This is a Civics 101 story from CNY Decides, a collaborative podcast between the award winning newsrooms of WAER and Central Current.
For the first time in 20 years, New York State’s Comptroller, Tom DiNapoli is facing challengers in this year’s June 23rd primary.
From the very pronunciation of the word Comptroller, the three candidates are different.
Raj Goyle, a former Kansas State lawmaker, pronounces the “p.” Drew Warshaw, an affordable housing advocate, skips the “p” and emphasizes the “t” in “troller.” Then, there’s Tom DiNapoli, the 20-year incumbent, who ignores the “m” and the “p” and simply pronounces the word “con-troller.” More on that in a moment.
What you need to know about the New York Comptroller is that the state Constitution regards the role as the state’s main auditor and fiscal watchdog in charge of managing its $300-billion-dollar pension fund for more than half a million retirees and beneficiaries.
As a result, the Constitution bans the office from having any extra political or administrative powers. Think of it like an independent referee, not a lawmaker who sets policy.
However, each candidate has their own interpretation of the Comptroller’s duties. Take Goyle for instance.
"With the stroke of a pen, the comptroller decides where New York's money goes and where values our projects bring to the world,” he insisted. “The true opportunity of this office is to transition New York from a state of passive complicity to active protection and advocacy for New Yorkers."
Drew Warshaw has locked in on the enormity of power in one person’s hands.
“One person invests 300 billion dollars. One person gets to audit anything that touches a tax dollar. One person can review all state contracts. One person gets to give 20 billion dollars back to New Yorkers from the unclaimed fund in the middle of an affordability crisis,” he renumerated.
Meanwhile, DiNapoli was more conservative, calling his position simply a strict and transparent supervisor.
“We don't set policy, we don't set the budget, but we are the ones that monitor the spending, monitor the revenue patterns, report on that to help guide the governor and the legislature as they make those budget and policy choices,” he said.
DiNapoli said that means the Comptroller can’t use the pension fund to make political points or launch social campaigns. Goyle and Warshaw disagreed, arguing that the comptroller has a moral obligation to leverage New York’s tax dollars for broader changes like affordable housing, healthcare, and education.
And, as for pronouncing the title itself…
“When you look at the ballot, it's spelled C-O-M-P-T-R-O-L-L-E-R. So, ‘comptroller’ is probably the proper way to pronounce it.”
Don’t let the phonetics control who you’ll vote for. Early voting is underway and Tuesday is election day.
