Mayor Bloomberg and likely Democratic challenger Bill Thompson got into one of their roughest fights of the mayoral campaign yesterday after it was reported that the returns of the city’s pension funds, which are overseen by Comptroller Thompson, trailed similar funds around the country.
Howard Wolfson, the mayor’s campaign spokesman, suggested that Thompson had hired fund managers based on their campaign contributions.
The Post first reported in March that Thompson took in more than $400,000 in contributions from financial firms that manage the city’s pension funds.
“I’m saying it’s wrong to take hundreds of thousands of dollars from people who do business with the city and then give them millions of dollars in return in fees, all . . . while the investment firms are lagging behind their peers,” Wolfson said.
Eduardo Castell, Thompson’s campaign manager, said the funds actually jumped in value, from $75 billion to $91 billion, between July 1, 2002, and last month.
Bloomberg aides say the funds declined from $82 billion to $77 billion between Dec. 31, 2001, and March 31, 2009.
Castell also said that for the mayor, who doesn’t participate in the campaign-finance system, to lecture Thompson is “is like Michael Vick talking about animal cruelty. He’s got no credibility.”