Students who are not knowledgeable about the intricacies of city government may not know what the title "comptroller" means. The title, in fact, refers to the number-two man under the mayor - and for New York City, that number-two man is Tufts alumnus William C. Thompson Jr. (LA '74).
Thompson was elected as New York City's 42nd comptroller in 2002. An independently elected official, the comptroller is the chief financial officer of the city of New York. His office's mission is to ensure the financial health of New York City by advising the mayor, the city council and the public of the city's financial condition.
Thompson, a member of the Tufts Board of Trustees and a political science major, said his time at Tufts had great influence on his decision to go into politics.
"I think a lot of things that were spoken about at Tufts and talked about definitely deepened my interest in government," he said. "I'd always had an interest in government because my father was involved, but it helped to deepen and broaden my interest."
Prior to graduating from Tufts, Thompson "wasn't sure what [he] wanted to do and had to make that decision: whether to work for a while or go straight to graduate school.
"I worked on the campaign of someone running for Congress, and the person won, so I wound up going to work for him," Thompson said. "That started it all. I started working as a special assistant, and it was really enjoyable. I really liked working with people and being able to work on issues.
"I liked getting things done, and seeing that what we were doing really had an impact," he added.
Following his work for the congressman, the Brooklyn native became the borough's youngest-ever deputy borough president. "I went from the federal level to city government around 1983 as the Brooklyn Borough president," he said.
Thompson was appointed to the New York City Board of Education in 1994. Two years later, he began the first of five consecutive terms as its president. During that period, Thompson led a reform agenda that resulted in improved student achievement and greater public accountability.
"In all my time in government - which has spanned about 18 years - the time at the Board of Education was one of the most rewarding, and I think we were able to move education forward in New York City," he said.
After serving as the senior vice president of public finance at an investment banking firm for a few years, Thompson decided to return to politics by running for the position of comptroller of the city of New York.
Thompson was elected during a time when New York's economy was flailing after the Sept. 11 attacks. He worked hard to alert New Yorkers to the fact that the federal government was failing to "make good on its promise" of aid - and to make sure that trend was reversed.
Thompson said he has used the powers of his office to "safeguard the city's finances, seeking out savings and rooting out waste." His audits of city agencies have uncovered $90 million in savings, including more than $22 million in Medicaid reimbursements unclaimed by the Department of Education and almost $4 million in fines uncollected by the Taxi and Limousine Commission.
According to Thompson, his audit of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) was one of his greatest achievements as comptroller.
"When the transit fare went up in New York City, I believe the MTA Board was less than honest with the public," Thompson said. "We did an audit of their finances and they said they had a deficit, and they didn't have a deficit, they had a surplus. And a Supreme Court judge ordered a fare rollback."
Although this decision was eventually overturned based on a decision "saying the MTA didn't have any obligation to tell the public the truth," according to Thompson, this effort is in line with the many wars he has waged on behalf of working people, and it forced the MTA to open its books to the public.
Additionally, Thompson has gained a national reputation for his efforts to stop corporations from doing business with countries that actively support terrorism.
"I've done a lot of work on corporations that are using loopholes to do business in nations that support terrorism," Thompson said. "For example, with companies such as Halliburton, we've been very successful."
As custodian and investment advisor to all five of the city's pension funds, Thompson manages a combined portfolio of more than $82 billion. In this role, he has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in affordable housing and commercial real estate in New York City, helping to increase housing and job opportunities.
He also has been an aggressive corporate shareholder, seeking reforms on issues such as employment discrimination and executive compensation, as well as environmental and human rights policies. Thompson also worked with leaders of the financial services industry to reform the operations of the New York Stock Exchange.
According to Thompson, though he has decided against running in New York's upcoming mayoral election, he has plans to run in the future.
"Someday I'd love to be mayor of New York City," he said - a move that would raise him from the second-highest citywide position to the first.
