Letters To The Editor

Letters from readers are invited. All letters, including ones sent via email, must be accompanied by the writer's full name and address, which will be withheld upon request. Anonymous letters will not be considered for publication. All letters are subject to editing.

Be heard on term limits Dear Editor:

On Thursday, Oct. 16, after weeks—maybe months—of insider dealing, the City Council is finally holding the one and only public hearing on term limits where you, the people of New York City, can make your voices heard.

It starts at 1 p.m. at City Hall. The Council has pledged to go all night if they have to. You should be there. You should testify. Tell the politicians and the city elites that this is your city, not theirs.

The City Council and the Mayor may be able to take away your right to vote on term limits, but they can't take away your voice.

It doesn't really matter whether you agree or disagree with term limits. And it's not really about whether you like the Mayor or the City Council.

There is a right way and a wrong way to extend term limits. I agree with Mayor Bloomberg on some issues, and disagree on others. On the issue of term limits, the Mayor has chosen the wrong way and the City Council must take a different approach.

The Mayor has essentially chosen to broker a backroom deal with the City Council—to the detriment of the people. That is wrong.

In 1993, 60 percent of voters chose to create term limits. Then in 1996, 54 percent voted against extending term limits to three terms—which is exactly what the Mayor is now proposing. The people voted them in and should be given the opportunity to vote them out, if they so choose.

The Mayor and the City Council have started an effort to overturn New Yorkers' votes on their own constitution and the City Charter. In January 2008, the Mayor announced a Charter Reform Commission— funding it with $2.1 million. This Commission could have been the place for a full-throated public debate of the topic.

Despite all his lip service about supporting public input, the Mayor never convened the Commission. They never met. They never held any public forums. The Mayor's feet dragging amounts to a purposeful attempt to exclude public input by "running out the clock."

And now the time has passed for the public to hold the Mayor and the City Council accountable.

I am afraid the Mayor has become the kind of politician he once campaigned against. His plan is not reform. This is not openness. In fact, anyone who supports this plan can no longer hold up the reform mantra and say he or she believes in a government responsible to the public.

The Council—and only the Council—still has the ability to allow the public to decide this question. The Council may be able to take away your vote, but they can't take away your voice. It's important that New Yorkers come out, speak out, and protect their right to vote.

The right way is clear— allow the public's voice to be heard. For that to happen, the Council and the Mayor have to do a simple thing: give the public a vote on term limits. That's what I am fighting for.

Rep. Anthony Weiner