Mayor Bloomberg called on good-government groups yesterday to denounce Council Speaker Gifford Miller, a probable rival in 2005, for allegedly crossing the line between politics and government.
A Miller aide last week posted a message on an Internet Web site announcing that the speaker was looking for a new, politically experienced press secretary who could be helpful during his campaign for mayor.
The message added, “We’re revamping and reorganizing the office to get ready” – making it sound like Miller’s taxpayer-funded City Hall office was being transformed into a campaign headquarters.
Miller called the posting unauthorized and said he’s still deciding if he will run for mayor.
“The good-government groups, I haven’t heard from them yet,” Bloomberg said during a press conference in Brooklyn. “I suspect if I did something like that, they’d be out there screaming.”
Miller said Bloomberg’s spokesmen have also spoken about the campaign.
“The number of times that I’ve seen Bill Cunningham and Ed Skyler comment on the mayor’s prospects for re-election, I’ve lost count of,” he said.
“This is a political job and to pretend there’s no politics going on in this city smacks a little bit of Casablanca,” he added, referring to the film’s shady policeman who feigns shock that gambling took place in Humphrey Bogart’s cafe.