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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 190-10
April 30, 2010

MAYOR BLOOMBERG APPOINTS NATION'S PREMIER EXPERT ON INNOVATION IN GOVERNMENT – FORMER INDIANAPOLIS MAYOR STEPHEN GOLDSMITH – AS DEPUTY MAYOR FOR OPERATIONS

Director of the Innovations in American Government Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government

Cut Spending, Reduced Bureaucracy and Led Transformation of Downtown Indianapolis as Two-Term Mayor; Former District Attorney

Served under Presidents Obama and Bush as Chair of AmeriCorps National Service Program

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today appointed Stephen Goldsmith, the nation’s premier expert on innovation in government and the former Mayor of Indianapolis, as Deputy Mayor for Operations. Deputy Mayor Goldsmith currently serves as the Director of the Innovations in American Government Program and as the Daniel Paul Professor of Government at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He has served as Chair of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the AmeriCorps program, under Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, a position he has held since 2001. As Mayor of Indianapolis from 1992 to 1999, Goldsmith reduced government spending, cut bureaucracy and ineffective regulation, spearheaded a major expansion of public-private partnerships and led a transformation of downtown Indianapolis that was widely considered a national model for urban revitalization. Goldsmith will replace Deputy Mayor for Operations Edward Skyler, who announced last month he would be leaving City service for the private sector.

“In every aspect of City government, we have found innovative new ways to serve New Yorkers, and with more fiscal challenges ahead, that mission is more important than ever,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “In Steve Goldsmith, we have found someone who – perhaps better than anyone else in the nation – understands the power of innovation. Lots of people talk about ‘reinventing government’ – Steve Goldsmith has actually done it, leading the storied turnaround of Indianapolis. Since then, he has studied and consulted on management and governance in cities from coast to coast and around the world, and we consider ourselves very fortunate to have recruited him to New York City. He exemplifies pragmatic, nonpartisan leadership, and we’re thrilled to welcome him to City Hall.

“Today is also Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler’s final day with our Administration,” the Mayor continued. “He’s been with us from ‘before the beginning’ – from the first day of our first mayoral campaign – and is someone whose abilities I admire, whose opinions I respect, whose judgment I trust and whose advice I have relied on for the last decade. Ed has devoted every waking hour, and all of his considerable talents, to making life better for the people of our city. He has done an incomparable job and I want to take this opportunity to simply say – thank you, Ed.”

“For nearly 20 years, I’ve worked to challenge conventional wisdom and develop innovative new approaches to old problems,” said Deputy Mayor Goldsmith. “The Bloomberg Administration is the gold standard for innovative governance – always willing to try bold solutions to complex, entrenched challenges. It is an honor to join this team and I sincerely thank the Mayor for giving me the opportunity to help continue the incredible progress he has made in New York City over the last eight years.”

Downtown Indianapolis suffered from years of urban decay, with disinvestment, population flight and difficulties with crime. As Mayor of Indianapolis, Deputy Mayor Goldsmith was the leading force behind the rebirth of downtown Indianapolis, rebuilding long-neglected neighborhoods and spurring major investment. He oversaw more than $1.5 billion in new or rehabilitated parks, streets, sidewalks and sewers, all while reducing the City’s tax rate four times through improved efficiencies. The turnaround of downtown Indianapolis is widely cited as the model for the revitalization of downtrodden urban neighborhoods.

Deputy Mayor Goldsmith has written six books on governance, all focused on reinventing government and exploring new practices to achieve improved results, including, “The Power of Social Innovation: How Civic Entrepreneurs Ignite Community Networks for Good,” “Unlocking the Power of Networks: Keys to High Performance Government” and “Putting Faith In Neighborhoods: Making Cities Work Through Grassroots Citizenship.” He also has published a myriad of columns, essays, journals and book chapters.

Deputy Mayor Goldsmith has received numerous awards throughout his career including being named Public Official of the Year by Governing Magazine, receiving an Innovations in American Government Award from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and receiving the Archdiocese of Indianapolis Community Service Award.

In addition to his service as Chair of the Corporation for National and Community Service, where he has led President Obama’s national call to community service, Goldsmith previously served a number of nonprofit organizations, including as Chair of the Anacostia Waterfront Redevelopment Corporation and National Council for Public-Private Partnerships; and on the boards of the Center for Civic Innovation, the White House Task Force on Disadvantaged Youth, the Attorney General’s Commission on Missing and Exploited Children and the Council for Excellence in Government, amongst others.

Deputy Mayor Goldsmith graduated from Wabash College in Indiana and from the University of Michigan Law School, where he earned his Juris Doctor, with honors, and was Associate Editor of the Law Review. Deputy Mayor Goldsmith currently works as Senior Strategic Advisor at the law of firm of McKenna, Long & Aldridge, LLP. He also has taught at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and School of Arts and Sciences; at Columbia University as an Adjunct Professor; and at Indiana University as an Adjunct and Assistant Professor. He served as Chief Domestic Policy Advisor on the President Bush’s 2000 Presidential campaign. From 1979 to 1990, he served as Prosecuting Attorney for Marion County, Indiana. He served in the U.S. Army Reserves for six years, achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant.

The Mayor thanked Nathan Leventhal, Chairman of the Mayor’s Committee on Appointments and Andrea Shapiro Davis, Special Advisor to the Mayor, who collectively led the replacement search.







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