De Blasio Busy Selecting Cabinet Members

NEW YORK—In his third public appearance since winning the mayor’s race, Bill de Blasio visited the Talking Transition tent in Lower Manhattan Wednesday.
De Blasio Busy Selecting Cabinet Members
Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio at the Talking Transition tent in Lower Manhattan, New York, Nov. 20, 2013. (Samira Bouaou/Epoch Times)
Kristen Meriwether
11/20/2013
Updated:
11/20/2013

NEW YORK—In his third public appearance since winning the mayor’s race, Bill de Blasio visited the Talking Transition tent in Lower Manhattan Wednesday.

De Blasio did not take a tour of the tent or look at the thousands of suggestions posted for him around the tent. He promised his team would review the data.

The mayor-elect has been largely absent from the public eye since winning, but said he was hard at work trying to select his team.

“I have been meeting with prospective candidates and the transition leadership, in a variety of locations,” de Blasio said.

When asked about his lack of public appearances, de Blasio said, “The work we have to do to organize the leadership of our administration, to put together our legislative agenda, to put together our approach to the budget, it requires a lot of hands-on work and it is exactly what I should be focused on.”

The incoming mayor has six weeks to fill out his Cabinet, and as of Wednesday, only selected members for his transition team. On Nov. 6, de Blasio named the co-chairs to the team and on Wednesday added 60 members who will “volunteer their expertise,” according to a statement.

De Blasio has yet to fill any Cabinet positions, including a police commissioner. De Blasio met with former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton Tuesday. He called the meeting productive but would not elaborate. De Blasio also said he met with current NYPD Chief of Department Philip Banks III and First Deputy Commissioner Rafael Pineiro.

De Blasio said he preferred a candidate who was from or had worked in New York, but said that was not a set rule for any position.

The mayor-elect may still have plenty of seats to fill, but said it wasn’t due to lack of talent or qualified people. He said his team has received hundreds of applications from well-qualified people and they will make announcements as soon as the positions are filled.

“We feel great about where we stand on the timeline, and we think the committee we announced today will in fact speed that process further,” de Blasio said.