Just because Mayor Bloomberg’s 2010 Charter Revision Committee has come to a close, it does not mean that the Women’s City Club has stopped debating the City Charter. On the evening of October 4th, WCC hosted a Charter Revision forum which focused on future changes needed to improve New York City.
In late August, the Charter Revision Commission released its final report and submitted the two question that will appear on the November ballot. Good Government advocates and other interested parties hotly debated aspects of government administration and other concerns all spring and summer. Ultimately, non-partisan elections and term limits dominated the discussions.
2010 Charter Revision Commissioner Hope Cohen and Professor Doug Muzzio of Baruch College’s School for Public Affairs were guest speakers at the forum. They also participated in a Question/Answer session following the discussion. The programwas organized and run by Barbara Zucker, WCC VP for Public Policy, Joan Freilich, Co-Chair of the Public Policy Committee, and Pam Elam, Chair of the Charter Revision Task Force.
In speaking about this Commission’s opportunities and constraints, Cohen noted that “the goal of the [Charter Revision Commission] is to look at the charter holistically. That is exactly what we did for the last many months.”
One question of particular interest to WCC members was: Why didn’t the question of eliminating term limits make it on the ballot? Cohen explained that the Commission felt they had to offer a two-term limit as an alternative to the current three-term law and it proved too complex to offer the third possible option of no term limits as well. Muzzio commented, “The lack of this question will bring up a tough decision about voting on the ballot for term limits.”
In the future, the WCC Public Policy Committee and its Charter Revision Task Force will continue their efforts to advocate for needed charter changes.
Post Written by Dana Prussian, Public Policy Intern
The Women’s City Club of New York, established in 1915, is a nonprofit, non-partisan, multi-issue activist organization dedicated to improving the lives of all New Yorkers. The WCC shapes public policy to promote responsive government through education, issue analysis, advocacy and civic participation.
