William Thompson (New York)
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William C. Thompson, Jr. is the current comptroller in the Government of New York City. He was first elected to the post in 2001 as a Democrat and was re-elected in 2005 to a second four-year term.
Thompson is considered a leading candidate for Mayor of New York in the 2009, and has amassed a campaign fund of $2 million [1].
Thompson is the son of a judge and a teacher, a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, and product of the New York City public school system.
Thompson is 42nd person to hold the post of New York City Comptroller. He has employed the powers of his office to aggressively safeguard the City’s finances and generate savings. During his tenure, Thompson spearheaded audits of City agencies that
- Identified more than $172 million in savings, uncovered waste and mismanagement, and highlighted inadequate services.
- Found fire safety problems at senior centers, and that schools did not have safety plans.
- That New York City’s Human Resources Administration paid vendors hundreds of thousands of dollars to house individuals who had either died or left the facilities,
- That the New York City Department of Education failed to claim more than $22 million in Medicaid reimbursements and the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission had not collected more than $4 million in fines.
The Comptroller helped lead the fight to protect the City’s Meals-On-Wheels program, an invaluable lifeline for many frail elderly, and his battle against the proposed bus and subway fare hikes forced the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to open its books to the public.
Concerned about inequities in cutbacks, Thompson challenged the City’s plan to reduce trash collection in some boroughs while sparing others, and successfully led the campaign to fully reinstate the City’s recycling program.
He has focused on issues such as healthcare, housing, and banking in underserved communities. Thompson documented inequalities in the city’s healthcare system and reported that non-English-speaking New Yorkers were struggling to gain access to hospitals. He also reported that diabetic patients were suffering disproportionately from complications associated with the disease depending on their neighborhoods.
Thompson proposed steps to address the problem of New York City-funded childcare slots remaining empty while many low-income parents await placements for their children, and also disclosed that only a fraction of teenage mothers and pregnant girls receive the necessary services intended to help them stay in school.
The Comptroller helped create the City’s innovative Banking Development District program, which utilizes City deposits to spur banking services, economic development and job growth in neighborhoods with few or no banks.
He further initiated public awareness campaigns to fight abusive lending practices and to prevent fraud against the City of New York. And, under Thompson’s watch, the amount of money collected for damages done to city property rose dramatically and now tops $1 million annually.
In his role as the City’s chief financial officer, Comptroller Thompson examined the economic impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York City, and alerted New Yorkers that the Federal government was failing to make good on its promise of aid to the City. Thompson also examined the city’s underground economy and revealed that the City loses more than $1 billion in revenue annually due to unreported sales of illegal counterfeit goods.
Through his Community Action Center, Thompson has helped more than 40,000 New Yorkers with problems regarding City services, pension issues, housing and healthcare concerns.
As custodian and investment advisor to all five of the City’s pension funds, Thompson manages a combined portfolio of nearly $95 billion. Accordingly, Thompson has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in affordable housing and commercial real estate in New York City and helped to elevate housing and job opportunities across the city.
Under his leadership, the amount of New York City Pension Fund assets managed by women- and minority-owned firms has more than tripled to approximately $3.7 billion.
Additionally, Comptroller Thompson spearheaded the creation of the largest Emerging Managers program in the United States. With the approval of the New York City Pension Funds, the Comptroller authorized a $175 million allocation to a groundbreaking Emerging Managers program targeting first-time funds, particularly those managed and owned by women and members of minority groups.
Thompson has been a leader among institutional investors in advancing important corporate governance and corporate social responsibility reforms such as the repeal of the classified structure of corporate boards and the annual election of directors, the establishment of a board protocol for addressing shareholder proposals that win majority votes, a prohibition against workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, the adoption of stronger standards of director independence for members of key board committees, as well as the adoption of standards for the protection of the environment and human rights globally.
He gained a national reputation for his efforts to stop corporations - Halliburton, General Electric, ConocoPhillips, Cooper Cameron, and the Aon Corporation - from engaging in business with countries that are identified by the U.S. State Department as state sponsors of terrorism.
Thompson also worked with leaders of the financial services industry in bringing about reform at the New York Stock Exchange.
Thompson is a lifelong resident of Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn. He graduated from Brooklyn’s P.S. 161, Andries Hudde Intermediate School and Midwood High School, and later graduated from Tufts University, at which he serves as a member of the Board of Trustees.
Following his work for a Brooklyn congressman and his service as Brooklyn’s youngest-ever Deputy Borough President, Thompson was appointed to the New York City Board of Education in 1994. He later began the first of five consecutive terms as its President. During that period, Thompson led a reform agenda that resulted in improved student achievement and greater public accountability.
Thompson also served as a Senior Vice President for Public Finance at an investment banking firm in the mid-1990s.
In 1998, Thompson received an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Mercy College. In June 2004, Thompson received an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from the Metropolitan College of New York.
Over the years, Bill Thompson has received a number of awards, praising him for his commitment, dedication and stewardship. In 1998, the American Red Cross honored Thompson for his community service, and Partnership for Children, Inc., presented its Ann Vanderbilt Award for Achievement to Thompson.
In 2002, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the Federation of African-American Civil Service Organizations, Inc. Additionally, ACORN honored Thompson for his outstanding commitment to public service and social justice in the community, he received honors from the Metropolitan Black Bar Association, and the Association for a Better New York and 100 Black Men, Inc., awarded him its 2002 Brotherhood Award, which recognizes individuals who have exemplified an outstanding and consistent commitment to brotherhood. That same year, he received the Legacy Award for outstanding statesmanship and dedicated service to the people of New York at the annual awards gala at Medgar Evers College, City University of New York.
In 2003, he was honored by the Flushing Chinese American Business Association, the Respect for Law Alliance, Inc. – which presented him with its Fiscal Leader, Pillar of Justice Award – the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, and the New York City Outward Bound Center, which presented him with its Educational Leadership Award. He also received the Jewish National Fund’s Tree of Life Award for his outstanding community involvement and his achievements in government, and the Council of Supervisors and Administrators Distinguished Public Service Award in 2003.
In 2004, the Metropolitan Council of New York State Conference of NAACP Branches presented Thompson with its “Measure of a Man” award at its annual Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday dinner, and the Subcontractors Trade Association, Inc., awarded him its Public Official of the Year Award because of his commitment to enforcing Prevailing Wage laws and his support for economic development and construction initiatives. He also was honored by the New York State Federation of the Hispanic Chambers of Commerce.
In 2005, the Consulate General of Israel in New York, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, and the Jewish National Fund honored Comptroller Thompson for his exemplary work in bridging cultural barriers. Easter Seals presented him with the Edgar F. Allen Political Service Award for his commitment to helping children with disabilities. And, in May 2005, the New York League of Conservation Voters honored Thompson for his service as a socially responsible investor.
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| Preceded by Alan Hevesi |
New York City Comptroller 2001 – Present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
