New York’s Bloomberg, a billionaire businessman, embraces bumbling Con Ed

by Richard G. Carter
"Everybody needs money. That’s why they call it money!"--Danny DeVito, "Heist" (2001)

When Michael Bloomberg, a Democrat-turned-Republican billionaire businessman, announced in 2001 that he was running for mayor of New York, I laughed out loud. Like many longtime political observers, I knew Bloomberg knew nothing about politics.

Now in the midst of his second term, Bloomberg blew it big-time with bizarre compliments on Con Edison’s inept handling of its responsibilities in the horrendous heat wave in the city. This includes a 10-day blackout of 100,000 people in northwest Queens.

It develops that my original assessment of this political novice--an inexperienced moneybags sorely lacking moxie--was dead-on. Pure and simple, Bloomberg is a bad joke as a politician and an even worse joke as mayor.

He suffers from political blackout.

The best I can say about Bloomberg is that he is not Rudolph Giuliani--whom he surprisingly succeeded. You know, addition by subtraction. Of course, the unspeakable Rudy may well become president in two years. But that’s another story.

But Bloomberg’s un-Giuliani best leaves a lot to be desired in running the world’s most important city. His public dizziness in asking New Yorkers to thank Kevin Burke, Con Ed’s chief executive officer, in the wake of the utility’s shortcomings, was mind-boggling. And blindsiding the elected officials standing there was just plain dumb.

That’s Bloomberg for you. His political acumen is zilch. When it comes to talking tough to this big, widely reviled utility, he falls on his face. As director of public affairs for Con Ed’s Manhattan Division (1980-1982), I know something about how it publicly reacts to bad news. More later on the mayor and Con Ed.

Bloomberg initially switched political parties to have a better chance of being elected mayor. He reasoned his competition would be much less formidable. Smart, I thought. And it worked--thanks largely to the enlightened efforts of Dr. Lenora Fulani and her New York City Independence Party, on whose line his name has twice appeared.

Indeed, Fulani and her party are the unchallenged reason Bloomberg was elected and reelected. The numbers don’t lie. Significant numbers of Black Americans voted for him as an Independent in 2001 and 2005 at the expense of the Democrats.

As Fulani emphasized in the aftermath of last year’s election, nearly 75,000 votes were cast for Bloomberg on the Independence Party line--a 26 percent increase over 2001.

This included some 47 percent of the city’s Black voters and was largely due to her grass roots efforts. Bloomberg knows this, but he’s too politically tone-deaf to admit it.

In reality, however, Bloomberg’s record as mayor has showed little that appeals to Black people. For example, his failure to address a high unemployment rate for Black men is unconscionable.

And his obsessive support for the abortive West Side stadium for the New York Jets, which would have cost taxpayers multimillions, was ill advised. Of all the public statements made about the mayor since he’s been in office, the one I like best was by City Councilman Charles Barron in the 2005 mayoral campaign.

To wit: "He is an aloof billionaire who is not in touch with the people of New York City. Nets, Jets, Olympics in the name of creating affordable housing. That’s Bloomberg."

However, at the conclusion of his first term, my feelings about Bloomberg had moved from cold to lukewarm. Perhaps, I figured, he just might work out.

After all, he received a ringing endorsement from the "New York Amsterdam News"--and I am loathe to ever disagree with Bill Tatum, its publisher emeritus.

Yet, I was bothered by Bloomberg’s apparent belief that an elected office isn’t much different, or demanding, than shuffling business papers at a desk. And then came the continuing Con Ed debacle.

By giving Con Ed’s CEO a pat on the back in the July 24 photo-op, Bloomberg displayed his lack of political savoir-faire. Nobody cares about Kevin Burke and his hefty salary and stock options. Is it any wonder three Democrats representing blacked-out Queens were visibly upset?

The faces of Assemblyman Mike Gianaris and Councilmen Eric Gioia and Peter Vallone Jr. showed they weren’t buying it. In the 17 days since, Bloomberg has been haranguing New Yorkers about the need to conserve energy by turning-up air conditioner thermostats in hot weather. But turning-off the lights in the Empire State Building doesn’t really help, Mr. Mayor.

What about Con Ed? What will you do to ensure that this much-hated utility doesn’t permit another dangerous, life-threatening situation to happen?

Does it matter to you, Mr. Mayor that thousands of people without power in the city suffered grievously in the stifling heat and tortuous humidity?

And that small retailers lost thousands of dollars in business and perishable goods? And that Con Ed’s chintzy $3 credit on the next residence bills and $200 for businesses is an insult?

Finally, if my time at Con Ed taught me anything, it’s that no matter how talented our public relations people were--and we had some good ones--the men and women at the top called the shots. They said "jump" and we asked "how high?" Believe it.

Apologizing for Burke’s incompetence is a sacrilege, Mr. Mayor. Instead, you should demand his resignation and demand that Con Ed be prevented from raising its rates to pay for equipment damage that prompted the blackouts. Customers should not bear the financial burden of costly bumbling by a big business.

Bottom line: Bloomberg is a businessman, not a politician. As mayor of New York, he’s a fish out of water--aloof and out-of-touch. And that’s the name of that tune.

Richard G. Carter, a freelance writer, is a former columnist with "The Milwaukee Journal" and the "New York Daily News."