After 9/11, the previous mayor sought to extend his term without an election. Now, after losing the referendum, the Charter put the Council in the awkward position of deciding whether incumbents should be allowed to run for a third term. From the start I had resolved to decide my position on the extension of term limits not on the basis of the status of the mayor or myself or any elected official, but rather on the basis of input from constituents combined with the rigorous application of democratic principles. Government procedures must rest on a foundation of principle, not personality. This keeps with my long advocacy of governmental transparency and reform at all levels, from community boards to the judiciary to the City Council.
A great argument for term limits! After all the scandals of the City Council giving money to fictitious organizations, after the mayor pressuring nonprofits to campaign for him, after....
...oh, sorry! That was Gerson's justification in favor of keeping the scandal-ridden city council in power. I guess his ideas of "principles, not personality" is rewarding Bloomberg's heavy-handed tactics.
Hmm. Mao said something like "Power comes from the barrel of a billionaire's pocketbook." Maybe Gerson was referring to that principle.
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