The caffeine will flow, extra security will be on hand, and the room is expected to be packed. Some staffers are joking about bringing cots and pajamas into the Council chambers. þþThursday opens the most eagerly anticipated hearings in years at City Hall, as friends and foes of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s plan to overhaul New York’s term limits law marshal their forces to testify on the legislation.þþThe mayor’s political operation is showing its muscle, using Neil Giacobbi, director of Mr. Bloomberg’s 2005 campaign volunteer operation, to turn out a crowd in favor of Mr. Bloomberg’s proposal, which would permit the city’s elected officials to serve for 12 years rather than 8.þþMr. Giacobbi has called on the mayor’s network of supporters to show up in droves, writing in a mass e-mail message: “I need your help again.”þþMr. Bloomberg’s measure is expected to be lauded by former Gov. Mario M. Cuomo and former Mayor Edward I. Koch.þþNot to be outdone, the Working Families Party is urging those who object to the mayor’s plan to show up, too. And to get the word out, the party produced a commercial to air during Wednesday’s presidential debate and distributed fliers focusing on undecided council members in their districts.þþNo matter what happens, people are already expecting that the hearings will be a memorable moment in the city’s political history.þþ“I’m surprised at the tremendous effort going on on both sides, in getting the vote, and in spinning this story the right way,” said George Arzt, a veteran political consultant and former City Hall reporter. “We haven’t had an issue as dramatic as this in many years. I haven’t seen anything like since the 1970s.”þþThe hearings start at 1 p.m. Thursday before the Government Operations Committee, in the main Council chambers in City Hall. A second day is scheduled for Friday, starting at 10 a.m.þþEach speaker will be given roughly two minutes to testify. And given the level of interest, there is already pregame speculation and political gamesmanship over just how long the Thursday session will last, and how many people will show up. The chamber can hold 250 people, but an overflow area will be set up.þþSome of the mayor’s fiercest critics, for instance, are whispering nervously, perhaps as part of a strategy of lowering expectations, that the session will be dominated by Bloomberg supporters. Others, including Representative Anthony D. Weiner, a Democrat who has been a vocal critic of the mayor, are all but encouraging residents to drag out the hearing until the small hours of the morning.þþBloomberg supporters are calling upon a Rolodex of notables, past and present, to echo the mayor’s argument that in these difficult economic times, continuity and a proven track record are preferable. So, too, are aides to City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, who, in an announcement on Sunday that took no one by surprise, declared her support, too. Mr. Koch, a longtime Bloomberg ally and the last mayor to serve three terms, was invited to appear by Gary Altman, legislative counsel to the City Council. Mr. Koch said that he would testify that it takes 12 years for both a mayor and legislator “to get things done — not just to see through a proposal but to make sure it takes hold.”þþOther boldface names who are also expected to support the mayor are John Sexton, president of New York University; and Kathryn S. Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, which represents major businesses.þþLabor unions endorsing Mr. Bloomberg’s proposal will also be present, like those representing emergency medical technicians, sanitation workers, firefighters, police officers and construction workers.þþ“With this very scary economic climate we’re in now, I come out with the answer, why deny the public access to Bloomberg, because he has done a good job over the last seven years?” said Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association. þþBut opponents are relishing the opportunity to make their case.þþDespite Mr. Bloomberg’s popularity, the measure has set off some intense opposition, mainly because voters approved the limits of two four-year terms through referendums in 1993 and again in 1996. The mayor is pushing the Council to change the law without a public vote.þþRichard Emery, a civil rights and election lawyer who helped dismantle the city’s Board of Estimate in the late 1980s, said he was invited to speak by a member of the Government Operations Committee.þþMr. Emery said he is a “big supporter of Bloomberg” and opposes term limits. But he plans to testify against the mayor’s legislation, arguing that such a change, without voter input, would weaken the City Council and hurt the integrity of city government.þþ“If these council members now degrade themselves by lining their own pockets and jumping into the lap of the mayor, they will have forfeited that 20 years’ process of obtaining legitimacy and will slip back, in the view of the body politic, into being hacks, which is what they were always thought of,” Mr. Emery said.þþRandy M. Mastro, who is representing, pro bono, several elected officials opposed to the term limits extension, dubbed the legislation “profoundly undemocratic” and “blatantly illegal.”þþTo Mr. Mastro, a former deputy mayor, the hearing represents “a historic moment and it will define us as a city. Will we reaffirm our commitment to democratic principles and respect for the will of the people, or are our elected officials going to turn their back on the electorate and say their views don’t matter?”þþThe loudest and most persistent foe has been the union-backed Working Families Party, whose officials say that volunteers have collected 15,000 signatures for a petition opposing the mayor’s plan to change term limits through legislation.þþDan Cantor, the party’s executive director, said that he expected a large turnout at the hearings, even though “it’s not an issue of great salience — it’s not health care or their job. But it’s struck a chord.”þþIt is unclear how late the hearing on Friday will last, or if the committee will even hold a vote on the mayor’s bill. If it drags into the evening, council officials expect that the committee’s chairman, Councilman Simcha Felder, a strong Bloomberg ally, to hand the gavel over to someone else, in observance of the Sabbath.þþThe entire Council could take up a term limits bill next Thursday, and 26 votes are needed for passage. Though the situation is fluid, a tally of council members Wednesday evening by The New York Times showed 19 opposed to the measure, 14 in favor, and 18 undecided.þþIn a decision that was viewed as a setback for opponents, the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board on Wednesday ruled that council members could vote on the measure without violating the prohibition on using their office for “personal or private advantage.”þþMeanwhile, there will no shortage of press conferences and moments of political intrigue each day, and almost every hour.þþA 10-minute panorama on the steps of City Hall on Tuesday provided an apt illustration. First, State Senator Kevin Parker held a press conference to denounce the mayor’s bill. A few minutes later, a group of about two dozen ministers took their place, and declared their support of the mayor. þþAs they were finishing their news conference, Mr. Bloomberg showed up, and entered City Hall without taking questions. It would be very unlikely, city officials say, for him to show up or say anything on Thursday or Friday, so as not to distract from the Council.þþ
Source: NY Times
