With some City Council members still undecided on whether or not to extend the current term limits law, it may come down to the wire as to whether or not Mayor Michael Bloomberg will be allowed to run for a third term.

With two public hearings on the matter set for later this week, Bloomberg went on the defensive Tuesday when pressed about efforts to lobby City Council members to back his cause.

The mayor shot back at a reporter when he was asked if there was an effort to sway votes by threatening members' committee posts.

Bloomberg: "Look I am not here to debate you; ask your question and I'll answer it."

Reporter: "What would you do to get them to do what you want them to do?"

Bloomberg: "When you get done with your speech, let us know. You can write it out. Whenever you have a question, I'll be happy to answer it. As far as I know on our end of City Hall, number one, we have no ability to do it. Number two, we don't work that way."

The mayor's attack comes as the list of City Council members publicly opposed to the new term limit legislation continues to grow.

Republican Queens Councilman Anthony Como came out against extending term limits Tuesday morning, joining other council members who have publicly stated their opposition to the new legislation.

Como is the 19th council member to side against the bill, leaving 17 council members undecided on the matter. While 15 council members have expressed support for the legislation, another 11 council members would be needed to pass the bill.

City Council members opposed to Bloomberg's bid to extend term limits are trying to rally undecided colleagues to their side.

Also trying to sway the fence sitters is the Working Families Party, which delivered a petition to Councilman David Yassy's office Tuesday, urging the lawmaker to vote no. The Brooklyn politician has not made up his mind, but is said to be weighing boths sides.

At a news conference earlier today, State Senator Kevin Parker said he's preparing legislation to prevent City Council from extending term limits without a vote from the public.

"I actually come to this as someone who is against term limits," said Parker. "I think it's lazy democracy. However, I do firmly stand behind the democratic process, even when the democratic process goes against what I believe, because there is nothing that is greater than the process."

Lawmakers fired off another letter to the city's Conflicts of Interest Board, asking the panel to investigate whether the mayor made inappropriate deals with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and term-limits advocate Ron Lauder.

On the other side of the dispute is a group of small business owners and ministers who held a rally in favor of the bill.

"This is a time when we have a serious crisis, both economically and managerially within our communities, especially nationally," said Reverend Gregory Robeson Smith, who supports the plan. "And we feel that the mayor has demonstrated the kind of leadership that we need."

Yesterday in Park Slope, Brooklyn Council Members Bill de Blasio and Letitia James joined a protest against extending term limits.

De Blasio and James last week sent a letter to Quinn's staff, suggesting any move by the council to extend term limits may be illegal, and that voters should decide on the issue.

De Blasio said the debate is far from over.

"There's obviously something powerful happening among members of the council,” said de Blasio. “Members are talking to each other, they're listening to their communities and I think you're going to see more and more people say this is unacceptable."

Quinn announced Sunday she had changed her mind, and would support the bill.

With questions swirling over what caused Quinn to make the switch, the mayor insisted yesterday there was no deal cut between them.

"My staff has been working with her, it’s an administration bill, that's what our [staff does],” said Bloomberg. “There's certainly no backroom deal here. I get 20 questions a day about it, I don't know how you can call that a backroom deal."