If he wins a third term, Mayor Bloomberg says he’s going to fire about a half-dozen underperforming commissioners.
“There are some people that want to retire, there are some people that I will tell them they want to retire, and there are some people who want to stay and won’t,” the mayor said during recent meeting, sources told The Post.
He added that he’d like to see a turnover in perhaps 15 of the 40 commissioner positions.
Since seven agencies have had changes at the top in recent months and three — Fire, Probation and Environmental Protection — have or will have openings, that would leave five commissioners who had better start thinking about new careers.
Bloomberg didn’t identify any of the underperformers by name.
It’s the first time the mayor has publicly acknowledged that a significant number of his appointees aren’t making the grade.
“It’s not something being talked about,” said a City Hall source.
With rare exceptions — such as when former Aging Commissioner Edwin Mendez-Santiago was accused of sexual harassment — the mayor has left in place the people he’s hired.
But Bloomberg said he’s intent on not repeating the errors of his predecessors who served third terms, Fiorello La Guardia, Robert Wagner and Ed Koch.
“I think the mistake they all made was keeping the same commissioners and doing the same thing,” said the mayor.
Most speculation among insiders isn’t about who might get axed, but who might leave on their own after eight intense years.
The consensus is that the biggest loss would be superstar Budget Director Mark Page, a 31-year government veteran and one of the mayor’s most influential aides.
“He’s starting to look like Lincoln during the Civil War,” said a Page friend, referring to the constant stress facing the mayor’s budget chief.