By Jeremy Walsh
Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s bill to extend term limits could provide a third term for two−thirds of the City Council, but many members facing the end of their tenure in 2009 still opposed the legislation on technical or ethical grounds.
Councilman John Liu (D−Flushing), who has often said he opposes term limits on principle, tried to focus the controversy at the public hearings into how to change the law.
“Term limits is not the issue here,” he said. “The issue is what do we do with a law put on the books by referendum and then affirmed by another referendum?”
Term limits were established by a 1993 voter referendum and affirmed in another 1996 vote. A Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday showed 89 percent of city voters believed the issue should be decided by referendum.
Many worried about the morality or propriety of a municipal government legislating a possible extension to their careers, but several former attorneys for the city insisted the approach was legitimate.
Councilman Peter Vallone (D−Astoria) attacked the idea of term limits and decided Tuesday to back Bloomberg’s legislation. But he agonized over the decision at last Thursday’s hearing.
“I would much rather not be deciding this issue,” he told former Gov. Mario Cuomo during last Thursday’s public hearing, noting he was worried about potential conflicts of interest.
“You’re capable of voting on your salaries, aren’t you?” Cuomo shot back. “I have faith the Council can vote objectively.”
Responding to inquiries from Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and several Council members, the city Conflicts of Interest Board issued an advisory opinion stating the Council would not violate municipal conflict of interest laws by voting on Bloomberg’s bill.
“It’s important to stress that no means of amending the charter is better than the other,” said city corporation counsel Michael Cardozo, noting the city charter allows for amendments by voter petition, a charter revision committee or City Council legislation.
He noted that the state appellate court upheld the actions of the Buffalo City Council throwing out a one−term limit despite its being established by referendum.
Liu, like many other council members, wondered why it would not be possible to put a voter referendum on the ballot for a special election already planned for spring 2009 to replace Councilman Hiram Monserrate (D−East Elmhurst), who is running unopposed for the state Senate seat vacated by Sen. John Sabini (D−Jackson Heights).
Anthony Crowell, an attorney for Bloomberg, warned that only 10 percent to 15 percent of the electorate generally turn out for special elections, and as a result “special interests often have a disproportionate voice.”
The process that a panel would have to follow to get a referendum on the special election ballot could delay it until late spring, leaving Council members in political limbo, he said.
Cardozo, meanwhile, suggested that the U.S. Justice Department, which reviews all state and city laws that affect a scheduled election, would clear Bloomberg’s Council bill.
“I am confident DOJ would find nothing objectionable in Intro 845,” he said.
Cardozo said that 60 percent of the electorate voted in 1993 for a mayoral candidate, but only 30 percent voted either way on the term limits measure.
Finally, many on the Council were worried that Bloomberg had struck a deal with cosmetics heir Ron Lauder, the billionaire who spearheaded the term limits initiatives, in order to gain his support. A provision in Bloomberg’s bill would establish a commission to decide whether to put a measure returning to two term limits on the 2010 ballot — after the mayor and second−term Council members have a shot at re−election.
Former three−term Mayor Ed Koch said he believed that a third term should not be only for Bloomberg.
“What you would do for the mayor, I believe you should absolutely do for the Council,” he said.
Councilman David Weprin (D−Hollis) called the bill “a one−time deal for 12 years because of an unsung agreement to put it back on the ballot in 2010.”
Cardozo responded that a deal “does not exist,” but did confirm Bloomberg’s intention to involve Lauder directly in the process.
“The mayor announced he would appoint a charter commission with a cross section of different views and that Lauder was one of the people he would appoint,” Cardozo said.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e−mail at jwalsh@timesledger.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 154.
