On September 4th, City Councilman Oliver Koppell submitted a bill for drafting that proposes to extend current term limits for elected city officials from two four-year terms to three. (Welcome back to reality, to those taking a break from fretting over the end of the world.)

The focus of the term limit issue naturally turned to Mayor Bloomberg, who will be leaving office December 31, 2009 if the bill doesn’t pass. However, two-thirds of the City Council (including Koppell), along with Comptroller Thompson, and Public Advocate Gotbaum will also be leaving office at the end of 2009, as it stands now.

The controversy surrounding the issue involves two public referendums that were held in 1993 and 1996. Those against any change in term limits cite that the public has expressed its voice twice and has upheld the two four-year term limit both times. Since January 1, 1994, elected officials have not been able to seek re-election after serving their respective eight years. But now, with considerations for having experienced city officials and people who can effectively manage New York with its present financial troubles, the term limit debate has resurfaced.

Mayor Bloomberg has yet to offer a definite opinion on the issue, but attention grew when he changed his stance against any expansion of term limits, announcing that he would now consider the bill. The New York Times reports that Mayor Bloomberg has held “confidential conversations with Rupert Murdoch, chairman of the News Corporation, which owns The New York Post; Mortimer B. Zuckerman, a friend from the business world and the owner of The Daily News; and Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of The Times, to gauge whether they would endorse a bid to overturn term limits, according to people familiar with the talks.”

What is interesting here is that if the Council successfully passes the bill – and currently 27 of the 51 council members support the term expansions – there is a good chance that a public referendum may still need to take place. Councilman Weprin proposed a competing bill last week that would require a referendum for any change in term limits.

So it comes as little surprise that Mayor Bloomberg is in talks with the city’s major newspapers. The Times, just today, called out The Daily News for changing its long-held stance against term expansions. The consequent effect that these newspapers have on public opinion may not be realized until a referendum comes into play – but if New Yorkers decide to reverse their own decisions, then we will have an excellent case study in effective media bias.

Photo: Flickr courtesy of moriza