We’ve all heard that one before.Mayor Bloomberg swore he wouldn’t run for a third term – and then he did. He recently promised he wouldn’t seek a fourth term, but Thursday wouldn’t rule that out either.
Asked if he’d be interested in making it 16 years at City Hall, Bloomberg responded, “The law does not permit it.”
That’s true – but it’s also true that the limit was two four-year terms before he made a massive push to get the City Council to change the rules, even though voters twice said two terms were all a mayor should get.
The Council approved the change in October, giving him the green light to run again after years of him saying term limits were a great way to keep government fresh.
“Let me point out that I had no intention of running for a [third] term up until near the end, as you know. City Council changed the law,” Bloomberg said after the kickoff for a new public service program.
“It’s up to the voters whether they want four more years.
“I’m going to work as hard as I can for this city for the next 150-odd days, and campaign as hard as I can for the next 96- or 97-odd days, and if the public wants me to keep working, they have a chance to express that on Nov. 3.”
Later Thursday, Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser pointed out that the mayor in June said he won’t seek a fourth term – “period.”
Notably, it was Loeser who, back in January 2008, insisted: “The mayor is absolutely not seeking a third term.”
It wasn’t a point that went unnoticed by Bloomberg’s Democratic opponent for the mayoralty, City Controller William Thompson.
“No one has less credibility than Mike Bloomberg when it comes to discussing to term limits,” Thompson spokesman Mike Murphy said. “Remember, it was the mayor and his billionaire buddies that led the charge to overturn term limits and ignore the will of the people.”
{NY Daily News/Matzav.com Newscenter}
