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You are here: Home / Archives for City Hall

Biden Finds Unlikely Allies In Massive State Rescue

March 6, 2021 at 8:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “Republicans in Congress attacking President Joe Biden’s plan to pour hundreds of billions of dollars in pandemic relief aid into local governments are facing resistance — from GOP-run states and cities.”

“Republican mayors in Texas, Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma are among those backing Biden’s state and local government funding plan as part of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill that’s before the Senate, defying GOP lawmakers in Washington, who are broadly resisting the spending.”

Filed Under: City Hall

‘This Is Nuts’

March 3, 2021 at 9:53 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New Rochelle, NY mayor Noam Bramson (D) reflects on his city becoming “ground zero” in the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. one year ago:

“An anecdote I haven’t previously shared illustrates the improvisational quality of those early days and of the ‘containment zone’ in particular. The state first suggested an area with a two-mile radius. We pointed out that this would sweep in many institutions quite removed from the presumed outbreak area, a wider net than the State wanted. Okay, came the response, what about one mile? Equally arbitrary, but maybe better.  This back-and-forth was up against the clock — with a press conference from the Governor only minutes away. The City’s planners, who would ordinarily be the right folks for any geographic analysis, were out of the office at an event, so I sat at my desk, with a ruler, a pencil, and a map of New Rochelle, scribbling a rough circle, trying feverishly to figure out what would fall within the new boundary. Was Ward School in or out?  How about Barnard?”

“And then time was up. There was the Governor on TV, announcing the containment zone. In the hours and days to follow, we would all defend the policy, including me at the City’s own press conference that same afternoon, the most pressure-filled experience of my entire service as Mayor. I still believe strongly that it was important for those of us in leadership positions to speak with a clear, consistent, confident voice — plus, in fairness, the idea of restricting large gatherings had real merit, and the details got straightened out soon enough. But at the moment of the announcement, I remember looking down at my ridiculous, crudely-drawn diagram, and thinking: this is nuts.”

Filed Under: City Hall

Why Some Cities Rent Their Property to Themselves

February 18, 2021 at 7:47 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The City of Tucson, Ariz., decided last year to pay rent on five golf courses and a zoo — to itself. In California, West Covina agreed to pay rent on its own streets. And in Flagstaff, Ariz., a new lease agreement covers libraries, fire stations and even City Hall,” the New York Times reports.

“They are risky financial arrangements born of desperation, adopted to fulfill ballooning pension payments that the cities can no longer afford. Starved of cash by the pandemic, cities are essentially using their own property as collateral of sorts to raise money to pay for their workers’ pensions.”

Filed Under: City Hall

Mayor Quits After Saying ‘No One Owes You Anything’

February 17, 2021 at 7:12 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Colorado City, TX mayor Tim Boyd (R) said that “he had already resigned after he was widely condemned for writing on Facebook that people suffering in the cold without power shouldn’t look to their local governments for help,” the Dallas Morning News reports.

Boyd wrote in his typo-ridden post that “no one owes you are your family anything; nor is it the local government’s responsibility to support you during trying times like this! The City and County, along with power providers or any other service owes you NOTHING!”

Boyd continued, saying that he was “sick and tired” of people looking for handouts and that the current situation is “sadly a product of a socialist government.”

He concluded: “Only the strong will survive and the weak will perish.”

Filed Under: City Hall

Hackers Tried to Poison Water Supply of Florida Town

February 9, 2021 at 9:23 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Hackers remotely accessed the water treatment plant of a small Florida city last week and briefly changed the levels of lye in the drinking water, in the kind of critical infrastructure intrusion that cybersecurity experts have long warned about,” the New York Times reports.

Filed Under: City Hall, Technology

Portland Mayor Pepper Sprays Unmasked Man

January 26, 2021 at 11:01 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Portland mayor Ted Wheeler (D) told the Oregonian that he was forced to shoot pepper spray directly into the eyes of a member of the public on Sunday night when he was approached by a man who wasn’t wearing a mask.

Said Wheeler: “I clearly informed him that he needed to back off. He did not do so I informed him that I was carrying pepper spray and that I would use it if he did not back off. He remained at close distance, I pulled out my pepper spray and I sprayed him in the eyes.”

Filed Under: City Hall

No One Told Alamo That Trump Was Visiting Today

January 12, 2021 at 12:10 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump is flying down to the U.S.-Mexico border to Alamo, Texas on Tuesday to celebrate what he calls the completion of 400 miles of border wall but it appears no one told the city.

