As I predicted a month ago, the National media is finally realizing the connection between Bloomberg’s presidential run and his city initiative that our city participated in;
Michael Bloomberg is relying on powerful city leaders as allies in his presidential campaign. Several have received grants, training and support packages totaling millions from his foundation.
Fortunately, Sioux Falls is NOT mentioned in the article. But don’t hold your breath.
As Mr. Bloomberg traverses the country as a presidential candidate, he is drawing on a vast network of city leaders whom he has funded as a philanthropist or advised as an elder statesman of municipal politics. Bloomberg Philanthropies, which has assets totaling $9 billion, has supported 196 different cities with grants, technical assistance and education programs worth a combined $350 million. Now, leaders in some of those cities are forming the spine of Mr. Bloomberg’s campaign: He has been endorsed so far by eight mayors — from larger cities like San Jose, Calif., and Louisville, Ky., and smaller ones like Gary, Ind., representing a total of more than 2.6 million Americans.
For all of those endorsers, Mr. Bloomberg has been an important benefactor. All have attended his prestigious boot camp at Harvard that gives the mayors access to ongoing strategic advice from Bloomberg-funded experts.
Now, some of the same people who aided these mayors from Mr. Bloomberg’s foundation are the ones asking for their political support. Mr. Anderson, who several mayors described as the most vital point of contact at Bloomberg Philanthropies, is now directing the campaign’s “Mayors for Mike†coalition.
And then there is this distinct thing going on, that I also warned about, using the same people who built the foundation to work on the campaign;
But Mr. Reich, the Stanford expert, was skeptical about the effect of logistical steps like separating email addresses. “It’s a detail that seems to miss the point of the exercise, which is to erect a wall between the activities of a philanthropist and the political interests of the donor,†he said.
So far, only a few of the mayors linked to Mr. Bloomberg’s foundation have actually endorsed his campaign.
I knew it would only be a matter of time before the ‘network’ that was formed through the foundation would be used in his campaign. How long before TenHaken becomes a ‘Mayor for Mike’? No worries, he will probably vote for Trump anyway.