The Optimist's Council Testimony on Term Limits

So, it's four o'clock and I'm off to testify at City Hall. I hope I get a chance to speak. But, either way, here is the testimony I intend to present this evening. I'm anxious to see how Simcha Felder will react.

Ladies and gentlemen:

My name is Morgan Pehme and I am a proud resident of Greenpoint, Brooklyn. As I am sure that many of my fellow New Yorkers will eloquently express my rationale for opposing this Council’s move to extend term limits for its own benefit, I won’t waste our time in redundancy. If you care to read my reasons, you may do so on my blog: www.brooklynoptimist.com.

What I have come today to say is this: Shame on you, Council Members!

Less than two years ago, this body voted itself a $22,000 pay raise. I want to know if you intend to roll back this raise when you vote yourselves four more years in office? Or, perhaps, you think you should be rewarded for your outrageous and ongoing slush fund scandal?

I almost have more respect for those of you who have publicly admitted that you intend to vote “yes” on the proposed extension, than for those of you who still pretend to be undecided. At least, those of you voting “yes” have the gumption to admit your contempt for we, the people.

As for those of you who are allegedly undecided, what arguments remain for you to hear? Your silence is deafening. What it says it that you lack the courage to lead and that you cower from your convictions.

Your silence has proven you don’t deserve another term in office.

We, New Yorkers, aren’t stupid, though you often treat us as if we were. We know that you are shamelessly calculating your self-interest at this moment, trying to balance whether the backroom deal you have been offered outweighs the political fallout of betraying your constituents.

At this point, it no longer matters how you decide.

We already know where you stand.

The Lobbyist Scandal That Could Bring Down Practically EVERYONE at City Hall

Last Friday, this incredible story from blogger Gary Tilzer on the website Room Eight uncovered a staggering scandal that exposes shocking connections between our City's lobbyists, political consultants, and elected officials.

In his piece, which is written as an open letter to U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia, Tilzer calls on Garcia to launch a criminal investigation into the Council for letting lobbyists infiltrate City Hall and dictate the legislative agendas of the Council Members they got elected.

This piece blew the Optimist's mind and so thoroughly crushed the lingering remnants of respect he held for the City Council that it threatened to make the Optimist, well, not optimistic any more about City politics. But I will endure. I remain optimistic, because I know that there is always a possibility (albeit faint) that extending term limits will fail or that we will finally vote these clowns out of office (albeit even fainter).

THIS ARTICLE IS A MUST-READ. It is so important that I held off writing about it until this week, because I didn't want to just let it make a rumbling for a few days and then slip out of the news cycle into oblivion.

I encourage all of my readers to forward it to their friends, write to the mainstream media to pick it up on TV and in the major papers, and call U.S. Attorney Garcia to demand he investigates the thick web of corruption that covers City Hall.

This is no joke. If you aren't outraged, you haven't read this article.

How Extending City Term Limits Secretly Benefits Our Statewide Politicians

Despite the recent deluge of articles about Mayor Bloomberg and the Council's scheme to extend term limits, one significant consequence of the proposed change has been carelessly overlooked.

City officials won't be the only ones making out on this backroom deal. Our Statewide politicians will see big dividends too.

Why does Governor Paterson favor doing away with term limits? Let's see. Do you think that it could have anything to do with Mayor Bloomberg being the only candidate who could beat him in 2010?

State Senators and Assembly Members across the five boroughs will breathe a sigh of relief the day the Council extends term limits. Why? Just ask longtime incumbent State Senators Serph Maltese and Frank Padavan from Queens. Both of them are locked in tense general election campaigns, because Council Members Joe Addabbo Jr. and Jim Gennaro thought they had to go looking for new jobs now that their time in the Council was up.

Yes, the issue of the Democrats taking control of the Senate is an indisputable catalyst too, but, if this aim were first and foremost for Addabbo and Gennaro, how come they didn't run for these seats in 2006? The Democrats wanted the Senate then too.

For the past couple of years, our Assembly Members and State Senators have secretly feared the same fate as Maltese and Padavan. And don't think this is just a Democrat vs. Republican thing. Our City Council Members, for the most part, are ambitious men and women, for whom retiring into the private sector (read: obscurity) has little charm. Do you not think that there are plenty of Council Members eyeing up their fellow Democrats' seats?

What about Bronx Councilman Miguel Martinez? When Martinez announced his bid to run for Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat's seat this past June, the City Room headline in The Times read "Assembly Primary to Match Friends Turned Rivals". In the article, Jonathan Hicks decribes Martinez and Espaillat's former rapport "as a big brother and little brother relationship — or at the very least political mentor and mentee". What changed? The lust for power.

Strong political friendships routinely disintegrate when they are no longer convenient for one of the parties to maintain. How many other City Council Members have their sights set on a seat currently occupied by a "mentor"? We won't find out until 2013 if term limits are extended.

If they are, expect a number of longtime lovefests to start dissolving around 2011. That will give the Council Member just enough time to forge the track record of indignation necessary to justify his or her challenge of a one-time pal.

Our State Senators and Assembly Members aren't stupid, especially when it comes to calculating how they're going to stay in office. They know that the only challenge that could likely topple their otherwise iron-clad incumbencies would come from someone with the name recognition and donor base of a fellow elected official.

As long as our Citywide officals stay put, so too will our Statewide electeds. You can be sure that everyone in Albany has their eyes (and their influence) firmly focused on City Hall.

Don't Expect Change at City Hall (Maybe Bush Should Stick Around Too!)

The Optimist has spent the last couple of weeks talking to City Hall insiders about whether term limits will likely be extended another four years. His conclusion? Mayor Bloomberg and the current City Council class will be sticking around until 2013.

By numerous unofficial counts, there are at least 34 Councilmembers out of a possible 51 in favor of giving themselves another four-year term (a 2/3 majority is necessary to change the current law) and more are likely to cave. It seems that with the economic downturn our fearless Councilmembers think this isn't the best time to go looking for another job.

What does this mean? The hundreds of Council candidates waiting in the wings to swoop into empty seats will be seriously pissed off. Some of them have spent 2, 4, even 8 years diligently going to community meetings, building their lists of contacts, and ingratiating themselves to anyone who would listen. Now the vast majority of them are likely not to run, demoralized by the daunting prospect of facing off against a highly favored incumbent.

And just think about how many consultants, staffmembers, and petitioners will be denied paychecks because of the hotly-contested primaries that now never will occur. Talk about a blow to the local economy!

Of course, a few brave souls will hold fast to their dreams and take aim at toppling an incumbent. I have heard from a few candidates intent upon sticking with it. I wish them the best. Despite the odds, I think they will have a strong case to make to voters that their opponents have demonstrated contempt for the will of the people, who have twice voted in the last decade for term limits.

Is it not the hallmark of tyrants to change laws just so they can keep power? Who among them would have the right to protest if President Bush tried to do the same?