A key finance official in the administration of New York City Comptroller Elizabeth Holtzman will probably resign to take a job with the U.S. Treasury Department, sources with knowledge of the expected appointment say.
Darcy Bradbury, the city's deputy comptroller for finance, is under consideration by the Clinton administration for the position of deputy assistant secretary for federal finance at the Treasury Department, according to sources in New York and Washington, D.C. Bradbury was unavailable for comment yesterday.
Maerwydd McFarland, a spokeswoman for Holtzman, said Bradbury has not resigned from her position at the comptroller's office, but is on her "annual leave." McFarland would neither confirm nor deny speculation that Bradbury is about to leave the office.
At the moment, Roger Anderson, Holtzman's bureau chief for debt management is serving as acting deputy comptroller for finance, McFarland said.
Bradbury, a key staffer in the Holtzman administration, is in charge of the office's debt-management policy and its bond syndicate selections. New York City is the nation's largest issuer of municipal debt. Deals are structured and syndicates are selected by officials representing the mayor and the city comptroller.
Bradbury has served as deputy comptroller for finance since January 1990. Before that she was an investment banker, specializing in infrastucture financing at First Boston Corp. and Kidder, Peabody & Co. Earlier, she was a senior budget analyst for Massachusetts.
An administration source said Bradbury has already started at her new position with the Treasury Department on an informal basis, but that the Clinton administration has not officially announced her selection. Appointments to the post do not require Senate confirmation.
At the Treasury Department, Bradbury's primary responsibility will be oversight of debt management. Clinton administration sources say she will work on legislation covering regulation of the government securities market and on getting a renewal of Treasury rulemaking authority under the Government Securities Act.
The Treasury lost its ability to write rules for the government securities market in October 1991. There were some unsuccessful attempts to get that authority renewed in Congress last year.
Talk of Bradbury's departure comes at a difficult time for Holtzman, who is currently under investigation by the city's Department of Investigation for the controversial selection of Fleet Securities as a co-manager in the city bond syndicate.
The selection came after Holtzman's failed U.S. Senate campaign received a $450,000 loan from Fleet's banking affiliate. In addition, the department is investigating Holtzman's general fund-raising activities with Wall Street investment banks that also underwrite city debt, sources close to the investigation say.
A number of Holtzman administration officials have left office in recent months. Holtzman is currently running for re-election as comptroller. In June, general counsel Paul Chester resigned to become general counsel to state Comptroller H. Carl McCall. Other Holtzman staff members to have left the office include Ed O'Mally, former deputy comptroller for intergovernmental affairs and Pam Elam, who was assistant deputy comptroller and director of community relations. Lynn Stevens Hume contributed to this article.
