The New York Times has endorsed Fernando Ferer in the Democratic primary. It is unclear to Base10 whether they will continue to do so in the general election. All Democratic mayoral hopefuls should pay attention to the fact that they would all lose to Mike Bloomberg if he ran as a Democrat, according to a recent poll.

The way it's stacking up, Ferer will face a runoff with Anthony Weiner. This mutually destructive affair will virtually guarantee Bloomberg another four years.

Base10 caught a snippet of a debate among the Democratic hopefuls on the news this morning. Interestingly, they were highly critical of Mayor Bloomberg for not being a Democrat. Anthony Weiner said that Bloomberg had allied himself with the Republicans Bush and Pataki who have both pursued policies that hurt the city. I suppose that's true if you define "hurt" as not writing a blank check out to sticky-fingered Democratic politicians.

Who will Base10 endorse? Readers of the blog know that I regularly support the mayor on most policy issues. I really do think he's done a very capable job as mayor in very difficult times. However, Base10 has to vote with his wallet. He will therefore be staying home or casting a vote for conservative candidate Tom Ognibene.

Why? Base10 has not had a contract for going on three years. The PBA settled months ago, but so far the city has not budged with the other uniform unions. The UFA just declared an impasse and they will now go to PERB just like the PBA. If this is any measure, the PBA took eighteen months to get their contract settled. The superior officers in both the police and fire Departments will not settle before them.

The city, of course, states that the way to a better contract is at the bargaining table. I guess they mean you can get a 5% raise by giving up all your vacation and working 65 hours a week. Assuming my union settles simultaneously with the UFA decision, we will be an entire four years working without a contract. Mr. Mayor, this is not acceptable to me and my family.

What is further outrageous, is that the mayor's campaign is centered around his reductions in crime. How many times have I seen Bloomberg's TV spots showing cops on patrol and trumpeting the fact that this is the safest big city in America? Mr. Mayor, some people are working very hard so you can make those claims. Those commercials basically make the men and women of the Police Department out to be cheap whores. You should show a little appreciation for them instead, like Ed Koch did in the 80's. It's nice to think that perhaps the mayor would do the right thing after the election, but that's a pipe dream. In the same circumstances we got zeros from Giuliani.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:32 AM