THE extension of term limits is creat ing havoc for the four city officials hoping to succeed Comptroller Bill Thompson.
Thompson insists he won’t be returning to his old job and will continue campaigning for mayor – even if that means taking on the billionaire incumbent, Mayor Bloomberg.
“I’m running for mayor,” Thompson declared at a Crain’s Business breakfast last week. “Three months from now, I’m running for mayor. Six months from now, I’m running for mayor.”
That sure sounded like great news for Thompson’s would-be successors, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion and City Council members Melinda Katz and David Weprin of Queens and David Yassky of Brooklyn.
After all, each one predicated their candidacy on running for an open seat.
The only problem is that almost no one believes Thompson means it, including the guys with the big bucks who would normally be writing sizable checks to the other leading contenders.
Thompson won’t have to make a decision until as late as next June, when he submits his nominating petitions, either for mayor or comptroller.
The candidates don’t have that luxury.
They have to choose by Jan. 10, the deadline set by the Campaign Finance Board when they have to either declare their intention to continue running for higher office or “start fresh” and launch new campaign accounts to seek third terms.
Without the fresh start, none of the comptroller hopefuls would be able to run for re-election because their spending strategies assumed a $3,850,000 spending cap for the comptroller’s race.
That’s why Yassky has spent $144,661 as of July 15, the latest filing period.
Katz has gone through $775,076. Weprin is out $338,728 and Carrion has burned through $808,983.
Unfortunately for them, the spending cap for City Council is just $161,000. For borough president, it’s $1,386,000.
“It’s a pain-in-the-neck situation to be in,” Yassky conceded. “It has occurred to me I’ll have to make that decision” of which job to run for.
Weprin said, “It’s not a great spot to be in.”
All are continuing to campaign as though Thompson will be leaving.
Terms limits also looks to become an issue itself in the comptroller’s race.
Twenty-four hours before the actual vote, Carrion suddenly switched from supporting the extension to opposing it.
“What I think probably happened is that Adolfo Carrion saw some polls,” said Weprin, a steadfast critic of Bloomberg’s hurried plan to allow third terms.
Eric Friedman, a spokesman for the board, said it was preparing final rules to deal with the term-limits changes and is prepared to hear appeals on a case-by-case basis.
For now, though, four people running for comptroller are dreading Jan. 10.