnumbering York City voters have the ability of Democrats to Republicans in the and intelligence to put their party McGoldrick, Burnett maintained city fails to alarm Burnett is simple, affiliation aside and vote for the per- the same glass-is-half-full outlook he said. If you look at the son whom they believe will best on his chances in November. I know its been a long time since a Republican victories in the last five serve them. Equally simple for Burnett is the Republican was elected as compmayoral elections, the elections of Mayor Giuliani and Mayor reason Mendola was so crushingly troller. To me that means the time is Bloomberg clearly show that New defeated by Liu four years ago. I long overdue [to elect one].

Burnett, who told me he had done extensive research on the history of New York City comptrollers as he prepared for the race and thus knew just who McGoldrick was, added, While its been almost 70 years since a Republican last served [as comptroller], many of the Democrats [who served as comptrollers] were fiscally conservative. That includes Mario Procaccino [1966-1969], Harrison Goldin [1974-1989], William Thompson [2002-2009] and to a certain degree even John Liu now.

As comptroller, I will always remember that we are making investments for millions of men and women whose retirement benefits are financially crucial to them.

hile both Democrat and Republican party leaders felt that Elliot Spitzer, with all of his publicly well known personal and political baggage, would have been the easier opponent for him, Burnett said he looks forward to the race against Stringer, which officially began the moment Stringer was declared the winner on primary election night. Whether I ran against Mr. continued on page 17

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JEWISH WORLD OCTOBER 25-31, 2013

Trend
continued from page 12 Spitzer or against Mr. Stringer, the critical issues confronting New York City as a municipality and its eight million good citizens remain the same. ... I am using the opportunity of this interview to challenge Mr. Stringer to a series of televised debates where we can present our views, which contrast sharply on the three most vital issues pension plan enhancement, government accountability and transparency, and job growth through private sector economic development. We discussed Burnetts pension plan reform plan, a controversial proposal to combine the five separate pension plans of New York City public employees into one comprehensive plan. I dont know why it would be considered to be controversial, he asserted. This is a plan that John Liu believed in, and, in fact, had started to work on. It will reduce by millions of dollars the redundant administrative costs and fees incurred by running five separate systems. When they retire, these savings will go directly to the pension plans of our hard-working police officers, firefighters, teachers and sanitation workers as well as to all other New York City civil service employees. ... It is true, I fully understand, that people do not like change, but this is a change which studies show will benefit all New York City retirees. Burnett, whose mother, Mary, a cook and dietician at a child-care center, died in 2005 of congestive heart disease and whose father, James, a chef, died in 2006 of cancer, told me that pension plan reform is a deeply personal matter for him. My parents depended greatly on their pensions, he said. This dependence increased as they became ill later in their lives. So I have a deep personal understanding of why maintaining a healthy pension plan is so important to so many people. ... As comptroller, I will always remember that we are making investments for millions of men and women like my mom and dad, people whose retirement benefits are financially crucial to them both today and in the future. Less controversial is his plan for a greater degree of accountability and transparency in the city government, about which he contended, Every candidate for [New York City] comptroller over the past years has promised to reduce waste and fraud in government. Few have made good on that promise. But, he promised, this is something I will begin to address my first day in

office. I have 20 years experience with auditing and compliance with multimillion-dollar businesses and corporate and individual investments. I will utilize this experience to formulate risk assessments and corrective action plans, which will save our hard-working citizens millions of their tax dollars. Yet Burnett believes his most important responsibility will be in the area of private sector job growth. A mixed economy which includes small businesses, corporations, construction and the financial industry are vital to the financial well-being of our city. It creates well-paying jobs and is responsible for generating the tax dollars that pay for the services the city provides. ... We must have tax policies that encourage already-existing businesses to remain in the city and which attract other businesses to come here. There is nothing in our economy that can take the place of thriving and growing businesses.

well-paying jobs in the city, Burnett, promised, if elected, to use the power of my office to support and facilitate and create projects such as the renovation of Midtown East [a plan supported by Mayor Bloomberg to pass new zoning laws in the immediate area surrounding Grand Central Station,

lowering of taxes will, as they have when implemented in the past, encourage small and large businesses to expand and make new investments. Once this occurs, I promise that you will see many thousands of jobs created in our town.

