The 2013 New York City (NYC) mayoral race is critical for the city’s economic future. A Joe Lhota victory this November will certainly bring much needed fiscal sanity back to this city. His record in government inarguably guarantees that the rate of city government’s growth will wind in instead out bloating out. Another added bonus of Joe becoming NYC’s next mayor is that his administration will work tirelessly to end the nanny state mentality that currently pervades Gracie Mansion and City Hall. This is why it is critical for Joe to be the New York Libertarian Party’s nominee this November.
Joe’s tenure in the Rudy administration fully supports his Goldwater bona fides. As NYC’s Finance Commissioner and subsequent director of the Office management and budget affairs, the City’s budget was reined in while NYC’s economic renaissance brought prosperity to the taxpayer. There were a total of 23 separate tax cuts while business regulations were decreased. The City was an attractive free-market paradise that both small and large businesses were attracted to build and prosper in.
Make no mistake; while Joe is both personally and professionally close to Rudy, on policy Joe follows Rudy’s fiscal conservatism but is certainly not a knee jerk conservative on social issues. Joe supports both legal and civil marriage rights for all. Joe is pro legalization of marijuana and watering down the draconian Rockefeller drug laws which have flooded our prisons with non-violent criminals. Joe is also a supporter of hunting and is as close as this city will ever get in respecting the gun rights of law-abiding citizens.
Joe is certainly a Barry Goldwater acolyte when it comes to making government more efficient. He believes government works for the people and should provide tangible services to the taxpayer. Besides his aforementioned fiscal bona fides during Rudy’s term, Joe took a scalpel to the MTA during his tenure as Chairman. Joe brought the “most aggressive internal cost-cutting ever undertaken, resulting in annual recurring savings of $809 million in 2013, which grow to more than $1.2 billion in 2016.” Besides reigning in administration costs, Joe paid down the MTA’s debt. And remarkably he did this while providing pay raises for MTA employees which is not only fair and equitable but should insure no future strikes.
Just as any CEO in the private sector, Joe’s initial agenda items as MTA Chairman were centered on customer service. Joe brought back transportation services which were previously cut in Williamsburg, the South Bronx and Brooklyn Navy Yard. Joe made sure that the MTA installed digital arrival boards and also made the MTA up to date on in the information age with the flow of transit riders’ notices more accessible via website and tablet apps. His concentration of management and service enhancement brought in over $16 million in new productivity revenue.
And how did Joe handle the devastation of Hurricane Sandy this past October? The vast majority of MTA services were up and running within 72 hours. This was critical for both the public’s safety and NYC’s economic turnaround. Also, compare the MTA’s remarkable 72 hour turnaround to Con Edison’s dreadful performance which left many in the dark for months on end.
As a proud Reagan Conservative, I recognize that in a city which re-elected Rudy and put up with Nanny Bloomberg three times as the least bad option, the voters want a centrist. The NYC Libertarian Party has an option at this Tuesday’s convention to nominate a fiscal conservative who’s tough on taxes and spending while a supporter and advocate for personal liberty. In order for NYC to have any chance of bringing Goldwater principles into Gracie Mansion, Joe must become NYC’s 109th Mayor.
The NYC Libertarian Party has a once in a lifetime opportunity to both stand on principle and further promote the message of freedom from of all places liberal Manhattan. This critical break starts and ends with nominating Joe Lhota on the 2013 Libertarian line for Mayor. The choice is between Liberty and Tyranny. Go with Joe!
Sam Nunberg is an attorney based in New York. He also has worked as a consultant for three Presidential campaigns.
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