How effective was Council Speaker Christine Quinn's announcement that she would be supporting Mayor Bloomberg on extending term limits? Well, after Quinn's announcement yesterday, Brooklyn Councilman Mathieu Eugene (D-Kensington, Prospect-Lefferts, Ditmas Park) decided AGAINST siding with the Speaker's self-serving agenda.
Looks like Quinn's efforts to marshal her troops isn't going as well as planned. Quinn needs 26 votes in the Council to steamroll over the will of the voters, but by her own count there are currently only 15 votes in favor, 17 opposed (make that 18, counting Eugene), and now 18 undecided.
Relying upon shameless cognitive dissonance, Quinn insisted that there has been no “horse-trading or arm-twisting” involved in the massive effort to lobby Council Members for their support. But the public statements of pressured Council Members, clergymen, union leaders, and a host of other influential New Yorkers refute Quinn's fictitious claims.
Though I could not reach Councilman Eugene for comment this morning, I have a sneaking suspicion that the calls that so many of you have been making to Brooklyn Council Members played a part in Eugene's decision.
Congratulations, Optimist readers! And thank you, Councilman Eugene!
Attention Council Members David Yassky, Simcha Felder, Sara Gonzalez, Michael Nelson, and Kendall Stewart, the eyes of Brooklyn are upon you. It's time for you to step up and stand with the people.
