Council Gives Mayor Chance At 3rd Term By Amending Law; Unions Unlikely to Play Big Role in Court Challenge Over Constitutionality

The window for Mayor Bloomberg to seek a third term was thrust open Oct. 23 when, after a bitterly contested battle, City Council Members voted 29-22 in favor of a bill that would amend the Term Limits Law to give citywide officials and themselves the chance for an additional four years in office.

MAYOR BLOOMBERG: Victory may come with a price.

Although a lawsuit is expected to be filed by a coalition of good-government groups challenging the legality of changing the law without a voter referendum, it is unlikely to have much support from the municipal unions.

UFT: 'Time to Move Forward'

Five of the more-influential ones representing uniformed employees backed the Mayor's attempt to seek a third term without a referendum, and the largest and most-powerful union that opposed him on his method signaled that it would not continue the fight.

Shortly after the Council concluded its tally, the United Federation of Teachers, which a week earlier had approved a resolution urging that a referendum be held, issued a statement in which President Randi Weingarten said was "time to move forward and tackle the major challenges we face, namely the economic crisis and its potentially devastating impact on the classroom."

VINCENT IGNIZIO: 'Shouldn't reward ourselves.'

Mr. Bloomberg had made both those matters key elements of his rationale for seeking a new term next year, citing his fiscal expertise and the progress the public schools have produced during his tenure.

Critics of the amendment generally praised his stewardship but protested that he was riding roughshod over the will of the voters, who in 1993 had approved the Term Limits Law and three years later rejected a proposal to extend the maximum time in office from eight years to 12.

Despite editorials in the city's three general-interest daily newspapers backing the term extension, public sentiment was overwhelmingly against the Council bill. A Quinnipiac College poll released two days prior to the vote showed that 89 percent of those surveyed believed the law should not be changed without a referendum. The poll's director, Maurice Carroll, said it was astonishing that any subject could leave the city's residents that close to unanimous.

The Chief-Leader/Eric Weiss TRIED TO GIVE VOTERS A SAY: Brooklyn Council Member David Yassky gets some last-minute advice from Bill de Blasio, one of his prime supporters in proposing an amendment that would have required a voter referendum before Mayor Bloomberg's bill to extend term limits could take effect.

Heading Off Momentum Against

It was that same day, after the giant private hospital workers union Local 1199 SEIU came out in opposition to the measure and upstate billionaire Thomas Golisano pledged to fund a campaign against it, that the Council abruptly scheduled a vote. The announcement was made to reporters even as one group opposing it, Citizens Union, was holding a press conference asking that consideration of the matter be postponed for a few weeks, and there was speculation that Mr. Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn were concerned that any delay would add to the momentum against the change.

The drama at last Thursday's hearing essentially played out during discussion of an amendment to the Mayor's bill proposed by three Council Members that would have required a referendum before the change could take effect. The vote to defeat that amendment — 28 against and 22 in favor, with James Saunders of Queens abstaining — foreshadowed the vote on the bill itself.

One of the authors of the amendment, David Yassky of Brooklyn, turned around the arguments by the Mayor and the Council Speaker that continuity was needed to deal with the tough issues likely to be facing the city as the economy worsens. Given the painful choices they figure to confront, he told the hearing, "We will need every ounce of public support and legitimacy."

Charles Barron of Brooklyn, referring to the previous voter referendums, which forced entrenched Council Members from office beginning in 2002, told his colleagues backing the Mayor's bill, "If you do this, you're undermining the very people that put you in."

Unworkable Timetable?

And Manhattan Councilman Alan J. Gerson said, "The basic democratic principle demands that this be returned to the people."

But Lew Fidler of Brooklyn, echoing an argument previously made by mayoral officials, said the timetable for appointing a Charter Commission, getting it to draft a referendum, holding the public vote and then ensuring that it survived legal challenges was potentially unworkable in time for next year's primary and general elections. For that reason, he said, "this amendment sets up a cure that is perhaps worse than the disease."

Members from both sides called on their colleagues to show political courage.

"What are we afraid of?" Brooklyn's Vincent J. Gentile demanded in urging approval of the amendment providing for a referendum. "The overwhelming public response in the last month cannot be pushed aside."

His Manhattan counterpart, Robert Jackson, responded by telling those who opposed term limits and believed the law could be extended without the referendum called for in the amendment, "Stand up and don't be afraid. Let's have a backbone."

Some of those in his camp cited the estimated $15 million cost of holding a referendum as prohibitive, given the city's fiscal troubles. But Rosie Mendez of Manhattan countered, "You cannot put a price on democracy. The people have a right to vote."

A Plea to Ask Public

And Vincent Ignizio of Staten Island, who joined with the Council's only other Republican, Minority Leader James S. Oddo, in voting against the extension without a referendum, pointed to a mural on the ceiling quoting Abraham Lincoln's invocation of government "of the people, by the people, for the people." He said the public could be convinced of the necessity of extending terms if the Council was willing to give it the opportunity to make the choice.

"If you make the case to your constituents," Mr. Ignizio said, "they will reward you. Do not reward yourselves."

Queens Councilman Tony Avella phrased the issue more caustically. "To turn our backs on the term limits issue I really think is disgraceful," he said. "Do you want to be remembered as the politicians who ignored the will of the people?"

Eric Gioia, also of Queens, argued that the reason residents did not get more involved in the political process was that they were convinced their participation didn't matter. Amending the law without their consent, he said, would send a message "that democracy is only okay when they agree with the powerful."

'Too Late to Do It Now'

But Bronx Councilman G. Oliver Koppell, citing his experience as a former Acting State Attorney General in dealing with the Justice Department on voting issues, said it was "almost impossible" to go through a referendum process in time for an orderly election next year.

"Yes, we should have had a referendum," he said. "But it's too late." He was among those who cast their votes for the bill proposed by Mr. Bloomberg.

The Mayor and Ms. Quinn both contended that the term extensions would give voters a greater choice, but in Mr. Bloomberg's case the change is almost certain to narrow the field. Ms. Quinn had already announced that she would put aside her mayoral ambitions if the bill was approved, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz is also expected to abandon his bid for City Hall in order to seek re-election, and speculation that Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly might run for Mayor has dissipated.

U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner and City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. both have said they will run, and each has made clear he will try to use Mr. Bloomberg's tactics in pushing the change through without voters having a say against him during a campaign. More than a few people involved in city government — not least among them some Bloomberg loyalists — have questioned, however, whether Mr. Thompson will take on the Mayor rather than opting for a far easier election battle now that he can seek a third term as Comptroller.