Bloomberg the mayor vs. Bloomberg the businessman

With the naming of New York’s deputy mayor as president of Bloomberg LP, Serge Kovaleski and Ray Rivera of The New York Times examine Saturday how mayor Michael Bloomberg separates his work for the city and his company.

Kovaleski and Rivera wrote, “Mr. Bloomberg’s aides say that since taking office in 2002, the mayor has fully complied with an advisory opinion issued by the board that aimed to keep the mayor’s role as majority owner of his company from conflicting with his public role as mayor.

“The opinion said he would stay out of day-to-day affairs of Bloomberg L.P., involving himself only in major decisions that could have a significant impact on his ownership value. It also said Mr. Bloomberg would have nothing to do with city business involving Merrill Lynch.

“The mayor’s spokesman, Stu Loeser, said in an e-mail message that Mr. Bloomberg ‘has completely abided by both the letter and the spirit of that ruling.’

“The New York Times, however, found that the mayor talks regularly to senior officials of Bloomberg L.P., about topics ranging from new data terminal sales to expansion into new markets and the general financial performance of the company. He personally recruited a spokeswoman for the company, and keeps a Bloomberg computer terminal on his desk at City Hall, from which he has access to the company’s e-mail network.”

Read more here.