Charter Commission: Let the City Council Eliminate Term Limits Without A Referendum

That isn’t what the term limits report said directly. But that would remain the reality under the commission’s proposals (or more accurately lack thereof), with the one restriction that members of the City Council could not eliminate or extend term limits for themselves. They could only do so, and then resign before their last term was up, and have their spouse, child, or flunky selected in a special election no one knows about. As in the state legislature.

The need for a referendum to change the charter, or at least portions of the charter for which the politicians have a conflict of interest, is one thing I thought any decent group of people would propose. But they haven’t, and there is no explanation as to why, although the report does mention that having he Council overturn a referendum without another one is something many objected to. Not only could the City Council eliminate term limits, but it could also eliminate initiative and referendum. This stunning omission has gone without comment. BTW, to change the NY state constitution requires the assent of two consecutive state legislative terms AND a referendum. If the City Council can just change the charter, why does it exist, since it is no more difficult to change than any ordinance?