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2021-06-02 Home Front: Politix

Why Eric Adams is right not to support NYC mayoral term limits

[NYPOST] A group called US Term Limits is upset that Eric Adams, alone among the mayoral candidates, won’t take its pledge to protect New York City’s eight-year term-limit law. Come to think of it, though, 30 years (sort of) of term limits haven’t ushered in an era of enlightened government by the common man.

Gotham got term limits because of another good-government scourge: money in politics. In 1993 and 1996, cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder spent $4 million on two referendums to limit the mayor and other city officials to two four-year terms.

The voters approved both by large margins. Term limits are one of those "reforms" that people like — "throw the bums out" and all that — but that doesn’t really fix anything.

What is the problem we’re trying to solve?

Term limits for the US presidency make some sense, to avoid the risk of someone using the trappings of the office to become dictator for life.

Yet there is no risk of someone becoming tin-pot mayor for life in the Big Apple. Before New York got term limits, no mayor had ever served more than 12 years. Fiorello LaGuardia, Robert Wagner and Ed Koch all had that honor.

Posted by Fred 2021-06-02 00:00|| || Front Page|| [8 views ] Top

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