FORMERGeneral Electric CEO Jack Welch, an unpaid consultant to the school system, stunned top education officials last weekend by asking if they were supporting Mayor Bloomberg’s re-election.
Sources said Welch’s question was made at a retreat for more than 100 senior educators at GE’s conference center in Westchester.
“He asked people to raise their hands if they were going to vote for the mayor. People were offended and scared stiff,” said one source.
Another official who attended the conference said Welch was trying to make a point about the need for a long-range commitment.
“Welch was saying it takes time, that you need consistent leadership,” the official recalled. “That’s when he asked about voting for the mayor. He wasn’t making a political pitch.”
Jerry Russo, a spokesman for Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, said Welch’s comments have to be taken in context. “We appreciate Mr. Welch’s support. This is about fixing the system, not politics and elections,” said Russo. Nevertheless, Russo said: “He should not have asked that question.”
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He’s got Koch. He’s got Giuliani. Could Mayor Bloomberg possibly hit the trifecta and snare an endorsement from all three former mayors, including David Dinkins?
It seems unlikely, considering Dinkins’ rock-solid Democratic roots.
But Dinkins and Bloomberg are certainly chummy.
In fact, last Wednesday morning both were spotted deep in conversation for more than an hour at the City Hall restaurant. “The mayor and I have a good, warm relationship,” Dinkins said afterward. “I talk to him from time to time.”
Asked if he could ever see his way to endorsing the Republican mayor, Dinkins responded: “Other than in 1969, when I was a brand new district leader and endorsed John Lindsay, I’ve never endorsed a candidate who’s not a Democrat for mayor. That’s how I prefer to put it.” (p. 13 Metro)