Not content with an unprecedented three-term stint at the helm of New York City, Michael Bloomberg is preparing to judge his peers from around the United States by his own exacting standards.
Launching a $9m competition to find the best new ideas for how to improve American cities, Bloomberg declared he wanted to share his talents with other municipal administrations he when leaves his City Hall eyrie for the last time in January 2014.
The "mayor's challenge" appears to be the latest step in what has been dubbed Bloomberg's plan to be "mayor of the world", in which would bring the experience gained at the head of New York City to bear on other administrations facing similar problems.
Like other initiatives that Bloomberg has championed in cities around the world, this latest one will be funded from his own ample pockets. Asked by Charlie Rose on CBS television about his motivations for launching the competition, Bloomberg replied: "I don't know what I'm going to do when I finish this job at the end of 2013, but I could do a lot worse than trying to help other cities. Everybody said I should worry about New York, but I'm part of America and the world, and I want all cities to do well."
The contest provides for a prize of $5m for the winning city, and additional awards of $1m for four runners-up. Any city in the US with more than 30,000 residents can enter, with the idea being for them to share their insights and actions so that other cities can benefit from them.
He really thinks he's the most awesomest thing since sliced white bread with non-transfat topping on it.
Never mind that crooks stole $700 million from the City Time project on his watch, the largest theft perpetrated against the City of New York ever.
Never mind that his 911 overhaul is $1 billion overbudget and costing people's lives because of delays.
Never mind that people died, including a baby, during the Bloomberg Blizzard of 2010 when Bloomberg flew to Bermuda and left a guy in charge of the city's emergency response who was actually in Washington D.C. at the time.
Never mind all the other scandals that have plagued the Bloomberg Regime - from the Seedco scandal to the Medicaid reimbursement mess to the faulty GPS systems he bought for the FDNY and Sanitation Departments to the DOE crony consultant scandals (see here, here, and here) to the phonied up crime NYPD crime stats to the faulty NYCHA computer system that he spent $36 million on to the, well, you get the idea.
Never mind all of that.
Mike Bloomberg is the bestest mayor ever and he's going to throw his stinking money around until you just can't help but believe it.
Bloomberg should be required by law to have an annual psychological exam by an independant physician to determine his fitness to continue as mayor He clearly has a severe personality disorder,
ReplyDeleteThus, my mayoral vote will go to the candidate that has opposed him, called him on the carpet, exposed his corruption, been a stick in his craw, and has been a target of the 1% editorial boards...
ReplyDeleteSo far, that candidate is John Liu.