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Standing Up for New York City's Fair Share

By Gifford Miller and William Cunningham

With the 2006 election cycle behind us, we should congratulate both the victorious and unsuccessful candidates who campaigned hard on issues that matter to New York. We should also take a break from the partisan bickering that far too often characterizes campaign seasons and focus our attention on an issue that affects all New Yorkers regardless of political affiliation: getting New York City its fair share of funding from Washington, D.C. and Albany.

New Yorkers pay annually over $20 billion more in taxes to the federal and state governments than they get in services. This imbalance, perpetuated over the course of decades, costs New York City more than just dollars and cents – it costs the city better schools, safer neighborhoods and more affordable housing.

New Yorkers have a long tradition of standing up for themselves and finding innovative ways to tackle critical issues facing the city. In the 1970s, prominent New Yorkers came together to implement new reforms – changing the way the city did business and pulling it out of a financial crisis. Our challenge today is to change the way we do business with Washington, D.C. and Albany.

That is why we have joined with a number of other concerned New Yorkers to launch Fair Share New York, a non-profit organization that seeks to bolster the efforts of our city's officials by empowering the political donor community to advocate for the city's legislative priorities. Candidates from across the country routinely come to New York to fill their campaign coffers, yet once they are elected to office they turn their backs on issues that impact the city's residents. In the 2004 election cycle, six ZIP codes in New York City gave over $61 million to federal candidates. It is high time we start holding officials who come here to finance their campaigns accountable and urge them to do right by our city. New York taxpayers deserve their fair share of funding for homeland security, education, transportation and housing.

We encourage you to join Fair Share New York by signing up on our web site, www.fairshareny.org, and to learn how you can help change this inequity. Our web site provides talking points on pending legislation that can be accessed with a few clicks of your mouse to respond to a fundraising call or proactively lobby elected officials in Washington, D.C. or Albany. As a member, you will receive our newsletter and news alerts on issues and legislation impacting New York City.

The results of this year's elections, like all others before them, offer the hope that New York City might begin to get its fair share of funding. New York City's officials work hard to increase funding to our city, but they need civic-minded New Yorkers to help them in this endeavor. By joining Fair Share New York, you will be taking an important first step to help reset the imbalance facing New York and enable our great city to realize its full potential.

Only when we get our fair share of funding will our schools truly be able to properly prepare our children. Only when we get our fair share will our police officers and firefighters have all of the resources they need to keep crime low and protect our families from harm.

Now is the time to take action and stand up for New York City's fair share.

William Cunningham is a Managing Director at Dan Klores Communications and a former communication director for Mayor Michael Bloomberg and chief of staff to the late Sen. Daniel P. Moynihan. Gifford Miller is a public figure in residence at New York University and the founder of Miller Strategies, a strategic consulting firm. He represented Manhattan's East Side in the City Council from 1996 to 2006, and served the last four years of that time as Council speaker. He was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for mayor last year.