Public Employee Press

DC 37 says:
Bloomberg for mayor

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

Accelerating into the fast lane of the 2005 mayoral race, the District Council 37 Executive Board voted July 13 to endorse Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg for re-election.

“DC 37 members make this city work, and Mayor Bloomberg understands that,” said Executive Director Lillian Roberts. “He listened to our proposals and is making sure public jobs are done by public employees.”

The DC 37 Executive Board voted 14 to 12 in favor of endorsing Mayor Mike early in the race and well before the Sept. 13 New York primary.

“This is the first mayor who has fought to enhance our city hospitals rather than close them,” Roberts said.

“On his watch, we have not seen the draconian cutbacks and downsizing that so often characterized the city budgets in the 1990s,” Roberts said. These facts no doubt helped shape the Executive Board’s decision.

Contracting In
Bloomberg’s first-term actions that contributed to the union’s early endorsement included:

• Ending hundreds of private contracts and returning the work to city employees;
• Supporting funding to improve HHC public hospitals and health care facilities in the face of a huge budget deficit;
• Beginning a major civilianization program in the New York Police Dept. that moves Police Officers from behind desks and onto city streets and lets DC 37 members do their clerical, janitorial and computer programming jobs, and
• Introducing solid changes to improve the public school system.

Roberts also praised Bloomberg for his support of affordable housing. Under a new union program established through negotiations with the city, thousands of municipal workers will be given preference for new housing units and up to $20,000 toward their down payments.

Based on the number of DC 37 members represented by the 14 Executive Board members who voted to endorse Bloomberg’s bid for a second term, Roberts said, “It appears that over 70 percent of our members want to support the mayor.”

This marks the second time in a dozen years that DC 37 has endorsed a Republican for mayor. The union endorsed Rudy Giuliani for re-election in 1998. Bloomberg, a former Democrat, has sought and received endorsements from numerous Democratic supporters and organizations around the five boroughs.

“Our members know that they will be electing their boss for the next four years. Having endorsed Bloomberg sooner rather than later will put us on the road toward a big win. DC 37 will be working hard to re-elect Mayor Mike Bloomberg,” Roberts said.