The office of the Public Advocate is a position we’d have advocated abolishing – that is, until a dentist from Queens, Jay Golub, visited our offices. Dr. Golub, a Republican turned Democrat, told The New York Sun he agrees the office appears worthy of abolition, but only because the incumbent, Betsy Gotbaum – who is a friend of ours and is also seeking the Democratic nomination – has done little with it. She has championed a few pet projects such as hot meals for the elderly, which, however worthy, Dr. Golub told the Sun, don’t justify the $3 million a year in taxpayers’ dollars the office consumes. He said he’s aiming to “help 8 million” New Yorkers by advocating the cutting of taxes, reducing government waste, and reforming education.

Because taxes “hurt the economy” and the “creation of jobs,” Dr. Golub said he would press for the city to eliminate the commercial rent tax, reduce the corporate business tax, and cut the sales tax. He would bring in “private managerial and efficiency experts” to find ways of “doing more with less.” Dr. Golub also highlighted that New York City has the “fourth largest budget in the country” – after California, New York State, and the federal government. He said 8 million New Yorkers don’t need more than $50 billion spent on them, and so he’d pressure city politicians to cut spending.

Dr. Golub says he’d also be an advocate for parents and children by pushing for greater school choice. He’d call for Albany to lift what he terms the “ridiculous limit” of 100 charter schools – initially to 200 and then higher. He also supports a school voucher program, and suggests starting with a $750 million program for 100,000 of the city’s poorest children, and then for the program to be expanded for all children.

Such policies are rarely found among Republicans in this city, and so it’s refreshing to hear them emanating from the Democratic primary, no less. Dr. Golub represents the long-vanished Moynihan wing of the Democratic Party – one that understood free-market economics and incentives. Its disappearance is perhaps why so many Democrats in this city have voted for Republicans like Mayor Giuliani and Mayor Bloomberg in the past. The likely voters in the September 13 Democratic primary are left-wing Democrats, and unless “Giuliani Democrats” turn out, Dr. Golub is unlikely to get the nomination. But the “Giuliani Democrats” will be out in the November election, and as Dr. Golub has already received the Conservative Party’s endorsement, he’ll be there irrespective of the outcome of the Democratic primary.

Another candidate who visited the Sun’s offices is the Libertarian Party’s James Lesczynski. He is running on the platform of abolishing the office he refers to as “New York City’s equivalent of the queen of England.” He promised the Sun, “if elected on the first day I would fire the staff, padlock the office, and refuse to take the salary.” He would then tell the City Council to “return the money to the taxpayers.” We’re sympathetic to Mr. Lesczynski’s argument, but considering Dr. Golub’s policies, we’d recommend giving the office one last chance.