Hey, there! Log in / Register
Why we shouldn't let some rich businessman buy the mayor's office
By adamg on Sat, 03/30/2013 - 9:18am
So far, most of the speculation about who will join John Connolly (oh, OK, and Will Dorcena and Charles Clemons) in the race for mayor has focused on people who have already held public office. Chris Faraone ponders the possibility that one of our local Bloomberg wannabes might want to break open the piggy bank and waltz into City Hall:
Neither over-educated Commonwealth residents, nor our region's relatively competent media, are above propping a filthy rich egomaniac for office. Just four years ago, Bain Capital alum and Boston Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca bought himself a podium on the U.S. Senate debate stage, and was for some reason not laughed out of the state for suggesting that owning a basketball team is a relevant prerequisite for Congress. This is insane.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Bloomberg is enough of a
Bloomberg is enough of a petty tyrant to serve as a warning as to why we don't want bored billionaires in office.
One problem
That bored billionaire has apparently done a pretty good job (soda, cigs etc. notwithstanding). Pulled the city through the recession when nobody thought he would and NYC took a direct blow when we were little more than sideswiped in relative terms - just like Sandy. I think we need someone willing to fight some fights that need to be fought and won't really care if it costs them re-election - top of that list would be taking on Putzman and the teacher's union for longer school days. Unfortunately and sadly, a stand like that might cost you election as well as re-election. We'll see - but so far none of the proposed candidates seems more than washed over politicos - See Lanny's comment below.
who is 'Putzman' ?
I don't know who (or what) this refers to.
Putzman refers to Richard Stutman
I believe, Ron. The BTU president.
Bingo
And Putzman is his name-o
I will go the other way here
I am as much a populist as you will find, but I have to wonder if having someone with a business background is not better. Do you want someone who sees a problem and thinks about how to fix it or some life-long City Council member who sees a problem and thinks about how he or she can use it to get their supporters more city jobs or money?
I know
God forbid we elect someone who isn't a life long political hack that can enact financially responsible policies. THE HORROR!
Businessmen don't fix problems
Businessmen extract as much profit for shareholders as possible. That is their single, fiduciary responsibility. Period. It's also why the record of great Businessmen, poor civic leaders is one long laundry list of failures.
If we're looking for problem solvers, should we be looking towards people with a background in education, science or social services?
Never got this Businessmen = Good Government BS. Government isn't a business, and running it like one tends to put it's priorities in the wrong place.
You don't want someone that
You don't want someone that has never had to deal with balancing a budget and business experience is very useful for understanding economics. However you don't want someone that only has business experience and only looks at the bottom line rather than the big picture.
I'd never want an educator in charge given how badly public education is screwed up in this country and how higher ed is one giant market bubble right now handing out useless degrees to the gulliable.
Scientists are great on theory but often don't have a lick of common sense or are horrible at budgeting.
Social service people,aside from the few people that live to do good, tend defend their own careers and never really fix problems less they put themselves out of a job. They piss away money into bottomless pits to feel good regardless of the overall effectiveness of what they do.
Military leadership doesn't quite help because they are used to giving orders and not dealing with the democratic institutions required of public office.
I'd elect an engineer or some type of reputable contractor/tradesmen/farmer. They know how to solve problems and work within budgets to deliver a necessary product or service as part of a team.
23 skidoo
Herbert Hoover?
"Businessmen extract as much profit for shareholders as possible
" They share holder in this case are Boston residents
residents?
If you truly think that, well... (pat, pat) how cute you are!
Don't worry about a "Bloomberg wannabe"
First off, what is insane is characterizing our region's media as "relatively competent" (of course, I presume he's talking about the msm and excluding present company).
On the main issue, I don't think that we're much at risk of what is feared here. This might come as news to some, but being the Mayor of Boston is just not that big of a deal to guys like Bloomberg and Pagliuca. It's huge deal and perhaps capstone achievement for guys like Tom Menino, Will Dorcena, Mike Flaherty, et al. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, and I mention it only to highlight that being mayor of New York and mayor of Boston are not really comparable things (and not just becuase the population of New York City proper is greater than that of the entire Commonwealth by a healthy margin, and it is still the world's center of many things - the City of New York also enjoys significantly more independence from the state of New York than Boston does from the Commonwealth).
Side note
You'd be surprised...