De Blasio said earlier this week that he will make his decision on whether to run sometime during the month of May. | Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office De Blasio City Hall staffers decamp for PAC

NEW YORK CITY — Two members of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s City Hall staff are taking a temporary leave from government to work for the mayor’s Fairness PAC as he explores a potential presidential run, while another senior staffer who has been working on the mayor’s possible 2020 campaign is leaving the de Blasio administration altogether.

De Blasio’s deputy press secretary Olivia Lapeyrolerie and Deputy Director of Executive Operations Alexandra Kopel, are planning to use their vacation days to go on leave from City Hall to work for the PAC, a person close to the committee told POLITICO. They will join de Blasio’s intergovernmental affairs director Jon Paul Lupo, who is also using vacation days to work for the mayor’s potential campaign. Lapeyrolerie will handle the PAC’s press and communications, while Kopel will be handling operations, the person said.


And Mike Casca, who had been de Blasio’s communications director until last month when he left City Hall to work for de Blasio’s PAC, is leaving the de Blasio administration altogether.

Casca, who came to City Hall in 2017 after working on Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, doesn’t have any current plans to work for another presidential campaign, a source close to the PAC said. Casca confirmed to POLITICO that he is not returning to City Hall.

The news of the staff changes comes as the Daily News reported Friday that de Blasio is planning to announce his presidential bid next week. De Blasio said earlier this week that he will make his decision on whether to run sometime during the month of May, and confirmed that the Fairness PAC, which has also been paying for Facebook ads in recent weeks, has been spending money polling potential Iowa caucus-goers.