Pay the damn bill

Former mayor and potential future congressman Bill de Blasio also once sincerely thought he could be president. He had a right to tilt at windmills while doing a bad Elizabeth Warren impression. What he didn’t have a right to do was to make taxpayers foot his security bill on the long and winding road to zero delegates — which is why he now owes more than $300,000 to the city he not long ago led.

Last year, the Department of Investigation dinged Big Bill for using his police detail for all manner of not-at-all-kosher uses, including to guard him while he pursued the Democratic nomination in 2019. This wasn’t about salary and overtime; nobody begrudges any mayor the basic protection provided by NYPD pros. It’s about the cost of travel, lodging, food and the like, which wouldn’t be incurred if de Blasio stayed in the five boroughs. They’re pure campaign expenses, for which his political operation should pick up the tab.

When the DOI report came out, de Blasio claimed it was full of “inaccuracies” and insisted he was just following police advice. “I’ve never received any contradictory guidance. I have followed all guidance to the letter.”

Turns out, that simply was not true. The news outlet The City got ahold of a letter sent by the chair of the Conflicts of Interest Board to the mayor’s counsel a day before de Blasio announced his presidential run. It is unequivocal: “The City may pay for only the salary and/or overtime of the NYPD personnel on such a campaign trip. All other costs associated with such personal campaign travel — including but not limited to airfare, rental cars, overnight accommodations, meals and other reasonable incidental expenses — must not be borne by the City. Rather these costs must be paid for or reimbursed by the Mayor’s campaign committee.”

Only. All. Must. Casting those words aside like litter in Prospect Park, only to get back on a moral high horse: What a fitting capper for the ethics legacy of Bill de Blasio. Pay up.