THE mystery surrounding Mayor Bloomberg‘s personal Web site is over – it’s being run by a tiny company formed this year with the backing of James Robinson III, former CEO of American Express.
Reporters trying to track down the owners of the Symposia Group have been running into numerous dead ends.
The phone number listed on its Web site isn’t always answered. E-mails haven’t been acknowledged. Its office is listed at 110 E. 59th St., former headquarters of Bloomberg’s media company.
No wonder some suspected the political site, http://www.mikebloomberg.com, was really being run out of City Hall, which would be a serious violation of the city’s ethics rules.
Analysts have said the site – which includes a rundown of Hizzoner’s achievements and positions on education, guns, the environment and poverty – could serve as a launching point if the mayor decided to enter the presidential race.
But in his first interview, Symposia CEO John Guttenberg insisted the site, which his firm launched in May, is completely separate from the Bloomberg administration.
“We don’t deal with any of the people within the city government,” Guttenberg said. “We have people we work with that deal directly with him.”
Guttenberg said decisions on what material gets onto the Web site are made “in a collaborative process” with Bloomberg’s private aides.
“We do a lot of the editorial selection. Ultimately, the people within his office will sign off on it,” Guttenberg said.
He denied any involvement by Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey, chief architect of the Mike-for-president movement.
Symposia is a high-tech ad agency that promotes “brands” on the Web. It would not divulge what it earns on the Bloomberg account.
Guttenberg, 43, said Robinson’s RRE Ventures, which invests in information-technology firms, helped launch Symposia earlier this year and “mutual business colleagues” put him in touch with Bloomberg. He had to “pitch” Hizzoner, he said, as he would any potential client.
Guttenberg maintained that it was not unusual for small startups such as his not to have an office staff or a full-time office.