- See more at: http://blogtimenow.com/blogging/automatically-redirect-blogger-blog-another-blog-website/#sthash.Q6qPkwFC.dpuf Cassino on Term Limits: Fix the Incumbent Loophole | Bronx News Networkbronx

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Cassino on Term Limits: Fix the Incumbent Loophole

Last Tuesday, New Yorkers voted overwhelmingly to limit city politicians to two consecutive terms in office. 

The vote overturns a controversial law pushed through in 2008 by Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council, which OK'ed three four-year terms for the mayor, council members, borough presidents, and others. (Back then, Annabel Palma was the only Bronx council member who voted against the extension.)

Supporters of the two term-limit, then, are celebrating.  But there's a catch: the new law won't impact incumbents. When the city's Charter Revision Commission approved the term limits ballot question in the summer, members also voted 9-6 in favor of allowing sitting office holders to run for a third term, should they choose to do so.

For commission member Tony Perez Cassino, this, too, needs to be reversed.

According to an article published yesterday on City Hall's  website, Cassino, a lawyer and Riverdale resident, is already laying the groundwork for a ballot question in 2011 that would give voters the option of tying incumbents to two terms. "Stay tuned because we really need to fix this loophole and finish the job we started," Cassino wrote on his blog last week. (Last month, he also opined on this issue in the Daily News and Gotham Gazette.)

Cassino, you may recall, ran - and lost - against Council member Oliver Koppell in last year's Democratic primary.  Koppell had been term-limited, but was allowed to run again following the City Council vote.

1 comment:

  1. This is just Tony trying to stay relevant. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete

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