Pushed Passed His Limit

Ex-Staten Island Borough President, Guy Molinari sued Mayor Bloomberg in Federal court for pushing through his third-term mayoral run. Other plaintiffs include several City Council members and prominent New Yorkers. Molinari said, “This is a mockery of the word democracy. When I think back to the days when I was fighting with the Marines in Korea … people would say, ‘We’re here to defend our democracy.’” Molinari believes term-limits should be decided by the voters … not the City Council. Bloomberg ran and run… but Molinari was right.

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Cutting The Apple To The Core

The city’s budget gap has grown from $2.3 billion to $4 billion for fiscal years 2009 and 2010. That means significant budget cuts and layoffs loom. It means fewer government jobs, which is generally a good thing. It means fewer services for residents, which is generally a bad thing. Mayor Bloomberg said, “We just don’t know what the future is going to hold.” A New York City political insider believes he knows. He said that the recently term-limit-extended mayor is up for re-election in November 2009. He thinks we can expect to see reasonable cuts up to early 2010. However, in fiscal year 2011 (beginning on July 1, 2010) a “huge disaster” is coming because of a projected $5 billion dollar deficit. Nobody can know the city’s financial future for sure or how it will impact all of us. Maybe a memorable quote in 1982’s Rocky III will ring true for New Yorkers in the years to come. In the movie, Mr. T’s character, “Clubber Lang” was asked to make a fight prediction. His quote? “PAIN.”

[This is a copyrighted editorial, originally published on http://www.NEWYORKCITYonline.com/NYC-Online/blog.php. We invite you to post your comments! Note: This piece may be duplicated or printed with permission.]

City Council Capitulates To Mayor Miiike III

The City Council voted 29-22 (26 votes were needed) to approve Mayor Bloomberg’s bid to extend term-limits. This actually gives all elected city officials the legal right to seek third terms. The question is, does this extension give voters "more choice" by permitting an incumbent to run or "reduce options" by enabling an otherwise ineligible candidate to rerun. Bloomberg believes this last-minute move gives voters a “fuller choice.” Opponents were quick to argue that voters turned down term-limit referendums in 1992 and 1996. This new bill circumvents what New Yorkers voted against. Interestingly enough, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg were also in favor of term-limits … until recently. No man should insist he’s “the only one” to lead us from economic darkness. Nobody should claim to be Moses or the Messiah. Those parts have already been played. New Yorkers are being played 2,000 years later. Mayor Bloomberg has done much for the city, but what might new blood do? The country voted “change” for President. In New York City, it seems the more things change, the more likely they will stay the same.

Term-Limits Limit Political Excess

Our highly popular Mayor Bloomberg may have a secret desire to run for a third term. To do so, he’d most likely have to appoint a new Charter Revision Commission (including all of it’s members) to review the city’s entire charter. Having done that, they'd put a referendum on the November ballot for voters to approve an increase of public officials’ terms from two to three. Term-limits were first approved in 1993 and reaffirmed in 1996. During his tenure, Mayor Bloomberg has greatly benefited New York City in many ways. Better he continue do so in a different post rather than by manipulating a law that benefits New Yorkers from many politicians eager to benefit themselves. Keep term-limits as they are.