If City Comptroller William Thompson Jr. was trying to keep quiet about his political plans, he can blame his father for spilling the beans.
At his swearing in ceremony last month, before 4,000 inivted guests and love television cameras, Thompson’s father shared what, for the moment anyway, were his expectations.
“So Billy, if you do your usual good job, if you listen to your father, and if God spares my life, eight years from now I want to be back up here,” said William Thompson Sr., a retired appellate judge, in a not-so-subtle reference to the 2009 mayor’s race.
As the city only black official elected citywide, there is already speculation that Thompson has higher goals. But as the elected financial watchdog of a city facing its worst fiscal crisis in more than a decade, Thompson, 48, would rather save that subject for another time.
“There are liabilities in having your father swear you in,” Thompson said.
But they are nothing like the liabilities facing the city as it digs out of a job destroying recession – and the rubble of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center.
The first challenge is monitoring a spending plan that calls for across-the-board cuts to reduce a projected $4.9 million budget gap.
‘Yes, there are challenging times ahead for our city,” Thompson said. “But as we tackle the financial challenges before us, we should not abandon our values or our priorities.
“We must be mindful of not sacrificing our long-term health to meet short-term needs.”
Thompson, a former school board president, said he sees his position as the second-most powerful office in the city.
As the city’s treasurer, he controls five pension systems that total more than $90 billion in assets.
“He is, when done correctly,a counterbalance to the mayor,” Thompson said of his job. “I think in doing those fiscal and performance audits. it’s important to say the comptroller can influence policy.”