Results tagged “termlimitsextension”

A day after Mayor Bloomberg got people talking with some comments that seemed to leave the door open for the possibility of bonus term in office in four years time, he took out any room for the imagination. On his weekly radio show, the mayor said, "12 years would be quite enough. I would be 71 ... not that there's anything wrong with 71." On Thursday Bloomberg gave the sort of vague response to a question about a possible fourth term that rekindled the sort of speculation that kept him in the headlines as a potential third party candidate for president in 2008. His answer also conjured up his last reversal on term limits—Politico said he was "looking a little like Putin." On the airwaves yesterday, Bloomberg said, "N-O. Under any circumstances," and said he thinks he'd get "tired and bored" with sixteen years as mayor.

The AP reports that the Department of Justice has "approved Mayor Michael Bloomberg's change to city term-limits law, clearing the final hurdle for the billionaire to run again this year." The DOJ, which has final approval over voting rules in NYC, was asked by opponents to stop the term limits extension because it, critics say, impedes minority voters.

Federal Judge Charles Sifton dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Mayor's (oh, and City Council's) extension of term limits that paves the way for Mayor Bloomberg to run for a third term. According to the AP, the judge found "the lawsuit's claim that the mayor and current second-term City Council members merely want to maintain their hold on power has no foundation in the record." Plus, CityRoom reports, Sifton "found that under state law, the Council was not required to conduct a referendum before adopting the term limits amendment." So, suck it, voters! Update: The plaintiffs, who include former SI Beep Guy Molinari and City Comptroller Bill Thompson, will decide whether to appeal later this week.

NY1 reports that State Senator Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn) introduced legislation preventing "city officials from running for a third term without the approval of voters." He said, "To brazenly push them aside and attempt to silence their voices is not what we should do as elected officials. For this, I am sponsoring a bill on the state level that will change term limits for the entire state." Last week, Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries also introduced a bill that would require a public referendum fora term limits extension; Jeffries' stance: "A few dozen politicians should not determine the fate of term limits in a city of eight million when the public has spoken – not once but twice."

It's the case of Guy Molinari vs. Michael Bloomberg: Former Staten Island Borough President Molinari tells the Advance he will be the "lead plaintiff in the civil action against Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who sought the extension to three terms."

After hours of hearing from the public, Mayor Bloomberg signed the controversial term limits extension bill. The bill was passed by the City Council a week and a half ago, in a vote of 29 to 22. It allows elected officials, including himself and City Council members, to run for a third term.

">encouraging NYers to sign up for 2-minute speaking slots at the 9:30 a.m. event (at City Hall's Blue Room)-- you can sign up at LetNYCVote. The Times also points out that Mayor Bloomberg did change his mind about signing a bill passed by the City Council last year.

Though City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced that the City Council would vote on whether to extend term limits from two terms to three for a number of elected positions--most notably for Mayor Bloomberg and his third term dreams. Council members Bill DeBlasio and Letitia James filed a petition with the State Supreme Court to stop the vote. Their argument is that it's in violation of the Conflict of Interests law, because extending term limits would apply to Council members, as well as the mayor, public advocate, comptroller, and borough president.