After all the hearings, arguments, editorials and testimony, the work of the 2010 Mayor’s Charter Revision Commission has come to a close. The commission has released its final report, which contains the two ballot questions listed below for consideration by voters on Election Day.
Many important issues were left on the table by the commission, including the WCC’s proposal on pay equity for city employees. The issues of non-partisan elections and term limits dominated the discussion. In the end, most good government groups, like the Women’s City Club, prevailed and the Mayor backed down from his (and Citizens Union’s) demands that the Charter Revision Commission approve a sweeping new system for non-partisan elections. However, on term limits, the Women’s City Club was not successful in persuading the commission to place the basic question on the ballot, “Do you favor elimination of term limits for city elected officials?”
While the Women’s City Club shares the sense of outrage that many New Yorkers feel regarding the shameful behavior and poor performance of some federal, state, and city elected officials, we urged the Charter Revision Commission and all New Yorkers to examine the larger issues involved in creating good government, both in structure and process. The commission, unfortunately, spent most of its time debating only whether there should be two or three terms for city elected officials.
Thanks go to the members of our Charter Revision Task Force for all their hard work, and we invite all WCC members to attend our Oct. 4th forum, “Charter Revision: Future Changes Needed to Improve New York City.”
November Ballot Question 1: Term Limits
The proposal would amend the City Charter to:
- Reduce from three to two the maximum number of consecutive full terms that can be served by elected city officials; and
- Make this change in term limits applicable only to those city officials who were first elected at or after the 2010 general election; and
- Prohibit the City Council from altering the term limits of elected city officials then serving in office.
Shall this proposal be adopted?
November Ballot Question 2: Elections and Government Administration
The proposal would amend the City Charter to:
- Disclosure of Independent Campaign Spending: Require public disclosure of expenditures made by entities and individuals independent from candidates to influence the outcome of a city election or referendum;
- Ballot Access: Generally reduce the number of petition signatures needed by candidates for city elective office to appear on a ballot;
- Voter Assistance and Campaign Finance Board: Merge voter assistance functions, including a reconstituted Voter Assistance Advisory Committee, into the Campaign Finance Board, and change when Campaign Finance Board member terms begin;
- Conflicts of Interest Law: Require all public servants to receive conflicts of interest training, raise the maximum fine for a public servant who violates the City’s conflicts of interest law, and allow the City to recover any benefits obtained from such violations;
- City Administrative Tribunals: Authorize the Mayor to direct the merger of administrative tribunals and adjudications into the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings and permit the Department of Consumer Affairs to adjudicate all violations issued by that department;
- City Reporting Requirements and Advisory Bodies: Create a commission to review requirements for reports and advisory bodies and waive the requirements, subject to City Council review, where the commission finds they are not of continuing value; and
- Map for Facility Siting: Include in the City’s facilities siting map those transportation and waste management facilities operated by or for governmental entities, or by private entities that provide comparable services.
Shall this proposal be adopted? (All items in Question 2 would be voted on together.)
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Post written by Pam Elam, WCC’s Charter Revision Task Force Chair
Tags: charter, nonpartisan elections, term limits
