Common Sense: Interesting times

It all started with a draft page, Draft Nicole Malliotakis for mayor. Now, over the past three weeks, the possibility of Republican-Conservative Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis running for mayor is receiving widespread media and political attention as well as a lot of likes.

The support stems from her willingness to stand up to the mayor on the NYCID retention of documents issue (she sued him) and her strong opposition to his advocacy of New York City being a sanctuary city.

On the sanctuary cities issue, Nicole has argued using a significant amount of detailed information regarding the dangers that the program poses to the general public. She often lists the hundreds of crimes that could be committed by an undocumented individual who the city shields from Immigration and Customs. And she can cite many individual examples of new crimes being committed by shielded individuals.

The policy makes no sense unless you are in a progressive’s laboratory whipping up another    left-wing idea. It makes even less sense when you are confronted with an American president who made this an issue in his successful election and now plans to cut some federal funding to cities that do not comply.

In fact, Ed Mullins, the president of the New York City Police Sergeants Benevolent Association warned months ago that this was a bad policy opposed by most rank-and-file police officers.

In a statement last Friday regarding the Justice Department’s plan to take action against those cities that continued to violate federal law, Ed went on to say: “For a long time, Mayor de Blasio and the NYPD leadership have failed to heed the warning that refusing to cooperate with federal immigration officials when it comes to criminals and suspected terrorists would have consequences beyond making our city less safe. They have placed officers in an impossible Catch 22: between obeying the directives and orders of their superiors and elected officials on one hand, and the obligation they feel to follow the direction of the law and to cooperate with federal immigration officials on the other.”

Except in the highly unlikely event the mayor and City Council change their position on these two issues, they will be well aired if Nicole chooses to run and becomes the Republican-Conservative nominee for mayor.

As will property taxes, water bills, out-of-control city spending and the countless little things that push back at the quality of life for the average New Yorker.

I hope Nicole runs. I have worked with her both as a party chairperson and longtime legislative staffer, and know she is tough, motivated and up to the job.

If Nicole debates the mayor like she debates the Democrats in Albany, the debates will be informative and entertaining. You will know exactly where she stands on the issues and she will make sure you know exactly where the mayor stands and why his positions make bad policy.

My friend Congressmember Claudia Tenney was thrilled to have President Trump place a call to her son Marine Lieutenant Trey Cleary who was preparing to deploy to Iraq. Claudia was at a bill signing at the White House when U.S. Senator Purdue mentioned her son’s deployment to the president.

The president interrupted the signing to give her a note for her son, but then asked if he could call him. She texted him first so he would absolutely take the call. The president and Trey spoke for a bit.

Claudia told me that her son, who like many Marines is hard to excite, was stunned by the call. I wish him a safe and successful deployment.