Bloomberg wants to get rid of Public Advocate position, says "we have an aggressive enough press"

Mayor Mike Bloomberg says that the Public Advocate position should be abandoned:
"You should get rid of the public advocate," he said. "It's a total waste of everybody's money. Nobody needs another gadfly and we have an aggressive enough press," he said.

Well, incumbent Betsy Gotbaum hasn't exactly distinguished herself. But Bloomberg thinks the press is aggressive enough. How about the publishers who agreed to support his effort to overturn and extend term limits?

Maybe he's been reading friendly reviews of ex-Timeswoman Joyce Purnick's gentle biography of him.

Council Member Bill de Blasio, the Democratic nominee for Public Advocate and presumptive winner in November, issued a statement: "Mayor Bloomberg cannot keep changing the rules to suit his political needs. He extended term limits without giving the voters a say and now he plans to eliminate the one Citywide office that is a real check on his power. I hope Mayor Bloomberg will reconsider his comments
because our city government, now more than ever, truly needs checks and balances."