When Bill Thompson released his tax returns this month, it revealed two interesting things about him.
First, the former city comptroller is doing well for himself, having earned $727,621 last year. Politics pays.
Second, he gave just $4,750 of that — less than 1 percent — to charity. To put it another way, of all the major Democratic candidates for mayor, Thompson raked in the most money but gave away the smallest portion to help the needy.
We wouldn’t dwell on this if it weren’t for the way Thompson’s spokesman explained away his cheapness. “Bill has dedicated much of his career to public service, in addition to his donations to well-deserving charitable organizations,” a spokesman told The Post. In other words, he gave at the office simply by being in office.
We don’t mean to single out Thompson. Given the pension and health benefits that can make government employees richer than those whose taxes pay for them, he has plenty of company here. At least in New York, the days of the underpaid public servant toiling away for the public good have long since gone the way of Charles Dickens.
But the reference by Thompson’s spokesman to “public service” sticks in our craw. Because Bill Thompson’s career — especially his years as comptroller — is the whole reason he was able to cash in.
Back when Thompson was comptroller, he hired Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. as a municipal-bond underwriter for the city. That proved an incredibly lucrative arrangement for the Wall Street firm, bringing it millions in the last few years. Thompson was “instrumental in the company’s growth,” reports The New York World.
And it made sure to return the favor in 2010 after Thompson left the comptroller’s office. Just eight months after he hired the firm as an underwriter, the firm hired him as a senior managing director.
Thompson then used connections from his “public service” career to snare more business for Siebert Brandford. In 2011, he registered as a lobbyist. He left the following March to focus on his current run for mayor.
Look, there’s nothing wrong or illegal with making money in the private sector. But if you are going to make the big bucks based on your public service, please don’t present yourself as some self-sacrificing Mahatma Gandhi.