North by South

Liu Lucks Out as Comptroller

    Some might say he's lucky, but John Liu and his hard working staff might say that luck had nothing to do with it. On November 3rd, Liu made history by becoming the first Asian-American to be elected to New York City comptroller.

Liu will take office in January after a series of hard fought primaries and run offs. Born in Taiwan, Liu moved here at the age of five with his parents and two brothers. He attended New York City public schools and graduated from Binghamton College. He has served on the City Council for District 20 and was Chairperson of the Council's Committee for Transportation.

In the following audio clip from the day after his election, Liu calls for change, a word that can't be uttered without recalling the themes from President Obama's campaign.

John Liu on WNYC

To learn more about the comptroller office and John Liu, visit these related posts:

Comptroller: Are the Candidates Actually Trolls?

John Liu

Got(baum) A Complaint?

New York City's government system is a never ending maze of titles, red tape, and public offices that seem to serve very few purposes beyond confusing the citizens they supposedly serve.

Take Betsy Gotbaum, the latest subject of our reoccurring feature, "What Does This Politician Do?" She is New York City's public advocate, which speaks volumes about our system seeing as how the city has to actually employ someone to advocate for the public. The public advocate, according to the official web page, is a publically elected office also known as the "ombudswoman, or go-between[.] The Public Advocate answers complaints about people's problems with city government, investigates ineffective agencies and programs, proposes solutions that make government more efficient, and helps communities gain better access to government.

The Public Advocate is responsible for reporting the failure of any City agency or official to comply with the New York City Charter. The office also monitors the effectiveness of the City's public information and education efforts about citywide initiatives."

Unfortunately, Gotbaum's term as public advocate is ending and the race for her replacement is heating up. The Democratic candidates are Bill de Blasio, Eric N. Gioia, Mark Green, Norman H. Siegel, and Imtiaz S. Syed. The only Republican candidate is Alex T. Zablocki.

 

While all of these candidates are sporting fancy political resumes, it seems likely that this public office is just another pit stop for those participating in the three ring circus of New York politics. How many useless public offices can they create for this city? Can the citizens of New York just start creating their own?

Comptroller: Are the Candidates Actually Trolls?

As my blog title might explain, I'm from the deep south. Now I live in the biggest, baddest city in the north and as active a voter as I was in the south, I've yet to vote in a local election here in New York City. This is largely because my political vocabulary has not adjusted to public offices with names like "comptroller". What is a comptroller? Does it have anything to do with trolls? Is your office under a bridge? In order to vote, must I answer a riddle? If elected, are you required to dye your hair hot pink, blue, or red and have a jewel for a belly button, and then phase out of popularity in the early 90's?

I've decided this is the year to vote in the election, but in order to do that, I must first figure out what a comptroller does. According to the official NYC comptroller web page, the comptroller is an independently elected official that "ensures the financial health of of New York City by advising the Mayor, the City Council, and the public of the City's financial condition. The Comptroller also makes recommendations on City programs and operations, fiscal policies, and financial transactions. In addition, the Comptroller manages assets of the five New York City Pension Funds, performs budgetary analysis, audits city agencies, registers proposed contracts, etc. His office employs a workforce of over 700 professional staff members."

That gendered description of the office brings us to the first and only female, Melinda Katz, currently in the race for New York City comptroller. Katz has spent four years as a corporate lawyer, five years as an assembly person, and eight years as the Council's chairperson of Land Use.

To find out more about another candidate, John Liu, click here.