Running for office is exhilarating, cheering crowds, racing from event to event and Mamdani, a virtually unknown state legislator not only defeats a three term governor, he defeats the pollsters, he built an army of door knockers and this year his coattails carried unknown DSA members to victories against well established incumbents. He became a national figure leading DSA victories across the nation, albeit in democratic primaries. Every democratic candidate has to ask him/herself how do I incorporate DSA issues in my campaign, how often can I use the word: affordability?
Z “froze the rent (in rent stabilized apartments),” free childcare is beginning, albeit with Hochul $$ and began discussions with the MTA to lower fares based on income. Z appointed ex Secretary of Labor Julie Su as a Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice (Listen to a discussion between Su and Robert Reich here).
Mamdani agrees with his DSA bros cry, “Tax the Rich,” the problem is NYC already taxes the rich, the top 1% of NYers by income pay 40% of NY Personal Income, the rollout of his pied a-terre tax was botched and Hochul, who included the tax in her budget was openly critical.
The UFT, the teacher union, worked with the mayor to stretch out required funding in order to balance the budget.
The second most impactful election in the city only has 51 voters, the first week in January after the November councilmanic election the council members elect the speaker. The speaker is all powerful, she appoints committee chairs, controls the flow of legislation, and leads the council to sign off on the budget before July 1.
The mayor always tries to “influence” the selection of the speaker. Council member Menin began her campaign months before the election, and wrapped up the vote shortly after the election.
Mamdani may have become a national figure, in the corridors of City Hall he requires buy-in from the speaker or negotiations with the speaker.
Menin is term limited, is she preparing to run against Mamdani in 29? I’m sure the thought has crossed her mind.
Mark Levine, the Comptroller releases a steady flow of reports, some worrisome about the city economy. Is the comptroller also considering a run for mayor in 29? Possible
Jessica Tisch, the Police Commissioner, and not a fan of the Mamdani bro pack, is extremely popular and is the scion of a major family in the city.
A possible candidate in 29?
The UFT para campaign, a 10K pay boost, (see details here) was introduced over a year ago, hearings, rewrites and passed by the Council 49-0. In his campaign Z supported the para pay boost. As mayor Z had ample opportunity to negotiate the boost with the union, impact bargaining is commonplace.
The mayor’s labor relations team (OLB) opposed the pay boost arguing it violates the PERB guidelines, not my reading of the regs.
Two of the principles, called “pattern bargaining” and “ability to pay” are open to interpretation.
The Office of Collective Bargaining (OCB) slammed the City Council action, “it violates the Taylor Law” and announced his administration was on the way to the courts.
The upcoming set of negotiations with the over 100 city unions will be difficult, the unions seeking raises to offset inflation and the city faced with significant budget woes.
Remember, the city does not have the power to tax (except property tax), the pied-a-terre tax was placed in the state budget by the governor.
The city has kicked off the contract negotiations with the least aggressive union, recently DC37 and used pattern bargaining to force other unions into the pattern.
If the UFT and/or the city unions cannot reach an agreement they can avail themselves of the PERB assistance: mediation, fact-finding and non-binding arbitration. A lengthy process, many months.
This year the mayor resolved the budget crisis by pushing its budget shortfall forward, next year’s budget will be worse.
The city could force the unions into the fact finding/arbitration process and use “ability to pay” to offer an unacceptable increase, the union, as it did in 2013 simply wait until the 2029 election and find another candidate. Is a strike possible? (See Taylor Law sections here and here.)
All total speculation.
Mayor Lindsay (1965-1973), the golden boy of the Republican Party who was saving the nation from burning from uncontrollable racial unrest across the nation (Newark, Detroit, Los Angeles. etc) and saw the UFT as an obstacle, stood on the sidelines and allowed the 1968 strike to drag on for 36 days, the strike was eventually ended by a State Supreme Court Judge. Lindsay’s popularity nosedived. I still have a “Lindsay Must Go” button.
Is the Mamdani camp torn between Dean Fulihan, the deputy mayor, a behind the scenes guy, the OCB, using the city’s fragile budget situation to lowball the upcoming contract negotiations with city unions and DSA bros beating the drums for Mamdani the national player?
The political turf can be slippery , Lindsay from a savior as cities burned, Cuomo, the nation’s governor during COVID, both swept into the dustbin of history.
Will Mamdani join AOC on the the Sunday Morning TV stage, or, will Mulgrew and angry paraprofessionals, mostly Black and Hispanic women, yank the rug?
Probably a few very interesting meetings that we’ll not be involved to attend.
Ed in the Apple: Blogging on the Intersection of Education and Politics Title 