De Blasio's Big Lesson: Transparency Matters

Mayor Bill de Blasio has implemented numerous progressive policies, from police reform to rent freezes to free pre-kindergarten. But he's repeatedly been challenged on how he managed to accomplish that progressive agenda.

It started a few days before de Blasio came into office, when he created a nonprofit group to collect donations that would promote his initiatives. Ethics watchdogs charged that the group, Campaign for One New York, created a conflict of interest, since donors would want favors from City Hall in return. (The head of the city's Campaign Finance Board chastised the mayor but did not impose sanctions.)

Later in his term, de Blasio orchestrated a campaign to oust Republican members of the state Senate by funneling contributions from unions and wealthy liberals towards particular races. The Manhattan District Attorney did not issue charges, but wrote "the transactions appear contrary to the intent and spirit of the laws that impose candidate contribution limits." 

The mayor has also been dogged by complaints that he circumscribes when reporters can ask him questions, and, early in his term, rarely held town halls to interact with constituents. De Blasio has since made a number of changes; he shut down Campaign for One New York, organizes frequent town halls, and has eschewed large donations to his 2017 re-election fund.

"This gets at the core of how you run the city," Ben Max, the executive editor of Gotham Gazette, told WNYC host Richard Hake in this interview, "whether you are open and transparent about it, whether you are willing to take questions about it from the media and be held accountable."

WNYC is collaborating with Gotham Gazette and City Limits on election coverage this fall; the three organizations together have produced an NYC voters guide that includes issue briefs and candidate biographies.