Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Holds Q&A at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa

April 16, 2015

Senator Thomas Harkin: Thank you, Bill. So I said about Bill de Blasio – a great thinker, but also a great doer. So very provocative thoughts – I don’t mean provocative in the sense of provoking it, other than just provoking our thinking on it, and how we should move ahead. So, would you be willing to answer some questions?

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Senator, it is a democracy – that requires questions.

[Applause]

Senator Harkin: If you have any questions, comments, or mild criticism –

[Laughter]

Mayor: Let me tell you, mild criticism would be a blessing after what I’m used to in New York City.

[Laughter]

Senator Harkin: So, anybody got questions? I’d be glad to pass the mic around.

Mayor: And we’re going to do media questions after, just so folks know we’ll see the media after.

Question: Hi – well, first of all, thank you being here today. Obviously, a lot of this work in income inequality focuses on the gap between the wealthy and the poor, but I’m just curious if there’s anything being done to address the persistent inequalities between men and women in the workforce? 

Mayor: Amen. And I would say – I just want one friendly amendment – I don’t even think this about the wealthy and the poor. I think it’s about the wealthy and everyone else. That’s my point. You’ve got a middle class that is declining, sadly. You’ve got a middle class where so many people are clinging to that perch in the middle class. So I actually think it is the wealthy have one reality, and the vast majority of everyone else is in the same boat. But yea, you’re exactly right, this movement for greater equality in terms of income has to address simultaneously the inequality in pay afflicting women. And I believe it will because I think that the income inequality crisis today has an inordinate effect on working women. Let’s face it, all the things I talked about in terms of how we actually support family – so many women in this country are having to deal with how do they support their kids, how do they find a way to get their kids a safe place after school, or early childhood education, or what if they’re sick. The women of this country take inordinate responsibility for those challenges. No disrespect to my fellow men but, let’s face it, the women are often the ones who face up in the face of those challenges. These changes would support women in particular, and growing the economic pie for working people would be one of the foundational ways we address pay inequality. But I think it’s the same thing – also as I’m talking about private companies need to increase wages and benefits. They have to have the demand put on them for pay equity. I think it has to be across the board in all we do.

[Applause]

Question: Hi, [inaudible] I’m a senior here at Drake. One of my questions was surrounding the current racial climate with police brutality, and targeted attacks, really. And my question surrounds how do you cope with having children of color in today’s very intense racial climate?

Mayor: We’re going through a painful time in America but, again, it is not a hopeless time. It’s a time where things are changing, and we must bring police and community together. We must change the paradigm to one that instead of what has been for a long, long time – a separation between police and a lot of communities they serve to the detriment of all, against the interest of all, against the safety of all. We’ve got to break through that. And I believe actually this moment – as painful as it is – is the precursor to that change. Look, in New York City, we had a huge controversy over the stop and frisk program for years. It was really creating a great division in our city. I’m very proud to have fundamentally changed that reality. We had 700,000 stops in 2011. We had 40,000-plus stops last year. And the ones that were happening last year were much more targeting folks who had actually done something wrong. We are working every day in New York City to reduce conflict between police and community, to reduce any use of force, to deescalate. It will not happen overnight because we’re talking about a very long history, but it’s happening. And the cellphone videos that have been part and parcel of this reality – and again, it’s been very painful these last few weeks. But through that pain is coming a rebirth because now we know there’s a different kind of discourse, there’s a different kind of accountability, there’s a different kind of transparency. I’m someone who is very hopeful about the role that body cameras will play in policing, going forward. We have a lot of work to do to figure out how to do it on the scale of New York City, but I’m very hopeful. I think a more transparent dynamic changes the way everyone thinks – so, that’s the backdrop. In terms of my own family, I’ve been very open about this fact. I think I share a reality with families all over this nation who have children of color. Until we make this change, of course we have to be careful to help our children understand the complexities they face. We have to help our children understand the police are there to protect them. And we want to encourage belief and respect for our police. And at the same time there’s a history we have to overcome, and parents have to sensitize their children to that. And that’s something that is a truth. Some people criticize me for saying that out loud. It has to be said. It’s part of how we change – acknowledge the problem. That’s what they say in psychology, by the way – acknowledge the problem. That’s the pathway to change. 

Question: Good morning, mayor. I just want to say thank you again for coming out. I’m actually a native New Yorker from Brooklyn, New York –

Mayor: Amen.

[Laughter]

Question: I couldn’t vote for you because I’m a native – I’m an Iowa resident now, but I definitely supported you. I just want to say that I think the proposal of progressive price indexing has – we’ve been hearing that for at last a decade now. And besides community discourse like we’re doing now, could you give us a clear process as to how we could apply that to the different tax systems you just mentioned, whether it’s capital gains, or social security, or the income tax?

