Staffing Choices Show de Blasio Approaching Albany Differently From Bloomberg

BY ROSS BARKAN

When former Mayor Michael Bloomberg won mayoral control of the city’s public schools or watched his dream of a West Side stadium die in Albany, he went into battle with a team of around a half a dozen people tasked specifically with lobbying the state legislature.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is now locked in a fight for an income tax hike to fund universal prekindergarten, has taken a different tack so far: Only two staffers currently work under Sherif Soliman, the head of Mr. de Blasio’s state legislative affairs office. Both are holdovers from the Bloomberg administration.

The de Blasio approach to Albany, which some state lawmakers have groused about publicly, is predicated on leveraging the legislative experience of top administration hires, marking a break from the previous mayor, who generally maintained a staff of around six in Albany.

“Including Sherif, we currently have three people in our Albany office who are engaged in direct lobbying activities with legislature and executive branch, and we will expand that office soon,” Marti Adams, a spokeswoman for Mr. de Blasio, said in a statement, noting that the administration’s “presence goes much deeper than our Albany office.”

http://politicker.com/2014/02/staffing-choices-show-de-blasio-approaching-albany-differently-than-bloomberg/