The head of New York City’s campaign-finance board, Nicole Gordon, is leaving to take a job at a private foundation.

That’s all well and good, but just what criteria does the Times use to call NYC’s campaign-finance program "effective"? The campaign-finance system in New York City is an absolute joke and a fraud. The system spends millions of taxpayer dollars to make the city’s local elections more "competitive," and yet incumbents stand a better chance of being gunned down in broad daylight than being defeated in a bid for reelection.

The system is nothing but welfare for politicians and political consultants. And even if one doesn’t take my admittedly extreme view of the situation, there’s no justification for praise on this occasion.

Effective? What’s effective?