Politico: Texas officials worry Trump’s trip could turn violent.

Filed Under: City Hall

GOP Candidate Apologizes for Hitler Chant

January 12, 2021 at 11:48 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A Republican candidate for Staten Island borough president issued an apology for reportedly shouting “Heil Hitler” in a Facebook video while calling on people to push back against local coronavirus safety restrictions, The Hill reports.

Filed Under: City Hall

D.C. Mayor Seeks to Cancel Public Gathering Permits

January 11, 2021 at 11:05 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser requests Interior secretary “cancel any and all public gathering permits in the District of Columbia, and deny any applications for a public gathering during the period January 11 – January 24,” ABC News reports.

Filed Under: City Hall

Max Rose Won’t Run for Mayor

January 4, 2021 at 6:49 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Rep. Max Rose (D-NY) said he won’t run for mayor of New York City this year, the New York Daily News reports.

Filed Under: 2021 Campaign, City Hall

Phoenix Police Officer Threatened to Shoot Mayor

December 29, 2020 at 9:49 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“On the afternoon of October 21, seven Phoenix police officers gathered for a briefing in a Cave Creek station when the meeting diverged into a discussion about the defund-the-police movement,” the Arizona Republic reports.

When Officer Steven Poulos expressed his thoughts, the room went quiet: “If the mayor defunds the police, I’m going to shoot her.”

The sergeant broke the silence, saying: “You’re not going to shoot the mayor.”

Poulos doubled down: “That’s a promise.”

Filed Under: City Hall, Crime

San Diego Morgues Overflow

December 29, 2020 at 9:40 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“San Diego County’s healthcare system reached a stark milestone over the weekend as dwindling hospital morgue capacity forced the county medical examiner to begin storing the deceased,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

Filed Under: City Hall, Health Care

Trump Hasn’t Called Nashville Mayor

December 28, 2020 at 3:38 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Nashville Mayor John Cooper (D) said that he has not spoken directly to President Trump since the intentional detonation of an RV in the city’s downtown on Christmas, The Hill reports.

Filed Under: City Hall

Yang Files to Run for New York City Mayor

December 23, 2020 at 4:27 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Andrew Yang has filed paperwork to run for mayor of New York City, NBC New York reports.

“Yang’s filing has the potential to immediately upend a race that was shaping up as a contest between long-entrenched city politicians. It comes just days after a new poll giving him a slight lead among his fellow Democrats running for mayor.”

Filed Under: 2021 Campaign, City Hall

London Locks Down as New Variant of Virus Spreads

December 19, 2020 at 12:15 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Alarmed by a what he called a faster-spreading variant of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson abruptly reversed course on Saturday and imposed a wholesale lockdown on London and most of England’s southeast,” the New York Times reports.

“The decision, which Mr. Johnson announced after an emergency meeting of his cabinet, came after the government got new evidence of a variant first detected several weeks ago in Kent, southeast of London, which the prime minister asserted was 70 percent more transmissible than previous versions.”

Bloomberg: “After emergency talks on the virus mutation with his top officials, the prime minister canceled his plan to ease pandemic rules for five days during the holiday. Household mixing will be banned in London and the south-east and socializing restricted to just Christmas Day across the rest of England. Residents across the country were told to stay in their local areas.”

Filed Under: City Hall, Health Care

Kansas Mayor Resigns After Threats Over Face Masks

December 15, 2020 at 10:48 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Dodge City, Kansas mayor Joyce Warshaw (R) announced in a letter to city officials that she is resigning, effective immediately, because of threats she has received after she publicly supported a mask mandate, the Dodge City Daily Globe reports.

Filed Under: City Hall, Health Care

DeBlasio Tells New Yorkers to Prepare for ‘Full Shutdown’

December 14, 2020 at 11:22 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio (R) said New Yorkers should prepare for the possibility of a “full shutdown,” warning that December and January will be particularly difficult months in the city’s fight against coronavirus.

Said De Blasio: “We need to recognize that that may be coming and we’ve got to get ready for that now, because we cannot let this virus keep growing.”

Filed Under: City Hall, Health Care

Quote of the Day

December 10, 2020 at 10:24 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The next mayor is going to inherit a shit-show, a deficit that is in the multiple billions of dollars — worse than the 1970s.”

— Former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia, quoted by the New York Daily News, officially kicking off her New York City mayoral campaign in a video.

Filed Under: 2021 Campaign, City Hall

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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