Standing Up and Being Counted

Momentum is building for a show of hands for all those who stand to gain from term limits extension. As the NY Daily News reports: "Pressure is mounting on City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to take a firm stand on term limits as Mayor Bloomberg publicly toys with extending them."Why not come out and say, 'No matter what the mayor does we are not going to entertain this,'" said City Councilman Tony Avella."

Now we know why Avella's popularity down at the council is ebbing fast-that's not advice that most council members want to hear. It is, however, what the public needs to hear, and as the NY Times points out, it is what Comptroller Thompson is demanding to hear from the mayor: "Irritated by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s protracted dalliance with overturning the city’s term limits, leading candidates for a variety of New York City offices are demanding, in unusually pointed language, that he make up his mind...“It is time that the mayor clearly state his position and not continue this charade,” said the New York City comptroller, William C. Thompson Jr., who is expected to run for mayor next year — unless, perhaps, Mr. Bloomberg seeks to extend term limits so that he can seek a third term."

So let the debate begin on all of this-it's shaky ground for all of those looking to self perpetuate, but the stakes are high enough for those involved to take the risk; that is, unless the public outcry reaches a crescendo of disapproval.