Christine Quinn is expected to announce later today that she supports making changes to the city’s term-limits law legislatively, rather than through a referendum that would put the issue to voters.

That's a change from the position she took on term limits last December, but, as it turns out, it’s actually in line with Quinn’s previous position.

In a public forum for City Council speaker candidates on November 21, 2005, Quinn said of the law permitting city officials to serve only two terms:

I also oppose term limits.

[skip]

I think it doesn’t allow elected officials enough time to become experts on the issues we need to be experts on in the legislature.  read more »

The debate over term limits on last night’s Inside City Hall got so contentious that the guests--Esther Fuchs, Gene Russianoff and Bill de Blasio--had to make a public display of shaking hands at the end.

Fuchs, a former Bloomberg adviser and now a professor at Columbia University, emerged as a ferocious, unapologetic proponent of the mayor’s plan. She abandoned Bloomberg’s main talking point--that abolishing term limits to let him run again simply offers voters more choice--and rooted her argument in the City Council’s authority to write the laws of the city. Nor did she seem to think the issue needs to go before voters in a referendum, which opponents of Bloomberg's plan are pushing for.  read more »

Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler released a list today of Michael Bloomberg’s member items -- the City Council members’ projects that the mayor funded directly from 2003 to 2008.

The request came amid closer scrutiny of discretionary member-item allocation, which is being investigated by a U.S. prosecutor after fake names were found to have been inserted into the budget and slated to get money.

A few quick, somewhat random observations:

The amount of money spent by the mayor went from $1,720,500 in Fiscal Year 2003 to $5,614,000 in Fiscal Year 2006 (which began on July 1, 2005 - the summer he was running for re-election - through June 30, 2006).  read more »

I showed up just after the start of the press conference David Weprin held yesterday to express opposition to extending term limits legislatively.

It was to ignore the fact that there were only two other City Council members with him: Bill de Blasio and Eric Gioia. (Ken Moltner of the Ron Lauder-funded group Citizens for Term Limits and Susan Lerner of Common Cause also attended.)

As they spoke, you could hear City Council Speaker Christine Quinn speaking at a rally for same-sex marriage in City Hall Park.

In the clip above, Weprin cautions against reading too much into attendance at the event. Also, de Blasio and Weprin did not rule out running for re-election if term limits are extended.

Also at last night's debate in Brooklyn, Kendall Stewart was handing out campaign literature, a 16-page broadsheet designed to look like a newspaper, complete with a masthead.

The front-page has a letter from Stewart, in which he uses the word “change” a lot, and a huge picture of Barack Obama next to a photo of Stewart.

Inside, there are photos of Stewart with other elected officials, like Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Senator Chuck Schumer, Brooklyn Democratic County Leader Vito Lopez, and City Comptroller Bill Thompson, all under the headline “Stewart Supporters.”

There is also an article reprinted from Gotham Gazette; original “articles”; a section called “Immigration Korner”; and glowing praise for Stewart from elected officials like Christine Quinn, Bill de Blasio and Hiram Monserrate.

More pictures here.

A legislative breakfast for a Brooklyn-based educational group, Shema Kolainu, on August 5 will be something of a who’s who of New York politicians.

Amusingly, attendees will hear both “remarks” from State Senator Kevin Parker, and “greetings” from one of the Democrats looking to unseat him, Simcha Felder.

The chairman of the event is possible mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis, whose company, Gristedes, is the sponsor.

(Honorary chair status is given to Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton, which may help sell a few more tickets.)

The event is paying tribute to, among others, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, the State Senate minority leader, Malcolm Smith, comptroller candidate and City Councilman David Weprin, and City Councilman Bill de Blasio, who is also a candidate for Brooklyn borough president.

Yesterday afternoon at City Hall, Congresswomen Yvette Clarke and Nydia Velazquez announced jointly that they are endorsing Bill de Blasio for Brooklyn borough president.

These early endorsements follow announcements of support for de Blasio from UNITE-HERE and The NY Hotel Trades Council. Combined with the campaign's announcement yesterday of having raised "nearly $1 million dollars" ("$177,454 this filing period and $621,891 this cycle"), de Blasio is looking a bit like a foregone thing. (It's unclear at this point exactly who else is running.

The endorsements were announced on the City Hall steps, with about 25 or so supporters standing behind the congresswomen and de Blasio, squinting into the sun and holding "For Brooklyn '09'" signs.  read more »

Yesterday, Councilman Bill de Blasio and his team set up a tent and a ring of multi-colored folding chairs next to the Gowanus Canal in Carroll Gardens for a forum intended to start a conversation between the community and city planners.

It began against the backdrop of several suited elected officials paddling canoes in the waterway.  read more »

Last night, City Councilman and candidate for Brooklyn borough president, Bill de Blasio, called for a moratorium on demolition at the Atlantic Yards footprint until developer Bruce Ratner outlines “what will be built when and confirms affordability,” Brownstoner and Gowanus Lounge reported this morning.

Mr. de Blasio told a meeting of Brooklyn bloggers that he was “livid” about Mr. Ratner’s recent admission in The New York Times that the Miss Brooklyn office tower and residential buildings Mr. Ratner planned to build at Atlantic Yards were stalled due to trouble finding financing, and said he cannot support an “arena-only plan.”  read more »

A congestion pricing measure before the Council just passed, 30 to 20.

Domenic Recchia, who is planning to run for Congress, took a pass on voting the first time around, but eventually voted yes. Eric Gioia, who had told the New York Times on March 8 that he was voting no, also voted for it. Comptroller candidate Melinda Katz voted no, but her likely rival David Yassky voted yes. The two candidates for Brooklyn brough president, Bill De Blasio and Charles Barron, both voted against.  read more »