By Anna Gustafson
The extent to which mayoral candidates city Comptroller William Thompson and City Councilman Tony Avella (D−Bayside) seem to agree became a running joke during a legislative forum in Little Neck Sunday as the two backed each other’s sentiments on everything from anger over the city Department of Buildings to mayoral control of schools.
“I hate coming to this microphone because this is something we’ll agree on again,” Thompson joked while criticizing the DOB during the Sunday morning event at the Samuel Field Y in Little Neck.
Both Thompson and Avella slammed the DOB, with Avella calling it the “most corrupt and incompetent agency in the city’s history” and Thompson saying “people have watched their neighborhoods be strangled because of the Department of Buildings’ lack of oversight.”
Sunday was the first time the two Democratic candidates had appeared side by side at a campaign forum. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is running for a third term as an independent, and U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D−Forest Hills), who has not officially decided whether to bow out or jump into the race, did not attend the event.
About 75 people were at the forum that was sponsored by the New York Post and the Community Newspaper Group, which includes the TimesLedger Newspapers, and a number of other groups. David Seifman, City Hall bureau chief for the New York Post, moderated the event, during which the candidates railed against their billionaire opponent, Bloomberg, instead of disagreeing with each other.
They did differ on whether or not there should be sports betting — Thompson said no and Avella said it should help to line city coffers, but for the most part the two seemed united.
Avella and Thompson agreed the state legislation giving the mayor control of the public school system should be altered but not eliminated. State lawmakers are slated to vote on the mayoral control law by the end of June.
“I’m not sure direct mayoral control is the answer, but I certainly don’t want to go back to the former Board of Education system,” Avella said.
While Avella said flat out he would fire city Schools Chancellor Joel Klein because he “has been a disaster,” Thompson skirted a direct response, saying, “If I’m mayor, I’ll bring in my own team.”
The candidates both slammed Bloomberg’s push to extend term limits.
When asked by Seifman what they would do to cut government spending in lieu of raising taxes, Avella said he would want to look into doing work in−house instead of contracting out for services. Thompson aimed his criticism at the DOE, saying it had wasted more than $300 million in no−bid contracts over the past year.
Though Bloomberg has already spent $18.7 million on his campaign, far more than his opponents, state Assemblyman Mark Weprin (D−Little Neck) warned residents that much can change in politics in a short time.
“People like to write off races early,” Weprin said at Sunday’s forum. “I urge you all to listen to the candidates. There’s always surprises that happen.”
The other sponsors of the forum included the Queens Civic Congress, the Northeast Queens Jewish Community Council, the Parker Jewish Institution for Health Care & Rehabilitation, the Samuel Field Y, the UJA−Federations, Queens Hadassah, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.
Reach reporter Anna Gustafson by e−mail at agustafson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 174.
