New Yorkers get 2 hearings on term limit proposal

[October 16, 2008]  NEW YORK (AP) -- In what promises to be two spirited public hearings, New Yorkers are being given the opportunity to weigh in on Mayor Michael Bloomberg's effort to change term-limits law so that he can run for re-election.

The first hearing before a City Council committee is set to begin Thursday afternoon, and some opponents of Bloomberg's campaign are urging for it to go all night in a show of solidarity. The second will be held Friday.

The billionaire independent mayor's plan to change the law so that officeholders have the option of a third, four-year term has been on a fast track since he announced his intentions just two weeks ago, after long opposing the idea. The 51-member City Council could vote as early as Oct. 23, a timeline that the opposition has criticized as too hasty.

Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democratic mayoral candidate who would likely face off against Bloomberg if the mayor were successful at changing the law, has said two hearings at City Hall in Manhattan are not enough.

He said voters throughout the city should have multiple opportunities to speak their minds at hearings held in their neighborhoods.

Another opposition group, the Working Families Party, said it was encouraging New Yorkers to flood Thursday's session to make the case for addressing the term-limits law through a voter referendum, rather than with City Council legislation.

"There is an element of the city that feels like, 'My voice is getting taken away, I better speak up now,'" said Working Families Party spokesman Dan Levitan. "On this critical issue, they've only given people one chance and a couple of weeks to be heard."

Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who supports Bloomberg's quest, said Wednesday that the process was put together quickly because of the importance of the issue.

"I don't think in any way shape or form that this is being rushed through, and we're going to make sure that anyone who wants to testify has that opportunity this week," she said.

[Associated Press; By SARA KUGLER]

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