[Dialogue] Emailing: Editorial - The Limits of Term Limits - Editorial - ...

GWEnsinger at aol.com GWEnsinger at aol.com
Wed Oct 1 15:07:47 EDT 2008 

It should be noted that New Yorkers have twice voted to keep term  limits. 
That's democracy at work, too.
Ann Ensinger
 
 
 
In a message dated 10/1/2008 1:40:22 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
h-wainwright at charter.net writes:

 (http://www.nytimes.com/)       
 
 
(http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&page=www.nytimes.com/printer-friendly&pos=Position1&sn2=336c557e/4f3dd5d2&sn1=f6df7a4e/e667b041&ca
mp=foxsearch2008_emailtools_810908e_nyt5&ad=SLOB_button&goto=http://www.foxsea
rchlight.com/thesecretlifeofbees/) 



 
____________________________________
October 1, 2008
Editorial
The Limits of Term Limits  
 
The bedrock of American democracy is the voters’ right to choose. Though  
well intentioned, New York City’s term limits law severely limits that right,  
which is why this page has opposed term limits from the outset. The law is  
particularly unappealing now because it is structured in a way that would deny  
New Yorkers — at a time when the city’s economy is under great stress — the  
right to decide for themselves whether an effective and popular mayor should  
stay in office. 
Partly for this reason, and partly to extend their own political careers, a  
majority of City Council members are thinking about amending the city law to  
allow elected officials to serve three consecutive terms instead of two. That  
would permit Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run again in 2009 and could also  
prolong the service of council members and other senior elected officials. Mr.  
Bloomberg, who is expected to announce on Thursday that he will seek a third  
term if he can, likes the idea a lot.  
We do, too. But we would go further and ask the Council to abolish term  
limits altogether — not to serve any individual’s political career but to  serve 
the larger cause of democracy. 
It makes a lot of people uncomfortable to legislatively rewrite a law that  
voters have twice approved at the ballot box — in 1993 and 1996. It makes us  
uncomfortable, too, and we previously took the position that any change should  
be left to the voters. But we have concluded now that changing the law  
legislatively does not make us nearly as uncomfortable as keeping it. It is  within 
the rights of the Council, itself an elected body, to do so. 
Term limits are seductive, promising relief from mediocre,  self-perpetuating 
incumbents and gridlocked legislatures. They are also  profoundly 
undemocratic, arbitrarily denying voters the ability to choose  between good politicians 
and bad, especially in a city like New York with a  strong public 
campaign-financing system, while automatically removing public  servants of proven ability 
who are at a productive point in their careers. 
The City Council members who want to change the law are not alone. A survey  
in The Times last month found that at least two dozen local governments are  
suffering buyer’s remorse about the term limits they adopted, mostly in the  
1990s. One common complaint is that they force politicians to focus on  
small-bore projects that can be achieved quickly rather than visionary ideas.  The 
constant churning also diminishes accountability in governmental  institutions 
like the City Council.  
Most places that are trying to relax term limits are likely to do so via  the 
ballot box, with several referendums due in November. There is a chance  that 
a vote on the issue could be organized early next year in New York in  
conjunction with special elections to the City Council. But such elections do  not 
attract many voters. In the end, a vote by the Council is probably the  most 
democratic way to address the matter.  
It is worth repeating: This is a rule that needs to be abolished. If the  
voters don’t like the result, they can register their views at the  polls.


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