According to various news reports, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg will seek a suspension of the term-limit law and announce he will seek a third term, a subject he has danced around for some time. Mayor Bloomberg will reportedly make the announcement Thursday morning, citing his business experience and the financial crisis on Wall Street as reasons to stay on the job.
NY1 reports that Mayor Michael Bloomberg has yet to confirm or deny the reports that he will announce his intention to change city law and run for a third term next year.
The mayor refused to answer questions as he left his home on Wednesday morning.
The current term limit law has been approved by voters twice. It prevents the mayor and other city politicians from seeking a third term. But a majority of City Council members have expressed support for changing the law.
Support for the mayor’s reported decision includes some notable newspaper editorials.
The Daily News says “New Yorkers will jump at the chance” for a third Bloomberg term, while the New York Times calls on the City Council to do away with term limits all together.
The editorial says term limits take away the voter’s right to choose the best candidate. The Times argues that the law should be abolished all together – not just to extend Bloomberg’s career, but for the sake of democracy.
Current city law will force Bloomberg from office at the end of next year, as well as the city comptroller, two-thirds of the City Council and the city’s public advocate.
(CBS2 HD / NY1)
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4 Responses
New York City residents should be urging their legislators to do away with term limits. It’s not good policy even in normal times, but in precarious times like we’re witnessing now, it creates an unnecessary break in continuity and stability … and that’s unwise!
I remember after 9/11 when Guilianni was riding high and his term/time was expiring, everyone scoffed at the notoin for him extending term limits. New York was in a bigger situation then.
Term limits were put in place so not to have incumbents rule for 25 plus years and corrupt the city. Of course some good people will have their time shortened in office. But then again if you leave any of the “good” ones in office too long perhaps they too will join the ranks of the ….
It can also be argued that more aggressive change can be done when the councilman/mayor knows that he doesn’t have to worry about his electorate and financial supporters, re-election etc, rather just focus on what his job is.
Nope. Term limits are great. 8 years is plenty of time for any one man to do good.
For example, if you liked Mr. Giuliani and you like Mr. Bloomberg, then you didn’t lose out by having term limits, as you (will have) had 16 years of good mayors with no reason the next candidate should be any less suitable; if you dislike either, however, you already understand why term limits are important.
Could anyone run a business by every 8 years replacing every staff member, from CEO to clerk? That’s basically what term limits cause in NYC – from Mayor on down, everyone is new on the job, and by the time thing start running smoothly, they all have to leave.
Let the limits be determined by the electorate. It worked on Ed Koch. I work for a Mayoral agency, and believe me, there’s a lot of disruption everytime we get a new mayor, because that means new commissioners, who hire new deputies, who hire new directors, etc.