City Comptroller William Thompson says the news that Mayor Michael Bloomberg will seek a third term has not changed his plans for 2009.

“I am running for mayor,” Mr. Thompson said on Wednesday afternoon, repeating the phrase a couple of times.

Asked if he will run even if Mr. Bloomberg does, Mr. Thompson said the mayor’s move to overturn term limits could backfire. He also questioned the rationale of keeping the mayor for a third term.

“I’m not so sure there isn’t going to be a strong negative reaction from the voters,” Mr. Thompson said. “I don’t think Mike is the only person with a financial background. There are others. Am I one of them? Yes.”

Mr. Thompson repeated his opposition to changing term limits through a City Council vote.

“Making changes to term limits legislatively is wrong—it undermines democracy,” the comptroller said. However, Mr. Thompson would not commit to joining any of the groups opposing the term-limits change.

A coalition of unions and civic organizations opposed to the move to extend term limits met Wednesday afternoon to gather support and discuss strategy.

The effort is being led by good-government groups—Citizens Union, Common Cause, and the New York Public Interest Research Group—and Mark Green’s New Democracy Project. One union—Communication Workers of America Local 1180, which represents some city and nonprofit workers—has already committed to working with the coalition.

Dick Dadey, the executive director of Citizens Union, admits the group is a “loose coalition at this point.” But he believes others will be compelled to get off the fence.

“Battle has been joined,” Mr. Dadey said. “People will need to be clearer about their positions and what they intend to do on this issue.”

According to coalition sources, the union-backed Working Families Party has said it will take part, though a WFP spokesman said the party had “no comment at this time.” Other labor organizations, including the United Federation of Teachers, 1199 SEIU and the Hotel Trades Council, are said to be involved in discussions with the organizers.
Whether the larger unions get involved—and to what extent they commit money and manpower—will determine how robust the opposition is. Arthur Cheliotes, president of CWA Local 1180, says opposing Mayor Bloomberg will require significant funding.

“We still need to see what kind of resources we can muster up,” says Mr. Cheliotes. One consultant said a strong public relations campaign could be waged for $3 million, but to pre-empt opposition, the mayor and Council Speaker Christine Quinn will probably try to introduce and pass a bill in a span of only three weeks, a coalition organizer said.

The focus would be on pressuring City Council members to vote against the extension. Only a few of the 51 members—Bill de Blasio, David Weprin, Tony Avella and David Yassky among them—have come out against a legislative change. But one opponent says his head count of members finds them almost evenly divided.

A legal case is also expected. Veteran election lawyer Jerry Goldfeder of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan says constitutional and conflict-of-interest issues could be raised in federal court if the council changed the law passed by voters in two referendums, in 1993 and 1996.

Also, any change would require approval by the U.S. Department of Justice to see if it complied with the Voting Rights Act, which protects minorities’ voting rights in Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx, Mr. Goldfeder said.

Source: Crains New York