Personally, I say let the people decide democratically in the form of election, however, as democratic as that is, everyone is entitled to their position on the idea.
NY City Council holds raucous hearing on term limits
The anticipated raucous debate over extending term limits featured the same arguments reiterated for hours yesterday in the first public hearing held by the City Council.
Three hours passed before two city residents got a chance to give their opinions on Mayor Michael Bloomberg's bill, which would extend the city's term-limit law from eight years to 12. A second hearing will be held today.
Spirited discussion between former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo and Councilman Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn) kicked off the mostly quiet meeting.
Cuomo, a longtime foe of term limits, said the cap undermines good government because it assumes that four or eight years are enough for an office holder, or that someone new would automatically be better than the incumbent."Both are neither provable or intelligible," he said. "There's a much more intelligent way and a much more obvious way to remove officeholders and [who] the voters believe should be replaced. You let the voters make the decision in what's called an election."
Cuomo added, "I know it works. It made me a private citizen in 1994."
But Barron scoffed at the notion that term limits are useless.
"You got a lot of nerve," he said, drawing cheers and applause. "How dare you come before this body and say term limits don't work? That's an insult to every one of us sitting here that came in through term limits."
Barron also said incumbents - good or bad - are historically difficult to oust, further highlighting the need for limits. Cuomo agreed about the incumbents issue but maintained elections serve people better than terms.
Bloomberg did not attend the hearing. He instead focused on recruiting supporters to attend the hearings.
"We're out there trying to campaign," he said after an unrelated news conference in Times Square. "We've got to get as many people to come and testify on both sides of any of these controversial things. ... And I will say I've made calls to people and asked them to come and testify, and every single one of them said, 'I'd be thrilled to come.'"
Bloomberg supporters maintain he's the best candidate to lead the city through tough financial times, while opponents say voters have already decided the term limit issue. Voters twice supported term-limit initiatives in the 1990s.
The earliest the 51-member council could vote on the issue is next Thursday. Two-thirds of the body will be forced out by term limits at the end of next year.
The city Conflict of Interest Board ruled Wednesday that the council could vote on the mayor's bill, though it may be viewed as a personal benefit. The ruling was in response to a complaint filed last week by some council members.
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