Public Hearings on Term Limits Begin

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks at a news conference where he presented his executive budget at City Hall on May 1, 2009 in New York City. The Mayor discussed in detail the more than $300 million in additional spending cuts and the hundreds of layoffs of city workers due to the financial crisis the city is facing. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

NEW YORK—Has the mayor done a good job? Could his business leadership help the city through the financial times? Are term limits good for the city? Is it up to the City Council to decide whether to change term limit laws? Could we have a referendum? If we have a referendum, would people come out to vote?

Lawmakers and New Yorkers on all sides of the debate voiced their opinions at the first of two public hearings on the bill Mayor Michael Bloomberg has introduced to extend term limits. The hearing began on Thursday, Oct. 16 at City Hall in the early afternoon. To hear all testimonies, the hearing ran until late evening.

Peppered with reprimands from the moderator, Chair of the Council’s Committee on Governmental Operations Simcha Felder, the discussion was highly charged, with speakers leaving no sentiment veiled.

Though the Conflict of Interest Board ruled Wednesday night that the power of the Council to decide on term limits is “squarely within proper discharge,” whether the Council should be allowed to make such a decision was still an area of contention.

Council member Tony Avella briefly introduced his legislation, Resolution 1640, before his colleagues jumped into debate. Res. 1640 would give the City authority to change the City Charter to to require any change to term limits be done via referendum. It would hand the decision making to the City as opposed to the the State, which has no vested interest in extending term limits and is “outside this argument,” Avella said.

A Procession of Points and Counterpoints

Council member David Weprin plugged for Intro. 850A, which would handle term limits exclusively by public decision. “Leave decision making to voters—because that’s how term limits came into existence in the first place,” Weprin said.

Former New York Governor Mario Cuom was a guest speaker as a long time opponent of term limits. He has challenged term limit laws in speeches and books, arguing that they are based on the incorrect assumptions that “after four years officials will lose ethicacy and the newcomer will be better,” Cuomo said, adding that the incumbent may “have just reached a level of expertise ... at the moment they are eliminated.”

An insistent council member Charles Barron argued that term limits allow fresh faces into City government because when 90 percent of the time non-incumbents run against an incumbent, the incumbent wins, he said.

Council member Council Member Peter F. Vallone representing Astoria is undecided on the issue and wants no part in it. “I would rather not have to decide this,” he said.

Bloomberg’s Plea

A statement from administration as delivered by Anthony Crowell, counsel to the mayor, framed the issue in terms of the financial crisis, citing it as a threat to the City’s achievements during the Bloomberg administration: reducing crime and increase in college graduation rates among them. The Mayor’s approval rating has largely stayed above 70 percent since 2005, according to Quinnipiac polls.

“There’s been a great deal of support for extending term limits while much of the opposition is concentrated on the process by which it would occur. The question today for the City Council is a straightforward one: Is extending term limits from two to three terms in the best interest of the city? If you think the answer is yes, as we do, urge to vote for this legislation and not hold it hostage to process concerns that have no legal basis.”

Current laws state that term limits can be legally changed through petition by the people, a change in the City Charter or via Council vote.

A second hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday in City Hall’s Committee Room.