Leaked emails from inside New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office show a man who habitually berates his staff for ineptitude and ignoring direct orders.
The New York Post released a batch of internal communications by Mr. De Blasio’s team this week, along with quotes by a source calling the Democrat an irascible “micro-manager” who belittles his support staff.
Emails show the mayor livid over receiving speeches without key words phonetically spelled out.
“This is literally the 100th time I am reminding you all that phonetic spellings require one syllable to be capitalized to indicate emphasis in pronunciation,” the mayor wrote in one document. “I have no idea why you guys can’t get it. All of the folks in comms, speechwriting and my personal staff who looked at these remarks — it just takes ONE to catch it.”
A Feb. 6, 2015, email titled “Guys, I’m fed up” lambasted staff as “unprofessional” for ignoring orders, the Post reported Tuesday.
“I have raised the problem of inconsistency in providing phonetic pronunciation and in providing clearly delineated Spanish (with emphasis on the proper syllable) many, many times,” he wrote. “And yet between all of you, you haven’t fix (sic) the problem, which is bluntly unprofessional.”
The Post’s source said that it is Mr. de Blasio who needs an attitude adjustment.
“He’s condescending and arrogant,” the source said. “I’ve been in plenty of meetings with him. He’s known to kick staff out of meetings.”
De Blasio spokesman Eric Phillips told the newspaper that the mayor is “always professional.”
“City government is a fast-paced, demanding environment and there’s probably a good reason these anonymous sources no longer work in City Hall,” Mr. Phillips added.
Multiple current and former staffers declined to comment for the Post’s story.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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