BROOKLYN -- Brooklyn Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries was joined Monday by Assembly Member Jose Peralta to announce an effort to amend the state election law to require a public referendum in New York City before the change in term limits becomes effective.
In 1993 and 1996, city residents voted by referendum to limit the tenure of municipal officeholders to two terms, or a total of eight years. Recent opinion polls indicated that 89 percent of the public believed that any change in term limits should only occur pursuant to a referendum.
Nevertheless, at the request of Mayor Bloomberg, the City Council voted last week to ignore the results of two prior referenda and change term limits legislatively.
“The fix was in at City Hall, and democracy did not stand a chance. The vote to legislatively change term limits was one of the biggest shams ever perpetrated on New Yorkers,” said Jeffries. “With breathtaking arrogance and reckless disregard for public sentiment, a few self-interested politicians conspired to undermine the will of the public.”
The proposed legislation will amend the state election law to require that any municipality, county, village or town where term limits are in effect, such as New York City, conduct a referendum before a change in the term limits law can become effective.
The bill requires that a referendum be conducted no later than the first Tuesday in March in the year that the general election will be held.
Jeffries plans on introducing the legislation next week. The state legislature is back in session on Nov. 18.
“I applaud the assembly members who are standing up against this assault on democracy,” said Gene Russianoff, senior attorney for the New York Public Interest Research Group.
————————
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008
All materials posted on BrooklynEagle.com are protected by United States copyright law.
Just a reminder, though -- It’s not considered polite to paste the entire story on your blog. Most blogs post a summary or the first paragraph,( 40 words) then post a link to the rest of the story. That helps increase click-throughs for everyone, and minimizes copyright issues. So please keep posting, but not the entire article. arturc at att.net