There is nothing in our economy that can take the place of thriving and growing businesses.
enabling real estate developers to replace old, supposedly out-of-date buildings with high-tech, energyefficient new constructions]. This plan, and others like it, will help New York City retain its status as the business capital of this growingly competitive world, and also create thousands of new jobs in the construction industry, which will then mushroom into thousands of more jobs in restaurants and other local retail establishments. Reiterating a previous statement, Burnett also promised to use my experience in auditing and assessments to fight fraud and waste in the city government and reinvest the cost savings to lower taxes on both small and large businesses. Such

urnetts rise in the business world evolved from working as a teenager at a cash register at Pathmark to serving in a mid-management position in the financial industry to, while still in his 30s, overseeing multimillion dollar corporate and private investments on Wall Street. Holding a B.S. with dual honors from NYU and an MBA from Cornell, he credits his parents for his success. My parents always stressed the importance of getting a job and performing your best at every job you ever have, he told me. They also stressed the importance of studying hard and receiving the best education available. ... I am thankful that my dad was alive to see me receive my undergraduate degree. It is my greatest sorrow that my mom, whom I promised I would complete my education, was not there to see me graduate from NYU and Cornell, which not coincidentally, were among the schools she wanted me to attend. The father of a 19-year-old daughter who is a sophomore at an out-of-town college, Burnett explained to me that he wants his daughter to live in New York City after she graduates from college in three years, but said that his daughter, like thousands of other young adult New Yorkers, might find it difficult to secure a suitable job. On that note, our conversation returned to the economy. The citys unemployment rate is a staggering 7.5 percent, on par with the national average. Hardest hit are the young just graduating from high school or college and African Americans and Latinos of all ages. To reverse this trend and create

urnett noted that as city comptroller he will be responsible for the investment of pension funds in foreign nations. He promised to continue the longtime practice of making investments of New York City Employees Retirement System (NYCERS) only in countries that are aligned with America politically, culturally and economically. To Burnett, the nation that best meets that criteria is the State of Israel. Israel and America, he stated, share the Judeo-Christian heritage, democratic principles, and an entrepreneurial-driven economic system. That is why New York City comptrollers since the birth of Israel have felt comfortable making investments there. That is why I will continue and expand upon that tradition. One of the specific areas that Burnett said he would look to expand NYCERS investments is in the Israel Bond sector: John Liu deserves credit for reinvesting $15 million [NYCERS] funds in State of Israel Bonds. Israel Bonds have Robert Golomb is a nationally in fact become an intricate part of the fixed income allocation of the published columnist who writes on pension fund portfolio. I believe a range of educational, cultural and that we should look into increasing political topics.

our investments [in these bonds]. Noting that Israel has never failed to make payment of interest or principal since the first Israel Bonds were issued back in 1951, Burnett added, What you are looking for in investing pension funds is security. And Israel Bonds provide that security. When I asked Burnett if the prospect of Iran possessing nuclear weapons, predictably weakening Israels short- and long-term security, would make investments in Israel less attractive, he responded, Certainly not. We can never allow nations that seek to destroy us to influence our behavior. When I think of the threat that Iran poses to Israel, I am reminded of the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, who as you know, was a great friend and supporter of Israel. Dr. King stated that a threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. In that same spirit, a threat to Israel is a threat to our own freedom and to our own survival. ... We share a common enemy who, because of our common freedom, humanity and goodness, hates us both. So as Americans we will always stand by Israel and make certain that our mutual enemies never intimidate us and never prevail.

JEWISH WORLD OCTOBER 25-31, 2013

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