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Oct 13, 2008 6:24 am US/Eastern
Speaker Quinn Pledges Support Amid Suspicions
City Council Speaker Gives Green Light To Bloomberg's Bid For Third Term
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Mayor Bloomberg's bid for a third term got a big boost from a powerful city leader, but her support is making some other lawmakers suspicious.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn came out Sunday in support of Bloomberg's proposal to extend term limits, which would allow the billionaire to run for office again.
"There have been no concessions, no quid pro quo or promises or anything of that nature from the mayor's office, or my office, on this matter," Quinn said.
Quinn says she's backing the mayor because she believes voters should have the right to keep the current leadership during these tough economic times.
"If voters are not happy, they have the right to vote us out of office next fall," Quinn said.
But fellow politicians, who held their own press conference, accused the speaker of making a deal with the mayor.
"What we heard today is a confirmation of what we already knew," Representative Anthony Weiner said. "That there was an insider deal at City Hall."
"New York does not need a king," State Senator Eric Adams said. "It needs a mayor and city council.
"If City Hall does not do the right thing and put forward a public referendum on term limits, then the state legislature should step in on behalf of the public to protect democracy," Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries said.
Mayor Bloomberg, who was at a parade, kept quiet on the subject but voters had plenty to say.
"I think he should give it up and let somebody else change the city again," Harlem resident Miguel Perez said.
"Everybody gets a second term," Emma James, also a resident of Harlem, said. "Why should [Bloomberg] have a third?"
Public hearings are scheduled for Thursday and Friday, where the public can sign up to comment on the subject.
One local assemblyman says that if the city doesn't hold a public referendum on term limits, he'll ask the state legislature to step in.
Also, a group of lawyers is threatening to file a lawsuit if Bloomberg's proposal goes through.
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