Democratic Assemblyman Adam Bradley declared his long-anticipated candidacy for mayor on the chilly, windblown steps of City Hall yesterday morning, entering a political battle that became vastly easier last week when the Republican who has held the job for 12 years pulled out of the race.

Mayor Joseph Delfino’s announcement that he would not run for a fourth term suddenly and dramatically transformed the contest, which had been expected to be a high-spending, gloves-off match between two of the city’s political heavyweights.

Nevertheless, the speech was laden with references to the incumbent, suggesting Delfino negotiated lousy deals with developers and relied on tax increases and one-shot revenue sources to balance budgets even during years of rapid growth.

“This election is about property taxes and fiscal management,” Bradley said, mentioning taxes 14 times but not promising to cut them. “We don’t need additional tax hikes and continuous fee increases. We need better planning, and certainly better negotiations with developers when new projects are approved.”

Bradley also said he would “ensure that there is transparency in our city government and welcome those that seek information and monitor our city actions.”

Delfino did not respond to telephone calls and e-mails seeking a response.

Bradley, 48, was joined on the steps by many of the marquee Democrats in the city and Westchester County, including County Executive Andrew Spano; Democratic county Chairman Reginald Lafayette; several state and county legislators who represent the city; and five of the six Democrats on the Common Council. A few of the councilmen in the past year had refused to rule out running for mayor themselves, including Dennis Power, the party’s candidate for mayor four years ago, who distributed copies of the speech after Bradley stepped from the podium.

The show of party force demonstrated the unity that Bradley is all but certain to ride to the nomination when the Democratic City Committee meets April 20.

The fall campaign may not be much more difficult: Delfino is the only Republican elected in the city, and his decision to step down after three four-year terms left the party without an obvious successor.

City GOP Chairman Brian Maloney said several people have expressed interest in running, but he would not name them, and no one has said so publicly.

Bradley’s speech yesterday emphasized his local roots: He was born in White Plains, earned a law degree from Pace University on North Broadway, served as a city Democratic chairman and has represented the city in the Assembly since 2003. In Albany, he credited himself with enacting bills protecting children and open space, and taking on “entrenched interests” such as health maintenance organizations.

He was less specific about what he would do as mayor or how he would balance a budget without the tax increases and one-shots he attacked, at a time when city revenues are plummeting in the recession. But he said he would hold the line on taxes by “fiscal reform and restructuring” rather than by cutting services.

In an interview that followed his speech, Bradley responded vaguely when asked how his experience in Albany – where he has a staff of two and serves on six committees that have little fiscal responsibility – prepared him to manage a municipal work force of about 1,000 and a $161 million budget that Delfino himself has said was becoming “unmanageable.”

Bradley noted that he has served on the Assembly committee that oversees state authorities, which he said oversaw their billions of dollars in annual spending.

“We need to be partnering with other levels of government, which I’ve done my whole career,” Bradley said. “And we need to appoint the best and most competent professionals regardless of party affiliations to key boards and commissions.”

Bradley would not say whom he might appoint or who in Delfino’s administration would go. But his criticisms of the way the administration has handled many of its major challenges – including development, parking, congestion, technology, open space, affordable housing, taxes and the budget – suggests that his broom would sweep widely.

“A lack of sound fiscal planning has left White Plains in worse shape during this economic crisis, with worse to come if we don’t fix it soon,” he said. “In these tough economic times, we need new energy to secure better deals for taxpayers.”

Source: LoHud