A new campaign finance report shows that Mayor Bloomberg spent a whopping $108 million to beat Bill Thompson in his third-term election. Bloomberg ran the most expensive personally-financed campaign in U.S. history, spending twelve times as much as his opponent. Of the campaign tab, large chunks of money went to rather unexpected places. And not just pizza!
Bloomberg decided to be modest and not throw an inauguration bash, but according to the NY Post, he gave huge $400,000 bonuses to four top-ranking employees. In total, he handed out $2.4 million in post-election bonuses. It’s good to work for the mayor, bur watchdog groups worry that the magnate—who’s worth an estimated $16-17.5 billion—is turning public service into self service. “He has completely warped the expectation of what the bargain is when you enter public service,” said Susan Lerner, the head of Common Cause/New York.
“It’s mind-boggling,” Kenneth Sherrill, a political science professor at Hunter College told the NY Times “It makes you wonder if the mayor understands the value of a dollar.” On top of the bonuses, Bloomie handed over $34.4 million for television commercials, $20 million on campaign mailings, $10 million on office supplies and $564,000 on food—$45,000 of which went to pizza.
