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Letter To The Mayor Dear Mayor Giuliani: September 24, 2001 We write to urge you to continue to exercise your extraordinary leadership in the wake of the terrible tragedy at the World Trade Center by making it clear that you will not run for a third term as mayor this year. The orderly transition of government is the hallmark of our democracy. That is true in peaceful times and even truer in times of emergency. Terrorism wins if we respond by disrupting our laws or departing from our basic rights and systems of government. That's why our groups strongly opposed a further postponement of the municipal elections and why we have worked to help the Board of Elections in New York City in their efforts to successfully administer tomorrow's primaries. Under a law overwhelmingly approved by city voters in 1993 and supported by you, all city office holders are limited to serving two consecutive terms. City voters also overwhelmingly turned back an effort to change the two-term limit to a three-term limit in 1996. Most of our groups did not support the term limit law. But it is the law. Our groups oppose having either the City Council or the state legislature now overturn two clear referenda votes in order to allow specific individuals to run for office. We took that view this past spring, when City Council Members considered legislation to overturn term limits for themselves, as did the major editorial boards of the city's newspapers. It is also a hallmark of our democracy that we are a government of laws and not men. Postponing the election process right now to allow changes in the law to allow one person to run who is now barred violates that principle. When terrorists attacked the World Trade Center on September 11th, New Yorkers were in the process of choosing nominees of political parties to run for mayor in the November 6th general election. It is the greatness of New York, our citizens and our democracy that we are able to return to the polls tomorrow to pick leaders for our city in these trying times. Our groups strongly agree with your comments today to urge New Yorkers voting in tomorrow's primary to "choose among and between the choices presented to them" and not write in your name. We are especially concerned that encouraging write-ins would place yet another stress on poll workers, elections officials and voting machines. We greatly admire your courageous leadership in these past weeks. It has helped sustain so many of us here in the city and you have our deep gratitude. We stand ready to work with you as mayor in the coming weeks on rebuilding and protecting our city and look to your leadership after January 1st in the many other ways you can serve the city and nation. Yours truly, CITIZENS UNION
October 1, 2001 Hon. George Pataki, Re: An Orderly Transition of Power In New York City Dear Mssrs. Pataki, Bruno and Silver: We write to urge that the state resist calls to intervene in the current election of a new mayor for New York City, either by repealing our city's twice voter-approved term limits law or by delaying the inauguration of the incoming mayor. Either action would violate basic notions of democracy and home rule for the city. The orderly transition of government is the hallmark of our democracy. That is true in peaceful times and even truer in times of emergency. Terrorism wins if we respond by disrupting our laws or departing from our basic rights and systems of government. That's why our groups strongly opposed a further postponement of the municipal elections and why we worked to help the Board of Elections in New York City in their efforts to successfully administer last Tuesday's primaries. Under a law overwhelmingly approved by city voters in 1993 and supported by Mayor Giuliani, all city office holders are limited to serving two consecutive terms. City voters also overwhelmingly turned back an effort to change the two-term limit to a three-term limit in 1996. The law bars Mayor Giuliani from serving as mayor until 2005. Most of our groups did not support the term limit law. But it is the law. Our groups oppose having either the state legislature or the City Council now overturn two referenda approved by voters in order to allow a specific individual to run for office. We took that view this past spring, when City Council members considered legislation to overturn term limits for themselves, as did the editorial boards of the city's major newspapers. Repealing term limits or exempting one individual or office raises serious constitutional and Voting Rights Act questions. Any such legislation could result in throwing the elections into the courts, leading to an uncertainty our city cannot afford in the wake of the World Trade Center tragedy. It is also a hallmark of our democracy that we are a government of laws and not men. It violates this bedrock principle to repeal term limits or delay the inauguration of a newly and duly elected mayor to allow the current mayor to continue to serve beyond his elected term of office. When terrorists attacked the World Trade Center on September 11th, New Yorkers were in the process of choosing nominees of political parties to run for mayor in the November 6th general election. It is the greatness of New York, our citizens and our democracy that we were able to return to the polls on September 25th to pick leaders for our city in these trying times. And it was very heartening to our groups that turnout exceeded expectations, an extraordinarily positive result given the tragedy, its terrible impact on our daily lives and the limited media coverage of the primaries. Lastly, as a matter of home rule, the state legislature should not interfere in the conduct and outcome of a city election in midstream. Our groups greatly admire the mayor's courageous leadership in the days following the World Trade Center terrorist attack. It has helped sustain our city's morale and he has our deep gratitude. We stand ready to work with him as mayor in the coming weeks and look to his leadership after January 1st in the many other ways he can serve the city and nation. Yours truly,
Gene Russianoff, Senior Attorney, New York Public Interest Research Group
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