Charter Commission To Vote On Ballot Issues Wednesday
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A fight over term limits is taking center stage for the city's Charter Revision Commission, now that a push to end partisan political primaries appears to be off the table. NY1's Grace Rauh filed the following report.When New Yorkers go to the polls in November they can expect to find a question about term limits on the ballot.
The city's Charter Revision Commission is expected to ask voters to return to a two-term limit for elected officials, doing away with the extension approved by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City Council in 2008.
But the commission hasn't yet decided whether any change to the law should take effect immediately, preventing lawmakers in their second term from seeking a third.
"That does promise to be the most open question and perhaps the subject of the most heated debate tomorrow night," said Charter Revision Commission Member Hope Cohen.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn says incumbents should be protected from any change to the term limits law. And she hasn't warmed up to a proposal that would prevent the Council from extending term limits the way it did in 2008.
"I want the Council to have more legislative authority, not less," Quinn said.
The commission has been wrestling with the idea of asking voters to end partisan primaries and replace them with nonpartisan elections. But Mayor Bloomberg's reluctance to fight for the change has left the issue effectively dead, at least for this year.
"People all over this city are looking at this issue and realizing that nonpartisan elections would open to the door to self-funded candidates, for more domination of the political process by moneyed people and by corporations," said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio.
Supporters of nonpartisan elections say they aren't giving up their fight.
"It just wasn't in the cards this year. We didn't see a clear path to winning this. We see a clear path down the road to winning this, just not this year," said Dick Dadey of Citizens Union.
"As more and more young people sign up and become registered to vote, they are not joining parties. They are not going to join parties and as that gap widens, so does the pressure," said Lenora Fulani of the New York City Independence Party.
The commission will meet Wednesday night to decide exactly what issues it wants to put before voters this fall. The exact wording of the ballot questions will be determined later this month.