Opponents Of Term Limits Change Surface, Stage Set For Battle

Although Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City Council have sent enough trial balloons aloft about extending the term limits law but have not made a definite move in that direction, their actions apparently speak loudly enough to have inspired a large group of opponents who hope to rally the public to discourage any moves by the mayor and council.

Unlike the lack of definitive action on the part of the mayor and council, billionaire Ronald Lauder, the foremost opponent of any change in the law without the public voting on it, sprang into action, not with a formal announcement, but with a television advertising campaign he launched last Sunday.

Lauder, who financed the campaign which was mainly responsible for getting the term limits law enacted in 1993, opened his new campaign on television with a direct appeal to voters to oppose any change proposals. It should be very effective—and amusing.

As the camera focuses on an infant clothed only in a diaper, a narrator intones: "Politicians are a lot like diapers. They need to be changed regularly. And for the same reason." It concludes: "So tell politicians messing with term limits."

The ad ran on Sunday morning on major news programs on CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox News, and is also running all this week on NY 1 during evening programs.

At the same time, two influential civic watchdog organizations voiced opposition to any changes in the term limit law without a vote by the public.

Citizen Union issued a statement saying any attempt to change the law would "undermine New Yorkers' confidence in government".

The New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) said through its chairman, Gene Russianoff, "It is wrong to overturn the will of the voters."

Also speaking out against any change in the law was the former city Public Advocate Mark Green.

A spokesman for Bloomberg declined to comment.

Almost simultaneously, with the first appearance of opposition to any change in the law, City Councilmembers David Weprin and Oliver Koppell disclosed the first actions to start the ball rolling toward getting the law changed to permit citywide officials and councilmembers to serve another term rather than be limited to two.

Koppell (D- Bronx) said he planned to introduce legislation within weeks to give the city's elected officials three terms in office.

Weprin (D- Hollis) said he was sponsoring legislation that would be a referendum to change the term limits law, and added, "It would be wrong for the city council to change the rule by legislation

because it was the result of a public referendum."

The mayor started the latest public discussion on changing term limits, reportedly at the behest of businessmen who felt he was doing so well in office that prospective successors were not his equal and a change at this particular time would be bad for the city.

Bloomberg also tried to line up editorial support for a third term from the city's three major newspaper publishers. So the ball is in the court of the business community, the newspaper moguls and the city council.

We think these latter entities should, on the mayor's behalf, take on Lauder and the assorted opponents of any changes and put the issue to a vote. Briefly put, the mayor has done a very good job and, unless a lot of people are wrong, he stands a very good chance of winning a third term if given the opportunity, so why not set the wheels in motion for a showdown.

The city council is mostly on record as favoring a chance to serve a third term, so let's ask the voters once more if they want to give them the chance to stand once more for election.

GIANARIS' VETS' SPOUSES AID NOW LAW: Governor David Paterson has signed into law Asemblymember Michael Gianaris' bill to extend property tax exemptions to spouses of deceased veterans. Commenting on the enactment, Gianaris explained that deceased veterans' spouses prior to his bill's passage were allowed to maintain a property tax exemption if a veteran died and as long as a widow remained in the same house, but, "Too often, a widow or widower loses this important tax exemption because of a decision to relocate after the death of a spouse" the legislator explained.

Upon becoming law, Gianaris' legislation eliminates this inequity by entitling the surviving spouse of a veteran who has not remarried to transfer his or her veterans' property tax exemption to another property, should the spouse decide to move after the veteran's death.

WEPRIN OPPOSES PILOT CAB PROGRAM: Citing possible safety hazards, City Councilmember David Weprin (D- Hollis) announced his opposition to a pilot program used by the city's Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) which matches wheelchair-bound passengers with accessible vehicles through a central dispatching system.

"The sticking point which has some lawmakers crying foul is the use of Blackberry devices to communicate between the dispatcher and the cab driver," Weprin said. "We should not be promoting hazardous driving. Instead, we should be promoting safe and educated driving."

The Disabled Riders Coalition and other councilmembers back Weprin's position.

COUNCIL OPPOSITION TO WILLETS PT. TIGHTENS: The City Council, which will have the final say on Mayor Michael Bloomberg's controversial Willets Point development plan, appears to have solidified its opposition. According to Councilmember Hiram Monserrate, who's leading the opposition to the proposal, the Council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, a 25-member group, has joined the opposition.

Previously, 32 councilmembers had signed on to a Monserrate letter to City Planning Commission Chairperson Amanda Burden expressing "absolute opposition" to the Willets Point plan. Even if the numbers of councilmembers who signed the letter (32) and the number of minority caucus members (25) are adjusted to account for any overlapping, the resulting total of councilmembers opposed would be well over the simple majority needed to block the bill or a veto override.

Councilmember Robert Jackson, caucus co-chair, stated, "This plan cannot proceed if it continues to ignore community cries for adequate reimbursements for lost property, job protections for dislocated workers and affordable housing that people in the neighborhood can afford."

PADAVAN: 'SIGN UP FOR CHILD HEALTH PLUS': Citing the recent expansion of income eligibility limits for the Child Health Plus program, state Senator Frank Padavan is urging all families in his Northeast Queens district to apply for the health insurance program for children.

Padavan (R- C, Bellerose) said the eligibility requirements have been expanded to include families with annual incomes up to $70,000 a year. The previous cap was $44,000, he said. The higher eligibility standard went into effect on September 1.

The lawmaker explained that Child Health Plus is a free or low-cost health insurance program for children under age 19 whose families do not qualify for Medicaid coverage due to income. He said eligibility and monthly premiums for the program are based on a family's gross annual income.

For more information, visit www.nyhealth/nysdoh/chplus or call 1- 800-698-4543.