FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PR- 201-04 July 20, 2004 MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG RELEASES 2nd CAMPAIGN ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT LISTING THE STATUS OF CAMPAIGN PROMISES Administration Is Fulfilling 86% of its Campaign Promises Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today released his annual Campaign Accountability Report. The announcement took place under the 79th Street and New Utrecht Avenue Subway Station, where the Mayor first met Anthony Santa Maria while campaigning in 2001. Mr. Santa Maria’s skepticism about elected officials keeping their promises served as the inspiration for the initial report released in February of 2003. The update includes all 381 proposals large and small, from reducing crime and building affordable housing to increasing senior citizen programming on NYC-TV and establishing a community garden policy. This report allows New Yorkers to examine every proposal the Mayor put forward during his campaign, to see what progress was made during his first two-and-a-half years in office. All the information and the status of each project from the first report are also included so the public can examine the progress that has been made in the last 17 months. In the 30 months since Mayor Bloomberg took office in January 2002, 196 of the 381 campaign proposals have been fully implemented and 130 are currently being implemented, meaning a total of 326, or 86%, have been or are on their way to be being fulfilled. “I believe elected officials must be accountable,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “I am proud our administration has been able to implement so many campaign promises and ideas. We have brought crime down to record levels, acquired Governors Island from the Federal Government and are building tens of thousands of units of affordable housing for working New Yorkers. But accountability means more than just highlighting your successes. It is also means when you change your position, you let the public know why. People deserve to know what you have accomplished and what you have not.” “I have lived in Brooklyn for 65 years and I have never seen a politician take his campaign promises seriously,” said Mr. Santa Maria. “Mike Bloomberg does. He even takes the subway to work like he promised!” The Mayor’s campaign promises and proposals cover a wide variety of topics, from creating a 311 Citizen Service Hotline to making extra funds available for school children to get their vision and hearing tested. Some are major changes in policy, others are smaller in scope and intended to improve the quality of life or improve services for those who interact with City government. The report outlines all proposals large and small, completed and reconsidered. Since then, 114 more proposals have been implemented, including creating Neighborhood Health Profiles, creating a Citywide Clergy/Police liaison program, providing free transfer from the Roosevelt Island Tram and linking raises for City workers to productivity enhancements. The report breaks the proposals into five categories: Done, Launched, To Launch, Not Done, and Reconsidered. As of the 2004 report, 196 proposals have been “Done,” meaning the proposal has been implemented. 130 have been “Launched,” meaning action has been taken to implement the proposal. 2 proposals are categorized as “To Launch” meaning a course of action has been designed and will soon be implemented. 28 were “Not Done” meaning the administration has not taken any action, planning or otherwise, but still intends to pursue the proposal. 25 promises and proposals have been “Reconsidered,” meaning the administration has decided not to implement the proposal or has taken actions contrary to the promise or proposal. As noted above and in the chart below, the administration reconsidered implementing 25 proposals, although the intent of some has been achieved through other means. For example, the Mayor proposed alternate side truck deliveries to alleviate Midtown Manhattan traffic. After taking office, the Mayor and Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshall decided that the best way to ease traffic conditions would be to charge trucks to make deliveries in Midtown through Muni-Meters and the congestion parking program, rather than alternate side deliveries. Additionally, the City’s economy is now turning around and bringing tax relief to homeowners and hard working low-income New Yorkers is possible, but last year, the Administration raised taxes to provide vital City services. Raising taxes was a reversal of a campaign pledge, but it was necessary and it helped the City navigate the most severe fiscal crisis in a generation.
“I call on all elected officials to join me and to produce their own reports on the campaign promises they made. The more seriously we take our campaign promises, the more honest and realistic our campaigns will be. This will lead to better and more effective government and will restore faith in a system that sorely needs it,” concluded Mayor Bloomberg. MEDIA CONTACT: Edward Skyler / Jordan Barowitz (212) 788-2958 |
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