Make it the Same as County Gov’t
By Dan Murphy
In 2012, the Westchester County Board of Legislators enacted term limits legislation on itself and the Office of County Executive. The new law, which passed by a vote of 10-6 and which was not signed by former County Executive Rob Astorino but still became law, limits county legislators to six two-year terms in office, and the county executive to three four-year terms.
Yonkers County Legislator Gordon Burrows said at the time that he had strongly advocated for term limits since he took office in 2005. “The message of term limits is, come and serve, contribute your time, talent and energy for the well-being of the Westchester community, then move on with our thanks,” he said. “We need to encourage more citizens to take a turn at elective office so that the public will benefit from a greater diversity of opinions and perspectives.”
In Yonkers, discussions are underway to change or modify the existing term limits legislation and make it compatible with the county term limits law. The current Yonkers term limits law gives the mayor and City Council members two four-year terms.
If the law is amended, it will allow the mayor and councilmembers to serve three four-year terms, or 12 years maximum, which is the same as the county law.
For many weeks, we have been highlighting the topic of term limits in Yonkers and have been calling the plans to change it “overturning” of term limits, when actually a better term would be to “modify” or change the law.
Supporters of modifying Yonkers term limits, and opponents, come from both sides of the aisle, with some current democratic and republican elected officials supporting the measure, while other democrats and republicans opposing it.
The rumblings about modifying term limits in Yonkers continue, but no formal proposal or legislation has been proposed to the City Council, which will be the governmental body that will review any changes. It will require four council votes to approve a longer term limits law.
A notice of the proposed new law would have to be printed in this newspaper, and that notice would announce a public hearing before the City Council or in the mayor’s conference room to accept public comments. Then the legislation will go through the council’s Rules Committee and eventually to the full council for a vote. If it passes, Mayor Mike Spano can sign or veto the legislation, or let it pass without his signature.
Councilmembers are considering their options on a term limits law change as the possibility of a vote becomes more likely, but off-the-record conversations have at least four councilmembers supporting a modification that would put the Yonkers term limits law in line with the county term limits law.
If the council votes for a change to term limits, the only recourse left by those who do not want the law change would be for them to collect a petition of signatures of Yonkers voters and present it to the City Council. The council would then be required to reconsider its vote, without voting again or by taking the same vote for a term limits change.
While opposition to any change to Yonkers term limits does exist, support for a modification is also present in the city. The primary reason for a term limits change is to permit Spano to serve a third, four-year term as mayor. Spano will complete his second term next year, at the end of 2019. He is currently term-limited from serving another term.
There is bipartisan support for Spano to continue, and serve a third term as mayor, but there is also bipartisan opposition to the same. There are currently more democratic candidates who are interested in running for mayor than republicans.
Possible democrats include former Council President Chuck Lesnick, Department of Public Works Commissioner and City Democratic Chairman Tom Meier, and former Councilman Dennis Robertson. Lesnick could be the one democrat who would challenge Spano in a democratic primary next year if term limits are changed and allowed him to run.
We recently spoke to Meier about his own ambitions in running for mayor. “Yes, I am considering a run for mayor,” he said. “I have had conversations with many Yonkers democrats and it’s not something you jump into lightly.
“I’m a lifelong resident that has served my country for 25 years, in the military and for the county and the city. Public service runs through my veins. You need name recognition and you need to raise a lot of money. I will make a decision after this November’s elections.”
Meier added that Yonkers democrats have a lot of qualified candidates considering a run for mayor.
“The Democratic Party does not have a lack of qualified candidates, from Chuck Lesnick to Mike Khader, Wilson Kimball, Dennis Robertson and myself, I believe would all be good candidates,” he said.
Meier admits that Spano’s decision on whether he will seek a third term if the city modifies term limits will impact everyone else’s decision.
“That’s the question for the mayor,” he said. “He has huge popularity in Yonkers and many people from both sides of the aisle have respect for him and what he has done, on social issues, economic issues and beginning to rebuild our schools. I’m in favor of making our term limits match up with the county law and make them compatible, but even if that were to happen, there is no guarantee that the mayor would run again. That is a conversation he needs to have with his family and with the Democratic Party.
“I am proud to work for him,” said Meier, who joked, “I would vote for him unless he was running against me.”
Meier added that while Yonkers City Court Judge Michael Martinelli (a republican), got out of the race for State Supreme Court judge for personal reasons, getting a cross-endorsements for judges may be a thing of the past. “In this political climate, Yonkers democrats want to get democrats elected to the City Council and the bench,” he said. “The Democratic Party in Westchester has a dozen people waiting in line to become a Supreme Court judge.”
