Relationship to Developers Dogs Katz, But She Calls Ties An Asset
Queens Council member positions herself as front runner in crowded comptroller field
June 13th, 2008
Melinda Katz is hoping her background in the Assembly, Council and as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer will put her over the top in the race to be the city's next top bean counter.
Council Member Melinda Katz (D-Queens), the chair of the powerful Land Use Committee, has touted her ability to encourage development in the city as an asset during her comptroller run.
Yet her close relationship with developers, whose contributions to her campaign have placed her near the top in fundraising—with $1.6 million raised as of January—has made her a target for critics who claim she is too close to the industry.
She shrugged that off, saying developers are the very people who are needed to maintain a healthy economy.
“People talk to me about developers and their support, and my answer is, ‘They are the folks who care deeply about the direction this city is going.’ If they have faith that I can actually make sure the city continues to thrive economically, I think that is a good thing,” she said.
Katz, a former mergers and acquisitions attorney and Assembly member, is one of five announced candidates for comptroller next year. The others include fellow Council members David Yassky (Brooklyn) and David Weprin (Queens), Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión and Assembly Member James Brennan (Brooklyn). Queens Council Member John Liu is said to be considering the race.
The winner of the Democratic primary, who seems unlikely to face strong Republican opposition, will take control of an office which manages city employees’ pension funds, conducts audits of city agencies, and advises the city on financial matters, among other duties.
Katz was first elected to the Council in 2001, and appointed Land Use chair soon after. She made an unsuccessful run for speaker in 2005 after winning her second term. She grabbed headlines this year with her surprise announcement of her well-along pregnancy. Her son, Carter Katz, was born May 3, several weeks premature.
Over the last six and a half years, her committee and the Council as a whole have passed 82 City Planning neighborhood rezonings since 2002, in addition to hundreds of smaller rezonings.
Katz said projects passed through the Land Use committee have strengthened the city.
“When I ran for the Council, the economy of the city was truly in question, 9/11 had just happened, businesses were moving out, businesses did not have the confidence to move here,” she said. “I know as Land Use chair, one of the things we had to do was instill confidence.”
She has been criticized for overseeing a period in which affordable housing units have disappeared and few new ones have been created. She counters those claims by pointing out that the city approved rezonings with affordable housing at levels never seen before.
“The truth is, there isn't one major rezoning in the City of New York that has been done over the last few years where affordable housing has not been a key component,” she said. “In Greenpoint/Williamsburg, affordable housing was 33 percent, which was unheard of before this administration came in. Thirty-three percent was an amazing number, Hudson Yards was 28 percent.”
She attacked the idea could have simply legislated more affordable housing into being.
“As Land Use chair, I always have to balance the percent of affordable housing you want, and you want the highest number with the lowest AMI [area median income], but you have to find people who will build it,” she said.
She has already generated much attention for her aggressive political operation, marked by strong, sudden fundraising and a string of early endorsements. She has also been the only 2009 candidate so far to be run by the political veterans at the Glover Park Group, which is currently running both her political and fundraising operations.
She is currently searching for a separate campaign manager, Katz said.
And with the election still a year and a half away, she is also still in the process of ironing out her positions on several aspects of the job of comptroller. She remained uncommitted on a policy concerning private equity investments from city pension funds adopted in February by Thompson, who said the city could opt out of investments that reduce the amount of affordable housing in the city.
“The question isn't whether or not this is a good thing—it is,” she said. “The question is whether or not it does the most to protect and grow the affordable housing in this city. As comptroller, I intend to fund companies that encourage and promote the creation of affordable housing.”
As the only woman, but one of three Jews in a race that includes just one minority candidate—Carrión—she said she stood out in part because she has been working for the position for two years.
“This is not a consolation prize,” she said, a possible muted dig at Carrión, who had flirted with the idea of running for mayor before entering the comptroller race late last year. “The fact is, I want to be comptroller. It's been the reason I have raised so much money and why I have union support.”
