Michael Bloomberg | AP Photo
NEW YORK — Mike Bloomberg espoused a bit of revisionist history over his role in extending city term limits Friday morning.
The former New York City mayor blamed the municipal rule-change, which he conceived in 2008 so he could run for a third term, on the City Council during a wide-ranging MSNBC interview.
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“Keep in mind it was my City Council that did it. I just signed the bill,” the self-funded presidential candidate told the network, when asked if he would commit to serving only two terms as president.
He promised not to meddle with presidential term limits enshrined in the 22nd amendment if he makes it to the White House, even as he relies on his wealth to sidestep certain political customs that do not appeal to him along the way.
“I will not try to change the Constitution, that’s correct,” he said.
It was a questionable description for those familiar with the term limits fight in New York.
Instead, they recall a pitched battle in which Bloomberg lobbied fiercely for a chance to serve a third term, getting City Council members to back his plan to reverse the well-established two-term ceiling for elected officials, and wooing business and media leaders in the effort.
“It was one of the most profoundly undemocratic things I have ever seen in my many years involved in New York City government,” said Randy Mastro, who represented plaintiffs in a lawsuit that unsuccessfully tried to block the term limits change. “It’s what people who don’t have a real appreciation for democracy and respecting the will of the voters do. They make special rules for themselves.”
As he neared what was expected to be the end of his time in office, Bloomberg decided that amid the national financial crisis with roots in Wall Street, his steady hand was needed to steer the city.
Voters had twice approved referendums imposing a two-term limit on elected officials and many called for a new ballot measure if Bloomberg wanted to change the rules. He instead opted to get the City Council to approve the extension through legislation, where he had more control over his chances of success.
“He railroaded it through,” said Mastro, who had previously served as a deputy mayor under Rudy Giuliani. “It was so offensive and heavy-handed ... and really was kind of shocking, and a stain on his tenure.”
The bill also made Council members and other city elected officials eligible for a third term, offering Council Speaker Christine Quinn more time to redeem her own political standing, which was shaken by a fundraising scandal, before an expected run for mayor. But it ultimately destroyed her chances of succeeding Bloomberg in 2013, when voters decisively selected Bill de Blasio — a candidate who eviscerated both of them during the race.
Bloomberg's immense wealth aided the effort, and he enlisted nonprofit groups that received his money to lend their support. One nonprofit had about 20 of its employees testify in favor of letting the mayor run again.
“It’s an example of how he uses his wealth and power to get what he wants,” said Norman Siegel, a civil rights lawyer who worked on the suit challenging the change.
It also portended the Bloomberg dynamic on the 2020 campaign trail, where he has used his personal fortune to circumvent political traditions — namely foregoing the first four voting states where he was not confident he would do well and instead blitzing the airwaves in Super Tuesday states with hundreds of millions of dollars in ads to compensate for his late entry.
The mayor’s political team — some of whom are on his presidential campaign — worked with the Council to whip votes by promising plum committee assignments to allies and threatening to strip detractors of legislative perks. One member who was on the fence until shortly before the vote ended up supporting it and was later given a high-level job in the Bloomberg administration.
“What he did was against the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers’ view that it should be eight years, but he was able, because of his power and his wealth, to get the City Council to amend it,” Siegel said, recalling that unlike under previous mayors, it was hard to mobilize community groups against Bloomberg’s City Hall.
“With Bloomberg, it was more difficult because people were reluctant to speak up against him," he said.
In the end, Bloomberg spent more than $100 million on his successful 2009 reelection campaign. But he won in an unexpectedly close election, with a five-point margin over an underfinanced Democratic challenger Bill Thompson, who ran a lackluster campaign.
“He barely won that race,” Mastro said. “If he’d left after two terms, I think he would have been more fondly remembered.”
Betsy Gotbaum, who was the city's public advocate at the time, declined to run for reelection out of opposition to the term-limits switch.
“The people of New York had voted to have term limits,” she said.
But she argued his third term turned out pretty well, all things considered.
“It wasn’t a catastrophe. He did some good things,” she said. “The whole ethos in the city was that the recession was terrible and Mike was the only person who could steady the ship and make sure everything would be OK.”
After securing his own third term, Bloomberg backed restoring the two-term limit for future office holders. That measure passed, and current officials like de Blasio are limited to two terms.
More recently, Bloomberg has taken to joking about his term limits reversal on the campaign trail.
“Being a mayor is the best job in the world. I loved it for 12 years. And I would urge all of you to do 12 years. And if you have a minor problem like limits, change the law,” he said in a speech to the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
President Donald Trump has also been known to joke about changing the law so he can stay in the White House more than eight years, though he says he is making the comments just to aggravate opponents.
Bloomberg’s cracks have fallen flat with New Yorkers involved in the term limits fight.
“I don’t think you make jokes about democratic principles — lower case d,” Siegel said. “These are not joking matters.”
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