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Support for Bloomberg, but not for ditching term limits

BY MICHAEL FRAZIER | michael.frazier@newsday.com; Staff

October 2, 2008

Con Ed inspector John Lebron smiled widely yesterday at the prospect of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's staying in office four more years.

He had voted twice for Bloomberg, saying the mayor has done great in his two consecutive terms. But a vexed look crept across Lebron's face when he learned Bloomberg is seeking to overturn the city's term-limit law for a chance to run again.

"I don't think he should do that because of the voters," said Lebron, 52, of Manhattan. "The voters decided."

Many New Yorkers acknowledged yesterday that they favored Bloomberg but they were against changing the voter-approved term limits law, which restricts the mayor and other elected officials to two four-year terms. Others thought the move made sense for Bloomberg, saying he had the necessary qualities to lead the city through grim financial times.

Bloomberg was expected to announce his plans today.

In 1993 and 1996, voters twice supported term limits. Following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, then Mayor Rudy Giuliani contemplated extending his term for three months by changing the city's term-limits law. Later, he decided against it.

In 2002, Bloomberg himself vetoed a bill that would have extended term limits, saying elected officials shouldn't change rules for their own political gain.

In Waterbury, Conn., yesterday, Giuliani joked that there was one area Bloomberg "needs to improve if he wants a third term." "He's got to get a [Yankees] championship. I've got four," Giuliani said, according to The Associated Press. He was at a fundraiser for a Connecticut state senator running for Congress.

Bloomberg's reversal shows he, too, is thinking only of himself, not the people, said Charlie Tripodi, 57, of Queens.

"I feel he should let others run for office," he said. "Give somebody else a chance."

But others say Bloomberg has tested business experience, needed during an economic crisis.

"I think he's very worthy of having a third term - he's a good mayor, one of the best since I've been living in New York," said a Bloomberg supporter in Union Square yesterday who didn't want to give his name.

"Anybody who does a job well, there's no limit," said the Manhattan resident, 62. "You could give up a good thing and never know what you are going to get."

Victor Rossi, 32, of Queens, said that might be true, but term limits also allow for fresh perspectives and creative social policies.

"In his two terms, Rudy cleaned up drugs and prostitution, then Bloomberg came in," Rossi said. "Bloomberg helped bring back tourism after 9/11. He's served his eight years - now there should be someone else who can come in and have a chance to make some changes."

When asked during a joint interview with former Mayor Ed Koch about another term, Bloomberg said in the current issue of New York magazine, "I'm going to work hard to convince Ed Koch to run. And if he is not willing to run, I don't know the answer."

Staff writer Keith Herbert contributed to this story.