Bloomberg: Next Mayor Can Lack Executive Experience

While Mayor Bloomberg often touts his business experience as one of his best assets in governing the city, his successor need not be a private or public executive in order to succeed, the mayor said yesterday.

"I think that the mayor's job is an executive job. So is the president's job. That does not mean that everybody with executive experience has been a good president, governor, or mayor. It doesn't mean that everyone without it has been a bad president, governor, or mayor," he told reporters at City Hall.

Mr. Bloomberg added that although executive experience can be a positive trait, "there is no hard-and-fast rule," and that he values a candidate's approach to making decisions more than his or her position, experience, and campaign promises.

"What I will look for in a successor is the same thing that I've tried to look for in a president. I don't have to agree with what they want to do, but I want to listen to how they arrive at their decisions and decide whether it's a rational, well-thought-out way," Mr. Bloomberg said, "because there's no question that can be asked in a campaign that really mirrors the real world situation when they get there."

Mr. Bloomberg also cited candidates' ability to work with the legislature as a key predictor of success, and said a mayor should "have the courage to stick to their decisions when everyone is beating them over the head."

The mayor's remarks came at a press conference touting a new survey designed to apply market research techniques to city government, an idea he said reflected his experience in the business world.

Mr. Bloomberg announced that the city would send out surveys to 100,000 randomly selected New Yorkers, who will be asked to rate city services. The survey's cost is estimated at $500,000.