Well, he didn’t use precisely that language, any more than President Gerald Ford actually told New York to “Drop Dead.” But the gist of what Michael Bloomberg is saying is just about the same thing. Government operating in the shadows – and the public be damned
According to CBS New York, the mayor has been refusing to release a consultant’s report on New York’s 911 emergency response system. Instead, his administration “has been fighting to keep private” what the consultant had to say. Even though the information was commissioned by a city government with taxpayer funds.
The entire topic is no laughing matter. The study, too-blandly called a “review,” was commissioned after ambulances were stranded in snowdrifts and the emergency call system backed up in 2010, the consequence of a December blizzard.
But the city tried to keep the report secret, insisting that it’s only “a draft.”
A New York Supreme Court judge, Arthur F. Engoren, ordered the city to release the report, and wiped up the floor with the mayor, comparing the city government's behavior to that of Richard Nixon claim of executive privilege during the Watergate scandal.
"A coverup plain and simple"
"The city [government] is not the only interest group here. And the city’s not infallible,” the judge thundered.
Added an attorney for union employees of the fire department, which was demanding to see the report, “They could label this a draft in perpetuity. It’s a cover up, plain and simple.”
The judge ordered the documents released to the firefighters, which may decide to introduce them into evidence during an arbitration hearing.
Emperor Bloomberg’s was reported “irritated” and said, “We are studying our options.”
Right. Maybe options like stonewalling the judge.
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