Pity Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum — who now holds what is without question the most useless elected office in city government.
Even the hapless borough presidents, as of last week, hold (alas) some real power — thanks to their sway over the reconstituted Board of Education.
So no wonder city pols seem to be warming to the idea of scrapping the public-advocate office entirely.
Reports last week indicate that City Councilman Simcha Felder (D-Bklyn.) is formulating a measure to do just that — mere days after the council unceremoniously slashed the advocate’s budget by fully 40 percent.
Yes, abolishing the office would mean revising the City Charter — and, thus, a public referendum.
All the more reason for Felder to get the ball rolling — ASAP.
The irrelevance of the advocate post has been on full display recently, as the pols running to replace Gotbaum go on about the need to “reinvent” the role.
(You never hear anyone talking about “reinventing” the mayoralty, right?)
That’s because the only real purpose of the public-advocate post is as a launching pad for an office with actual responsibilities.
Gotbaum, to be sure, is fond of trumpeting her role as an “ombudswoman” — facilitating access to city services and acting as “watchdog” over City Hall.
But those are duties already covered by myriad government agencies and elected officials:
* The city comptroller does plenty of audits on waste in city programs — while the Independent Budget Office provides a check on City Hall’s fiscal estimates.
* To investigate actual wrongdoing in city government, there’s the city Department of Investigation, five district attorneys, a state attorney general and two US attorneys — all with subpoena power.
* And for an access point for citizens looking for city services or to get their complaints heard . . . well, you’d think that would be what one’s councilmember is there for — if there weren’t also local community boards and 311 operators.
In reality, of course, the public advocate’s “reports” serve little purpose but to advance political and ideological agendas. But even that is properly the role of an organized political opposition — not an independent elected office.
The simple truth is that New York’s public advocate serves no constructive purpose.
It’s time to trash it altogether.