Mayor: Yeah, I mean, I think we’re seeing – so the good news in this is you have – you know, once upon a time they used to talk about the Sagebrush Rebellion. You know, you’ve got something now happening in cities and states around the country where they’re moving forward on minimum wage, paid sick leave, living wage, a whole host of things are happening. Nebraska – yesterday I said, you know, watch out for assumptions about red states and blue states. I said yesterday, there are no red wages and blue wages. Everyone’s afflicted by this challenge. The state of Nebraska, the people in Nebraska pass a minimum wage increase by referendum last year. So, in some places it’ll be a referendum, in some places it’ll be through mayors and city councils, in some places it’s about state legislatures, but it’s happening already. Where is it not happening? Washington DC. And that is not to say that the senator – some of the folks that he worked with still there don’t want to do it. There’s some people who get it. There’s some people working for it. But there’s not a majority for it in either house. The president is calling for a lot of the right things, but it can’t move until we change the congressional dynamic, and that comes from changing the national discourse. So, I’m arguing this is where it changes. I’m arguing that if you want to see a higher minimum wage indexed to inflation, it starts in rooms like this in Des Moines, Iowa. I would say – oh, by the way, there’s apparently something happening in the next year or so in Iowa. I didn’t get a lot of details about it. Some – a lot of people seem to be visiting. I don’t know what that is. 

[Laughter]

But I would argue that every one of you has an inordinately large impact on the fate of our nation. Start demanding of people of both parties. Start demanding that they speak to these solutions and make clear what they’ll do. And that’s how things change. We’ve got some folks up here –

Question: Alright, thank you for being here, Mr. Mayor. My question is regarding the policy that was implemented a few months ago regarding arrests for certain amounts of marijuana possession. 

Mayor: Yes.

Question: How have you seen this policy be implemented in New York City? And what have you seen its effect beyond communities, especially those of poor minorities?

Mayor: We’re very, very proud of this change. And this is something that was deeply felt in my administration. We need to reduce the number of marijuana arrests. And it was deeply felt by our police leadership – that the arrests were – low-level possession of marijuana were creating and additional rift between police and community for no good reason. And what was happening? A lot of good people of color in particular – particularly young men of color – were ultimately being saddled with a criminal record for something that was – wrong – I’m going to tell you, according to law – wrong. But I would also put in the category of a mistake of a fairly small level. So we said, okay, if you do something wrong you’re going to get a summons, but you’re not going to get arrested. Since the policy was implemented, we have 65 percent fewer marijuana arrests – very proud of that fact. And by the way, what does that do? Now it brings those young citizens of our city a little closer to the police because they don’t feel affronted in the same way. And what does it mean for their family members who are so worried about the future of those young people? It makes them have a little more faith that the city is working in their interest, and the police are working in their interest, and it takes us one step closer. 

Question: I’d just like to say thank you again for being here to speak with us at Drake University. My question for you, mayor, if minimum wage is raised on a federal level, do you think government assistance programs such as WIC or SNAP should have their benefits or budgets cut?

Mayor: Well, I think given where people are economically today, the answer is no. We can – look at my city – 46 percent of the people struggling to get by. I would like to put this in context. There are 8.5 million of us in New York City. So when I say 46 percent, that’s pushing 4 million people in one city struggling to get by. And no, I think we’re able to succeed in raising the minimum wage, we don’t want to take away from families by reducing food assistance. So many working people in my city need food assistance just to get by. It’s not like what we all knew the American reality to be. It’s a very different thing. So no, we don’t want to rob Peter to pay Paul. Anything else?

Senator Harkin: Well, I’m told that that is supposed to be the last question. Not that I’m making the decision, as you understand –

Question: Senator, may I?

Senator Harkin: Okay, sure.

Question: Great. This weekend – Mayor de Blasio you were on Meet the Press and you called for our candidates to be clear –

Mayor: Just to clarify, are you media, brother?

Question: No, I’m not.

Mayor: Okay, because we’re going to see the media in a few minutes. Go ahead. You sound like media though – good radio voice. 

[Laughter]

Question: Thanks. You called for our candidates to be clear and lay out the whole economic vision. [inaudible] in your opinion would it be to have a substantive, issue-based debate through a competitive, contested caucus. 

Mayor: Well, first of all, let me note – a lot of progressive leaders around the country are gathering. We had a meeting at Gracie Mansion earlier in the month. And we’re gathering in Washington DC next month. And one of the things we’re going to do is put together for the fall a presidential debate for all candidates – both parties – to speak specifically about income inequality because we need to draw this forward.

[Applause]

Now your question is about specifically Iowa? Just say it again.

Question: [inaudible]

Mayor: Just that last part.

Question: How healthy would it be for our party and for the nation to have a substantive, issue-based, competitive, contested caucus here?

Mayor: Well, look, I am – have the distinct honor of being a veteran of two previous cycles. I was a precinct – I guess I could say captain in this case – a caucus captain in 2004 and 2008. It was one of the most fascinating experiences I’ve had in my entire political life. Tom, you have a heck of a state here. I learned a lot those days. But this gets – I think another way to say this is are primaries a good or bad thing? Or any, you know, contested caucus is a good or bad thing? I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all there, I really don’t. One of the things I think’s happening right now – I said this on Meet the Press. We’re experiencing some primary-like dynamics or caucus-like dynamics right this minute because so many people across the country – all partisan persuasions are demanding answers. Certainly many, many democrats are demanding answers of anyone who runs for the Democratic nomination – not just president – senate, governor, congress. So I think we’re in fact having a lot of that debate as we speak. I have seen primaries or caucus dynamics that were very productive, and that actually drew out deep conversation, deep thinking, deep contrast. And I’ve seen some that were just unproductive. So I don’t think it’s a one-size-fits-all. I think the debate needs to happen vigorously and right now.