Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Avella talks term limits

From Little Neck Patch:

State Sen. Tony Avella recently took an important step in delivering on his campaign promise to bring term limits to Albany.

Avella, D-Bayside, announced his intention to introduce a bill to restrict state elected officials to a total of 16 years in office. The proposed legislation also includes a companion bill to extend Assembly and Senate terms from a duration of two years to four.

The proposal faces an uphill battle in a divided Legislature. Since both bills require changes to the State Constitution, they must be passed by the Senate and Assembly and then placed on the ballot for voter approval.

Despite the political challenges, Avella said he was determined to press for term limits — support for which may have been the deciding factor in his winning campaign last fall against long-serving incumbent state Sen. Frank Padavan.

"Whether or not the legislature is ready to tackle it, we need to start the conversation," Avella said.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

16-years term limit? that's an eternity, not term limits.
And after 16 years, they can run for City Council, and term-limited Councilmembers run for Albany seat.
What is needed is non-partisan elections.

Anonymous said...

Good idea. But Avella once worked for Stavisky. So I doubt he will stand up to her if she opposes his term limits proposal.

Anonymous said...

Good start 16years I don't know. nOW THAT Avella is in office the motivation changes?

Anonymous said...

Term limits kill republicans. Many of the republicans who win in democratic districts have been there forever, and term limits is the only way to get them out.

Anonymous said...

Term limits kill republicans. Many of the republicans who win in democratic districts have been there forever, and term limits is the only way to get them out.

??? Term limts increase competition, but I guess that's why the Dems don't want it.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, but legislation proposed by a junior senator who's in the minority has no chance of going anywhere. And as Anon #3 said, 16 years (8 terms) is an enternity. It should be 8 years (4 terms) and done.

Anonymous said...

The only term limits that are meaningful would be two terms. More than that is a joke.

Anonymous said...

Sort of reminds me of party hacks coming up with ideas to make voter participation easier - not meaningful - just easier.

Gary the Agnostic said...

Two terms aren't that meaningful when the term is only two years. I believe in term limits here as well as for the people in Washington, but it should be for a uniform length of time. The City officials and the President are limited to eight years. That's enough for the state legislators (I'm not sure about what this does for the U.S. Senate - maybe one term in their case).

Anonymous said...

what a dog and pony show

how come his district leader lives upstate

Anonymous said...

the only republican/cons. in the city and state that remain in office are the RINO'S. after the gerrymandering,it is almost impossible to get repub/cons. to remain in office more than one term.

registered democrats vs. republicans is 5 to 1. in n.y.c.

the municipal unions control this town and are bankrupting it.

Avella is shoveling sand with a pitchfork....

Anonymous said...

Broombugger's third term coup d'etat constitutes capital treason.

Anonymous said...

Hubba, hubba....big, brave, Tony "the phony"...under Toby Stavisky's skirt...while getting a lap dance from Evan and paying off his Parkside bills.

Bah!

I no longer believe in democracy...at least not in Queens where the political machine controls every citizen's bowel movements.

Moby Avella said...

Hubba, hubba....big, brave, Tony "the phony"...under Toby Stavisky's skirt...while getting a lap dance from Evan and paying off his Parkside bills.

-------------------------------------------------------

That is SO offensive!

Anonymous said...

16 years...what a convenient number that Tony "baloney" pulled out of his hat for term limits.

He'll be ready for retirement in exactly 16 years.

Get the picture?

That's how come he didn't set the number at 8 years.

He wanted to keep his job once he got in.

But maybe we voters have something to say on how many terms Avella gets.

Anonymous said...

Tony was AND STILL is a machine clubhouse politician!

Being a "reform" pol is all part of the act.

The Guv is the straight man and Avella is the clown.

He's already learned 5 new "yassir" dances that the Democratic party taught him since he went to Albany.

Now you'd better be a good little boy Tony or else Moby's gonna sit on your face and give you some case of acne!

Phew!

Anonymous said...

Now you'd better be a good little boy Tony or else Moby's gonna sit on your face and give you some case of acne!

Just lost dinner...lunch and breakfast not far behind! That was a Zitzkrieg!