Suffolk County Jobs

Congressman Tim Bishop has been described by his opponent as chasing thousands of jobs away from Long Island.

It is not true.

Some background: Rep. Bishop was first elected to represent the First District of New York in 2002. He is a 12th-generation resident of Southampton, NY. He received a BA degree from Holy Cross and an MA degree from Long Island University. Bishop served as Provost of Southampton College, where he worked starting in 1973.

He was challenged in 2010 by Randy Altschuler and won with fewer than 600 votes. He is being re-challenged this year by Altschuler, who grew up in New York City, attended Hunter College High School, Princeton (where he majored in German studies) and the Harvard Business School. In 1999, with a Princeton classmate, Altschuler created an outsourcing company called Office Tiger. They sold the company in 2006 for $250 million.

In 2010, Altschuler used $2.2 million of his own money to help finance his campaign.

This year, Republican PAC money is reportedly being focused on this race.

Here is my letter to the East Hampton Star on the claim that Bishop has been "chasing jobs" from Suffolk and Nassau Counties.

Economic Claims
Springs 
June 28, 2012
To The Star:
As former chief economist to three New York City comptrollers, I have been following the economic claims of the newly confirmed 2012 Republican candidate for Congress from the First District.
He describes our incumbent congressman, Tim Bishop, as having chased thousands of jobs away from Long Island. That is manifestly unfair, and out of date.
During the last year, Long Island jobs have grown 1 percent, i.e., by 12,000 jobs. The job losses occurred when the entire country and world were reeling from the financial catastrophe bequeathed by the prior G.O.P. administration.
Not only are jobs growing, but despite the deflationary campaign of the Tea Party, the average weekly wage of Suffolk County workers has held up better than three-quarters of other United States counties as of the latest available quarter.
This is all the more remarkable because: Suffolk County has more jobs than any other county in New York State except Manhattan, and it is only one of three of the largest 16 counties in New York State to have an average weekly wage above $1,000.
Michael Bloomberg successfully ran for mayor of New York City as a business leader right after 9/11, when the city’s economy was in trouble. The difference is that Mr. Bloomberg’s company created and retained thousands of jobs in New York City, the community where he was seeking office.
Randy Altschuler is asking to be elected in Suffolk County based on his plan and on his claim to have created jobs before he sold his outsourcing company, Office Tiger. But the jobs he says he created were west of Long Island and overseas in Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
Magnificent, but not Suffolk County. Compared with Mayor Bloomberg, that is a world of difference.
JOHN TEPPER MARLIN