Newsday reports: It's not too late for New Yorkers to speak publicly on the effort to extend term limits. The last chance is tomorrow morning, before Mayor Michael Bloomberg signs a bill allowing him and other term-limited officials to seek four more years in office.
Foes of the move are urging residents to show up at City Hall for the 9:30 bill-signing ceremony. Before the mayor actually puts pen to paper, members of the public have an opportunity to express why he should or should not sign the bill, said Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills), a likely 2009 mayoral candidate and opponent of extending term limits.
"The mayor and the City Council may be able to take your vote away, but they can't take away your right to speak," Weiner said.
Opponents said the bill was pushed through the City Council with "unprecedented speed." They said the two public hearings held in Manhattan, before the bill passed Oct. 23, were not sufficient, adding more hearings should have been held in the other boroughs.
Supporters called the process fair and said more than 20 hours of testimony was given before the council voted.
"What's going to happen Monday?" council member Bill de Blasio (D-Brooklyn) said Friday. "Is the mayor going to allow every citizen who wants to come forward the opportunity to say something? Is he going to be listening?"
De Blasio, council member Letitia James (D-Brooklyn) and other opponents threatened to sue Bloomberg if he signs the bill, on the grounds that it violates constitutional rights and state and local laws requiring a voter referendum to change the limits.
In response, a spokesman for Bloomberg said, "We are confident that the bill that was approved in the council chamber will also prevail in the courtroom."
Exactly when any legal action against the bill would be filed still is being worked out, de Blasio said.
On the eve of the council's vote, de Blasio and James filed a petition in State Supreme Court in Manhattan seeking to stop the vote, claiming it would violate the city's conflict-of-interest law. The petition was denied.
The city's Conflict of Interest Board, composed of mayoral appointees, already had ruled there was no violation.
Thirty-five of the 51 council members are nearing the end of their second term and could seek a third four-year term under the new law.
Opponents say that voters already decided term limits, supporting them twice in referendums in the 1990s. Supporters say extending the terms provides voters with more choices in the upcoming election.
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=25291
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