A new bill to extend term limits for elected city government officials from two terms to three has resurrected an old debate: Do term limits prevent politicking or progress?
Within a few weeks, New York Council member G. Oliver Koppell (D-Bronx) said he will introduce a bill that would allow City Council members, the public advocate, the mayor, and the comptroller to run for another four years after completing their eight-year tenure. If passed, the bill could impact Council members Robert Jackson (D-Morningside Heights and West Harlem) and Council member Gale Brewer (D-Upper West Side), both of whom will end their second terms in December 2009.
In the past, Jackson has described himself as a staunch critic of term limits, his Chief of Staff Susan Russell said.
“He’s been opposed to term limits from the start, before anyone could argue that they could affect him in any way,” she said. Though Russell would not speculate as to whether Jackson would re-enter the election should the bill pass, she added, “A little more time might be a good thing.”
Reaching far beyond the confines of Manhattan districts 7 through 10, the age-old discussion about term limits centers on the question of whether politicians can work effectively within a curtailed period of time. Many, including members of the Upper West Side and Harlem’s vast political circle, echo politicians’ concerns that long-term projects cannot be accomplished within the current allotment of eight years.
“To create an arbitrary term limit makes no sense,” Koppell said. “Why should voters be denied the right to have someone they chose to represent them?”
If politicians had either longer or indefinite opportunities to serve, they might take a stronger role “with rezoning plans, community-based planning for development” and “dealing with commercial rentals,” said Sheldon Fine, chair emeritus of the Upper West Side’s Community Board 7.
Yet two past referendums on the topic have revealed general disapproval of extending term limits. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum is fighting to permit voters a say in the bill. Gotbaum wants to hold another referendum sometime after the bill is introduced. Countering this effort, Koppel cited an already-existing amendment that provides legroom for term limits without voter sanction.
When asked whether Gotbaum worries that this legislation could incite politicians to focus more on campaigning and politicking than on policy, Press Secretary Sarah Krauss said: “Essentially, she just thinks it’s wrong to ignore what the voters have voted on. She’s not going to speculate on this hypothetical.”
While the bill would immediately affect those who were first elected in 2001, it would impact other representatives who are looking to the future.
Inez Dickens (D-Morningside Heights and Harlem) may choose to take advantage of the bill. “She is looking at extension,” her spokesperson, Lynette Velasco, said, “but she’d have to speak to her members, her speaker.”
scott.levi@columbiaspectator.com
