David Yassky gets NY Times/Crain's Endorsement for City Comptroller

New York City’s comptroller has one of the most important and least recognized jobs in the city. The comptroller is the city’s accountant, the official whose job it is to make certain budgets are balanced, contracts are valid and workers’ pensions are safe. The sums involved are huge. The comptroller oversees the city’s $60 billion budget and $83 billion in pension funds for city workers.

The one most suited to do the job, with skill, intelligence and independence, is David Yassky, a City Council member from Brooklyn.

We are particularly impressed with Mr. Yassky’s ability to think creatively and then implement his ideas. Mr. Yassky, who taught at Brooklyn Law School earlier in his career, has a somewhat professorial manner. But in his years at City Hall, he has successfully fought to control guns in the city, to lessen pollution from taxis and to ban illegal dumping in the waters around the city.

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We have seen in New York State the temptations and corruption that come with managing a multibillion-dollar pension fund — with huge fees handed out to political cronies and contributors. Mr. Yassky has promised to stand up to special interests and has embraced new S.E.C. rules that would block campaign contributors from doing business with the fund. For all of these reasons, we endorse David Yassky for comptroller.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/opinion/24mon4.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

The New York City comptroller is essentially the municipality’s fiscal steward. He or she is charged with monitoring the budget, paying the bills, overseeing pension funds and auditing city agencies. City Councilman David Yassky of Brooklyn is clearly the best choice amid a solid field of candidates to succeed William Thompson and take on those tough responsibilities. Crain’s recommends him enthusiastically.

Mr. Yassky got his start in government as an aide to Charles Schumer when he served in the House—sort of the equivalent of attending Harvard, at least for a New York Democrat. He has served as head of the City Council’s small business committee, which has given him an understanding of that important segment of the economy. He helped win passage of local tax incentives for the film industry, another plus.

Most important, Mr. Yassky distinguishes himself from his three rivals on critical issues that the comptroller will face in the coming years. He is the only candidate to support without reservation the creation of a new public-pension tier, crucial to controlling the exploding cost of retired city workers’ benefits. While his opponents emphasize finding “new revenue”—i.e., more taxes—to deal with budget deficits, and some of them back yet another increase in income taxes on the wealthy, Mr. Yassky makes cuts in spending his first priority.

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Mr. Yassky’s rivals—Melinda Katz, John Liu and David Weprin—have also served creditably on the City Council. If there has been a surprise in the race, it is the strong campaign of Mr. Liu, the first Asian-American elected to office in the city. If only the Queens councilman’s politics matched his energy or his compelling personal story. The fact that he has the support of the union-controlled Working Families Party and tenant rights groups makes it clear that Mr. Liu’s political and policy leanings aren’t a good fit for the job or for the city’s business community. Maybe he will take a different tack if he runs for citywide office again.

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20090823/SUB/308239992