Sal F. Albanese, a former city councilman and a Democratic candidate for mayor, on Tuesday accused two of his rivals, Christine C. Quinn, the Council speaker, and Bill de Blasio, the public advocate, of having hired political operatives at taxpayer expense as they readied their own campaigns.
“It’s an intolerable abuse of power to have employees who are supposed to be advancing the public interest actually working on political campaigns,†Mr. Albanese said.
Mr. Albanese said that in the last 18 months Mr. de Blasio hired nine staff members whose previous positions were primarily political. And he said that Ms. Quinn had added at least two prominent labor operatives to her office shortly before announcing her candidacy, but that he could not say more about her hiring because her office had not responded to a request made March 18 under the state’s Freedom of Information Law for a list of staff members, their dates of hire and their salaries.
A spokesman for Mr. de Blasio, Wiley Norvell, disputed Mr. Albanese’s assertion that the recently hired staff members were primarily political operatives, citing their past positions in government.
“The premise and the facts here are just plain wrong,†Mr. Norvell said. “Every person cited on this list bring years of government or public interest advocacy experience to the table. They each work hard every day to serve the people of New York City, and they deserve better than spurious attacks.â€
Jamie McShane, a spokesman for Ms. Quinn, said her office responded on Tuesday morning to Mr. Albanese’s request for information. It was apparently just before or after Mr. Albanese’s news conference. Mr. McShane did not respond to a question about the delay in responding to Mr. Albanese’s request.
Mr. Albanese said he would propose a hiring freeze, to take effect 18 months before each primary election, for elected officials seeking citywide office. He said that under his proposal, elected officials would still be allowed to fill crucial vacancies.
