Although New Yorkers pride themselves on being big on choice,
the truth is that conservatives haven't had much choice in
candidates for mayor. Thomas Ognibene is hoping to rectify that
situation by running against Mayor Bloomberg in the Republican
primary.
The former minority leader of the City Council was not at all
perturbed by news that the mayor had sewn up endorsements from
four of the Republican county organizations. At our meeting in
City Hall, Mr. Ognibene said: "I knew as soon as I received
the Queens County endorsement that he would move very quickly to
secure himself within those other counties, and I've spoken with
the leadership in those counties and they told me they were
heavily pressured by the state Republican Party chair and from
the governor's office."
When Mr, Ognibene met with the Staten Island leadership, he was
told he was the Republican candidate closest to them on the
issues and had the most respect for their principles, but they
clearly understood that Mr. Bloomberg was the incumbent with the
money, and that was the direction the county organization had
chosen.
"But I've never been upset because my goal has always been
to give Republicans a real choice and to make Mr. Bloomberg keep
his promises and keep the faith with our party," Mr.
Ognibene said.
His presence in the race has changed Mr. Bloomberg's attitude
toward Republicans, according to Mr. Ognibene. "He thought
he had them in his back pocket," the candidate from Queens
said, "and all of a sudden he didn't. So now he's out there
making commitments for things that he had refused to do."
According to Mr. Ognibene, the mayor always has to have his feet
held to the fire.
"Look at the stadium. Here's a perfect example. He was ready
to give it away to the Jets for $100 million. Until somebody came
in and challenged him, he wasn't going to budge. Now the Jets
have been required to offer $720 million. That's $600 million
more. Meanwhile, he was willing to put in $600 million of your
money and my money to take care of his friend Woody
Johnson." Mr. Johnson is the Jets owner, and $600 million is
the city and state subsidy in the stadium plan.
I asked Mr. Ognibene if his candidacy is being undertaken more to
hold the mayor's feet to the fire than to win.
"I believe that head-to-head in a Republican primary,"
he responded, "that I have just as good a chance as Mr.
Bloomberg to win. ... One of the questions that I ask when I
speak to Republican groups is, 'Tell me the difference between
Mr. Bloomberg and any of the Democratic candidates.' And there's
absolute silence in the room."
When I asked why he withdrew from the mayor's race in 2001, he
said he was asked by Governor Pataki and the state party chairman
to meet with Mr. Bloomberg, who had the resources to mount a
successful campaign. In that meeting, Mr. Bloomberg told Mr.
Ognibene he had experienced an epiphany. Mr. Ognibene believed
him and withdrew his candidacy, because, he said, he's always
been a loyal Republican soldier, and he even ended up campaigning
for Mr. Bloomberg.
But he told me: "Bloomberg's not a Republican. He has made
an accusation that the party was interested in patronage. It's
not about patronage. It's about having a commitment to the
principles of the party."
"The only patronage that's happened in City Hall in the last
four years is that ex-Mayor Koch's and ex-Mayor Dinkins's aides
and friends, who participated in the decline of New York in the
'70s and '80s, have been brought back to govern," the
challenger said. "He has completely removed from office just
about every Rudy Giuliani appointee. He has consecutively
appointed 60 judges, none of them Republican."
Mr. Bloomberg, Mr. Ognibene charged, gives lip service to the
Republicans but has no respect for the party's principles. He is
also, Mr. Ognibene said, "a petty and vindictive man."
For example, Mr. Bloomberg's rival said, the mayor refused to
speak at the Juniper Park Civic Association's award dinner for
Council Member Dennis Gallagher if Mr. Ognibene was to be
present. When told the message would be relayed to the guests
present, the mayor relented, but he stood outside the auditorium
while Mr. Ognibene said a few words of praise for Mr. Gallagher,
his chief of staff for 10 years.
Still, Mr. Bloomberg is a billionaire and Mr. Ognibene is not, so
how on earth can he compete, I asked. "Anyone who does
business with the city is scared to donate to my campaign."
Mr. Ognibene said. He has received more than 500 contributions,
but they're small. Nevertheless, he's now on the Internet, online
at www.ognibeneforny.com, and he hopes his message will reach
conservative Republicans, who will now have a real choice in the
primary besides the little-known third candidate, Steven Shaw.
This is getting interesting.