Oct 31, 2008 10:41 pm US/Eastern
Bloomberg Could Face Angry Council If Reelected
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Mayor Michael Bloomberg's bid to run for a third term got the "all-clear" Thursday when the City Council voted to allow term limits to be extended from 8 to 12 years. (File)
Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images
Mayor Michael Bloomberg won the term limits battle, but he may find future fights with the City Council harder to win. Some council members are angry, others are empowered now that they too may have four more years.
"Maybe there's some feeling that some love needs to be shown, and some respect," said Councilman Lewis Fidler (D-Brooklyn).
Councilman Fidler voted for the term limits extension and he appeared with Bloomberg on Thursday at a press conference. But even he says there may be a new world order at City Hall.
"I think it should be clear to the mayor that even though he got his vote on term limits with the council, there's clearly a sentiment that he won't necessarily get the next vote on something of importance to him," said Fidler.
Some are upset that as early as next week, with the bruising term limit battle still fresh, the mayor will call for more hard choices – property tax hikes and budget cuts to deal with the deficit. One program that could be affected is the one that runs senior centers.
"My centers are not going to be sacrificed, period," said Councilman James Vacca (D-Bronx.) "I think the council should be emboldened and I think that we are, yes."
There's every indication that the mayor knows he needs to mend fences. On Friday, he met with council delegations from various boroughs about the Willets Point project.
"This kind of meeting on a mayoral proposal is somewhat unprecedented for this mayor," said Councilman Oliver Koppell (D-Bronx).
"He's almost never talked to council members, suddenly he's calling all of us and [asking] can't we all get along? And he's meeting with borough delegations and God bless him, but after seven years it's hard to believe a sudden revelation he wants to be cooperative," said Bill De Blasio (D-Brooklyn).
A mayoral spokesman said his boss believes that with the economic crisis facing the city, all government officials have to work together. Bloomberg is expected to sign the term limits bill into law on Monday.
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