Leroy Comrie (l. to r.), Melinda Katz and David Weprin are all seeking the Speaker position. Let Them Speak The seven candidates for Council Speaker have been on the forefront of the movement to bypass the voters on the term limits issue, but the three from Queens have not been as publicly keen on the idea as their opponents. Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) said term limits are harmful to government, but he has not yet made up his mind about whether to pursue a public or legislative route in overturning them – though he favors the latter. If elected Speaker, he said he would hold a series of Town Hall meeting and forums in an attempt to gauge the citizens’ sentiments. He has already been invited to seven civic groups to discuss the topic. “I’m willing to have an open and frank discussion about it, but I’m not willing to have it used as an election ploy or an election tool,” Comrie said. David Weprin (D-Hollis) made a concerted effort not to align with his colleagues at a debate at Baruch College several weeks ago, arguing he would not make a decision on the issue until he actually viewed the proposed legislation. At the same debate, Melinda Katz (D-Forest Hills) was more straightforward than the other Queens members about her preference to change term limits through legislation. The candidates have argued that extending term limits would balance the power between the legislative and the executive body in the city government. At the moment, lobbyists and City Hall officials have more experience and therefore more power to manipulate the system. While its an important policy point, a referendum would put the public at the mercy of the media and rich financiers like Ron Lauder, who funded the initial drive to institute term limits, some Speaker candidates have said. Sometimes, it’s their job to be unpopular for the good of the government, they argue. Here Comes the Mayor Already committed to a veto, Bloomberg said during a radio show this week that if the Council passed legislation extending or abolishing term limits, he would back a ballot initiative overturning the decision. Through the Charter Revision Commission, the mayor has the ability to send issues to the public for a referendum vote. “It is an outrage if they do this. It is an outrage to just say to the public ‘We don’t care what you think,’” Bloomberg said. “I hope that common sense comes to them, and that they don’t do this.” That possibility could politically embarrass the Council members who supported the legislation, as groups outside the Council push the issue as a matter of integrity, said Henry Stern, president of New York Civic, a good government group. As time wears on, being associated with the movement to legislate term limits could become a political liability, causing an increasing number of Council members to put distance between them and the idea, Stern said. The prospect of gaining the 34 votes needed for an override – especially in the face of a mayoral ballot issue – could become slim. “I predict the attempted coup will collapse, as the plotters desert the conspiracy, once they see it is likely to fail,” he said.

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