De Blasio Defends Mayoral Control Despite Scandals

De Blasio was up in Albany today testifying in favor of extension of mayoral control.

State of Politics reports that the testimony was a fairly staid affair - except for this exchange:

The only actual fireworks came when de Blasio was challenged by Republican Sen. Terrence Murphy, who has been a staunch critic of the mayor and is a freshman lawmaker from a suburban Senate district that includes Putnam and Westchester counties.

“Convince me,” Murphy said, “with all the allegations going on in your office why I should vote for mayoral control.”

De Blasio responded by pointing to successes under the mayoral control program, including higher graduation rates and test scores as well as an expansion of computer science courses.

“These are major changes in the way we approach education,” de Blasio said. “It’s only possible under a mayoral control system.”

Murphy, however, wasn’t necessarily convinced.

“There’s one thing you forgot and that’s the trust factor,” Murphy said. “You have to have the trust of the people.”

The mayor shot back: “The public trusts the actual positive changes in their lives.”

And he added the allegations that have been raised shouldn’t count against the mayoral control policy itself or his administration.

“In our democracy, we don’t judge by allegations,” he said, “we judge by facts.”

Murphy’s political allies had initially complained over the Democratic fundraising tactics in 2014, when donors at de Blasio’s urging gave heavily to county party committees, which in turn supported candidates running in key battleground races.

Murphy succeeded in the Senate Republican Greg Ball, a maverick GOP lawmaker and conservative firebrand who moved to Texas rather than seek re-election.

De Blasio’s political team had backed Democrat Justin Wagner to replace Ball, one of a half-dozen competitive races that year. 

Heavy money is on mayoral control being extended for a year, then we do it all over again next year (assuming de Blasio isn't indicted or heading to prison by then.)

De Blasio wants a multi-year extension (knowing he cannot get a permanent extension like he tried for last year) but state Senate Republicans and Cuomo want to humiliate him as much as possible, so it's a heavy left to get more than a single year.

But we'll see - Heastie is backing the mayor and as always in Albany, you never know what gets horsetraded.