Unshocking news in the New York Post: incumbents inconvenienced by term limits, repeatedly imposed by that bunch of ingrates that is the electorate, apparently would like to extend said limits.

Mayor Bloomberg is considering extending term limits through a deal with the City Council that would allow him another four years, while also boosting lawmakers' time in office, sources told The Post.

Bloomberg has publicly said he intends to leave when his term ends on Dec. 31, 2009, but has privately expressed interest in undoing the city's cap of two four-year terms with a legislative change, not a public referendum, sources said.

Furious backpedaling has already set in.

"As the mayor has said again and again, and as recently as yesterday, he expects to serve out his second term, and then turn the office over to someone else," Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser said.

Is it not enough for the mayor to be honored as the King of Kings?

Yesterday, the "Clean Money, Clean Elections Act" (Intro 803) was introduced into the City Council. (The full version of the bill can be found on the Council's website here. Be warned -- it's a very, very long bill.) The bill was then sent to the Governmental Operations committee, as expected.

The fight to bring full public funding of elections to New York City is just starting. Lots of powerful people and organizations -- even some self-described "reformers" -- are aligned against it. This bill has a lot to overcome, especially the feeling, shared by many intelligent, thoughtful people, that the current system is "the best in the country."  read more »

Seems Councilmembers Letitia James and David Yassky are teaming up to oppose the massive tax giveaways to developer Bruce Ratner. Here's the press release:

[Councilmembers] Yassky and James to Proposed Atlantic Yards Amendment to MSG Tax Resolution

Today at the Finance Committee hearing, the committee will review and vote on Proposed Resolution 90, which asks the State of New York to end the twenty-year-old property tax exemption for Madison Square Garden. If the Council thinks subsidizing MSG is a bad deal fort the City and State, they should take another look at the tax breaks and subsidies being offered to the proposed Atlantic Yards Development: they are even worse.  read more »

As is widely known, there's a new tool that lets you see the originating domain of people engaging in editing of the popular online encyclopedia, Wikipedia. Called simply the Wikiscanner, it lets you simply type in a given originating domain or organization name, and gives you a list of edits originating there.

So I went ahead and typed in New York City Council.

Under Yvette Clarke, we find this.

For a decade, Una Clarke held the seat her daughter now holds and US Congressman [[Major Owens]] broke with [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] leadership to support Una's candidacy. Owens was the only elected official from Brooklyn to do so and he continued to campaign for Una despite the fact that he was then recovering from [[Coronary artery bypass surgery|quintuple bypass heart surgery]]. At Owen's insistence, the 40th district was drawn in such a way as to help assure the election of the Council's first member of [[Caribbean]] descent. In [[2000]], Una ran to unseat Owens, telling reporters she owed him nothing, but she failed to oust him.

...which on March 16th, 2006, becomes...

Represents: Greater Flatbush area, Prospect-Lefferts  read more »