Mayor Bill de Blasio is ramping up a political campaign to promote his housing and education priorities, with an eye toward amassing a financial war chest that can compete with well-financed opponents, the NY Times reports.
Mr. de Blasio and his fund-raising team have quietly solicited large contributions in recent weeks from donors in the mayor’s inner circle, according to three people who requested anonymity to describe moves by the administration that were not yet intended to be public.
The mayor’s aim, according to these people, is to create an advertising and social media campaign that would buttress his top policy goals, such as securing more state money for New York City public schools and advancing his affordable housing plan in neighborhoods that are wary of gentrification.
Donors are being asked to contribute to a nonprofit fund, the Campaign for One New York, that is operated by political consultants with close ties to Mr. de Blasio. The fund can accept donations that are significantly larger than those allowed within New York City’s strict campaign finance system. Last year, when the fund was also known as UPKNYC, it spent more than $2 million, mostly to promote the mayor’s main issue of universal prekindergarten. Read more at the New York Times.
{Matzav.com Newscenter}
So it’s basically a fund where private citizenry can help the city reach its goals???
Aside from our distaste for this guy as a mentch and as a mayor but what’s wrong with this idea? On the contrary it seems quite reasonable as long as the donors have no influence in his office!