The Weekly Watchdog

Good morning! It’s Sunday, and you know what that means – another edition of the Weekly Watchdog in your mailbox. We have a good rundown of stories for you this week, from figuring out what New Yorkers really want to preparing for the 2030 Census (already?!) to the time and date of the first mayoral debate this week.

Speaking of preparing, are you ready to vote? CU released its first batch of preferences in the City’s most hotly contested races for City Council and Manhattan Borough President for the upcoming primary election. We hope you’ll take a look, and stay tuned for the release for our choice for Mayor and Comptroller in two days too!

News Worth Clicking

Nuts and bolts! New Yorkers want their mayor to be a good manager. What does that mean? City & State By Sahalie Donaldson	It’s about the nuts and bolts! Always has been! We’ve heard it a lot out on the campaign trail this spring. People want a good manager as mayor. Someone who can run this city and do so effectively and honestly. It’s not easy. It’s a massive task. But what does being a good manager mean? City & State breaks down what everyone seems to be looking for.
DOGE for NYC? No way, but… NYC government isn’t efficient, and we know it New York Daily News By Melanie La Rocca	But we need more than just management, says former Buildings Commissioner Melanie La Rocca. We need a mayor willing to manage what’s working and admit and fix what’s not. Right now, New York City taxpayers aren’t getting their bang for their buck. We need to make our government more efficient in delivering the services we pay for. No, we don’t need DOGE’s recklessness, far from it, but DOGE’s disaster should not scare us from efficiency. Read to find out how.
Never too early to prepare! Experts push for state census office to prevent loss of NY congressional seats Times Union By Ashley Soebroto	New York lost a Congressional seat in the last redistricting cycle by falling 89 people short in its census count. 89! And as it stands right now, reports suggest that New York could lose two more after the 2030 count as well. So, what are state lawmakers doing about it? Trying to establish a permanent census office of course! Further investment in a proper count gives New Yorkers better representation and access to more federal dollars. An office is a good investment.
“Give me my money!” – Eric Adams, probably Eric Adams sues Campaign Finance Board for denying him millions in matching funds Politico By Joe Anuta	NYC’s Campaign Finance Board keeps denying Mayor Eric Adams matching funds for his reelection campaign, and the Mayor is starting to get frustrated, so much so, that he’s now suing the CFB. The Mayor’s argument? The case that the CFB is using to determine that they “had a reason to believe” Adams violated campaign finance law was thrown out and that such a standard is illegally vague anyway. We’ll see where this goes, but for what it’s worth, there seems to be a lot of evidence that Adams and his campaign knowingly violated campaign finance law.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it  A technological rush Times Union By the Times Union Editorial Board	In a country where a large size of the national electorate distrusts the security of our elections, does it really make sense to switch our voting machines to an electronic voting system that watchdog organizations and election advocates have concerns about? Probably not, but that’s not stopping the New York State Board of Elections wasting tens of millions of dollars anyway!
Candidate Portraits  What It Looks Like As Andrew Cuomo Closes In on Mayoralty Politico Magazine By Jeff Coltin & Mark Ostow	We’ll close out this week with a couple fun and quick stories. Photographer Mark Ostow followed the candidates for mayor around in April snapping some great shots of them on the campaign trail. A visual profile of the entire race so to speak. Where’s the petition that forces the eventual winner to make his or hers the official mayoral portrait? They’d be far more interesting.
What to Watch 9 candidates qualify for 1st NYC Democratic mayoral primary debate next week NBC 4 New York	The first debate in the Democratic primary for mayor is this week on Wednesday evening at 7:00pm, and Citizens Union releases its choices for Mayor just in time the night before on our website, so stay tuned! Hopefully both can help you make your choices too. Enjoy the week.