Bill Thompson (New York politician)

William C. Thompson Jr.
Bill Thompson with supporters
New York City Comptroller
Incumbent
Assumed office January, 2002
Preceded by	Alan G. Hevesi
Personal details
Born	(1953-07-10) July 10, 1953 Brooklyn, NY
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Elsie Thompson
Children	Jennifer Thompson
Residence(s)	Harlem, New York City
Alma mater	Tufts University

William C. Thompson, Jr. (born July 10, 1953) is the leading candidate to become the Democratic Party's nominee for New York City Mayor. He is also the nominee for the Working Families Party. Thompson is the 42nd Comptroller of New York City. Sworn into office on January 1, 2002, he was reelected to serve a second term that began on January 1, 2006.

Early Life and Career

Thompson was born and raised in New York City. He is the son of Elaine Thompson, a New York City public schoolteacher, and William C. Thompson, Sr., formerly a judge on New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division. Thompson attended Midwood High School, a public school in Brooklyn, and graduated from Tufts University in 1974. In the early 1990s, Thompson moved to the private sector, becoming a senior vice president at an investment bank, where he helped municipalities manage their finances and fund capital projects.

Political career

Upon his graduation from Tufts in 1974 until 1982, Thompson served as special assistant and chief of staff to former Brooklyn Democratic Rep. Fred Richmond, who pleaded guilty to income tax evasion, marijuana possession and making an illegal payment to a government employee and who resigned his seat pursuant to a plea agreement in 1982. Later, Thompson became the youngest Brooklyn Deputy Borough President. As Deputy to Borough President Howard Golden, Thompson helped to shape policies in housing, health care and the economy. Following the Crown Heights riots, Thompson worked to fix the racial divide that had paralyzed Brooklyn.

Thompson was later appointed Brooklyn’s representative to the New York City Board of Education in 1994. Two years later, he began the first of five consecutive terms as its President. As Board of Education President, he worked for a more centralized management of the public school system that eventually led to mayoral control. Thompson also fought for better after-school programs, improved teacher quality, and an expanded arts curriculum.

New York City Comptroller: 2002-Present

Bill Thompson

As the city’s chief financial officer, he manages a staff of more than 700 professionals with a budget of $68 million.

Thompson has worked to diversify the pension portfolio from primarily public equities into private equity, real estate and other asset classes. Since 2003, the funds have grown at a pace of 12.33 percent a year, outperforming its actuarial return assumption of 8 percent. In addition, during Thompson’s tenure, assets managed by minority- and women-owned firms have increased from less than $2 billion to over $6 billion.

Thompson has called on American firms in the pension portfolio – including Halliburton, General Electric and Aon – to document the impact of their businesses on the environment. He has insisted that companies doing business in Northern Ireland embrace the goal of equal opportunity in employment and has supported the effort to prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Since Thompson took office, these funds have been reinvested back into New York City, leading to the creation and rehabilitation of more than 20,000 units of affordable housing, the development of thousands of square feet of commercial space, and investments related to creating clean and renewable sources of energy.

In 2003, Thompson led the effort that led to the deposit of $200 million in city funds to establish new bank branches in traditionally underserved neighborhoods, enabling more New Yorkers to open checking accounts and apply for business loans and mortgages. Thompson has developed a number of community service and education programs to help New Yorkers deal with the challenges of the economic crisis. These programs include consumer banking days (regular events that take place in every borough and feature workshops addressing savings and credit issues), predatory lending reforms and general investment strategies.

Thompson's use of the Comptroller's power to audit city government has been questioned. The on-line journal City Limits opined that "Thompson has not been a ferocious antagonist to Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Instead, he has mostly praised the mayor's budgets, smiled on his economic policies and hailed Bloomberg's accomplishments with the city's schools."

2009 Mayoral Campaign

Bill Thompson

Although there is still a primary to be held in September, Thompson is considered the presumptive Democratic nominee by all major local media sources including the New York Times, the Daily News, and NY1. Thompson is running against incumbent Michael Bloomberg. On July 9, 2009, Thompson was endorsed by the Working Families Party as its nominee for New York City Mayor.

Thompson's campaign has been criticized as too low-key. The New York Times once dubbed him "the stealth candidate" and described his campaign as "under-the-radar", and the Gotham Gazette reported criticism that Thompson had "failed in the first months of his campaign to increase his visibility." However, the local NBC station reported in July 2009 that, notwithstanding Thompson's "months of relative silence", it appeared that the mayoral race was now heating up.

On July 21, 2009, the Comptroller's office released a report suggesting that the Bloomberg administration had falsely inflated graduation rates in city schools. Thompson's report did not demonstrate any conclusive evidence of manipulation, "saying only that a lack of oversight, coupled with intense pressure to push up the graduation rate, created the potential for abuse." Thompson also criticized Bloomberg's managerial style as creating incentives for school's to graduate unqualified students. The New York City Department of Education released a 38-page rebuttal to Thompson's allegations. In addition on July 21, 2009, Thompson said on NY1 that School's Chancellor Joel Klein should be fired, refering to his Department of Education as "The Enron of American education. Showing the gains and hiding the losses."

On July 28, 2009, Quinnipiac University released a poll showing that Thompson has cut Bloomberg's lead from June in half, now only trailing Bloomberg by 10 percentage points: 47% Bloomberg, 37% Thompson. The poll also found that Thompson made significant gains among black voters: Thompson now leads Bloomberg 56% to 30% (up 25 points from June); Democrats: Thompson now leads Bloomberg 45% to 42% (up 12 points from June); and Independents: Bloomberg leads Thompson 49% to 27% (70% to 14% in June).

Endorsements

Thompson's mayoral candidacy has been endorsed by Rev. Al Sharpton, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Fernando Ferrer, Congressman Anthony Weiner, Congressman Charlie Rangel, Ruben Diaz Jr., former mayor David Dinkins, and several others.

See also

• New York City Comptroller
• New York City mayoral election, 2009

External links

• Official New York City Comptroller Website
• Official Bill Thompson Campaign Website