In a historic move that could alter the face of New York politics, City Council approved the controversial bill to extend city government term limits Thursday afternoon by a 29-22 vote, paving the way for Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s run for a third term.
The bill, which was debated on the council floor for over two days, has sent shock waves through the city over the past month as local politicians, community activists, and citizens wrestled with the idea of initiating a voter referendum before the bill was considered by the council. Now that the bill has passed, the mayor, public advocate, comptroller, and council members will be able to run for third terms in November 2009, effectively upending two referendums from the 1990s that imposed the current eight-year limit. According to The New York Times, 23 second-term council members approved the bill, while 12 rejected it. The new law may be considered in 2010 at Bloomberg’s behest.
Council members Inez Dickens (D-Manhattanville and West Harlem) and Robert Jackson (D-Central Harlem) both voted in favor of the bill and endorsed the majority decision to decline voter input. As a first-term councilwoman on the Committee on Governmental Operations, Dickens was one of six to cast her ballot before the full council vote.
Dickens has espoused a variety of opinions on the issue, and spokeswoman Lynette Velasco said in late September that Dickens was “considering it in view of our economic climate” and had “not yet formed an opinion.”
Velasco could not be reached for comment on Thursday evening.
Susan Russell, special assistant to Jackson, said that the councilman’s office has received hundreds of e-mails and phone calls over the past few days expressing mixed emotions about how the legislation could shape Bloomberg’s relationship with Harlem residents.
“We live in a representative democracy,” Russell said, explaining Jackson’s rationale for his vote. “It’s in the obligation of the City Council to do what is best for the city.”
Jackson has expressed adamant opposition to term limits, and he could enter the race next year to vie for what would be a 12-year legacy.
But not all Harlem residents agree with Jackson.
“There is great anger and disappointment in the community” due to the possibility that Bloomberg could lead for another four years, said head of the Harlem Tenants Council Nellie Bailey.
Harlem locals “thought it typical of them [Jackson and Dickens] and their sell-out nature,” said Julius Tajiddin, a member of Community Board 10’s land use committee, who watched the hearings from the balcony of City Hall.
Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Spanish Harlem) resisted the bill and upheld the referendum amendment, which accords with views she conveyed in late September. Gale Brewer (D-Upper West Side) also voted against the bill, deviating from a stance she articulated to Spectator in September. Brewer had initially called for a referendum.
But some were wary of the interests of voting two-term council members, whose political futures would be immediately influenced.
“Jackson’s vote is a conflict of interest” since the bill gave him the chance to run for four more years in office, Tajiddin said.
Perhaps the most resounding criticisms came from public advocate Betsy Gotbaum and comptroller William Thompson. “Our government chose to empower itself rather than the people it serves,” Thompson said in a press release Thursday.
