(August 26, 2013) – Scott Stringer, a candidate in the November 5 election for New York City comptroller, has promised to prioritize sustainable investment practices for the city’s $140 billion pension system.
The current Manhattan Borough president would establish the Office of Sustainability Management within the Comptroller’s Officer to “ensure that the City operates, invests, and spends in environmentally sustainable ways to save taxpayer money and improve government performance,” according to his platform documents.
Stringer’s agenda points to the estimated $30 billion in damages wreaked by Hurricane Sandy as evidence of the fiscal upside of environmental consciousness.
“Leading thinkers in government, asset management, and sustainability have come to agree: Failing to consider potential environmental costs can have devastating fiscal and physical costs,” the campaign document states. “Ignoring the potential for environmental harms is no longer a viable approach. In order for our economy to thrive, we must make environmental impact one of the central yardsticks by which we judge our investments.”
The city’s comptroller has a powerful role in selecting the chief investment officer to head New York City’s five retirement systems. Larry Schloss, the current CIO, was appointed by Comptroller John Liu in 2010, and is expected to step down with Liu’s departure.
As borough president, Stringer has served as a trustee to the New York City Employees’ Retirement System for close to eight years.
He is running against former New York governor Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in the aftermath of a 2008 prostitution scandal.
Spitzer holds a strong 19-point lead over fellow Democrat Stringer, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on August 14. A total of 56% of likely Democratic primary voters polled supported Spitzer, who spent seven years chasing Wall Street wrongdoing as New York’s attorney general.