Thomas Friedman wrote in a recent New York Times column about Russia leader Vladimir Putin that "small businesses, start-ups and nonresource companies ... require solid political institutions with regular rotations in power — all things Putin's rule works against."
Regular rotations in power do not happen in the Albany mayor's office. The city has had only three mayors in 72 years: Erastus Corning, Thomas Whalen and Jerry Jennings. As good, or bad, as these gentlemen may have been, this is a good reason for stagnation in public, economic and civic life in Albany.
I don't know if Jennings will run for a sixth term this year. Whether he runs or not, some Albany citizens may start thinking about mandatory term limits. As much as I would like to see rotations of power in Albany, I am glad Albany doesn't have term limits.
Instead, I suggest voters take a hard look at any candidate who has been in office for a long time and make a decision whether there should be voter-induced term limits.
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My experience as a legislative bill drafter showed the benefits that come from some very long-serving legislators. Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, who I drafted bills for when he was first elected in 1975 and who is still serving his Manhattan district, is a good example. Laws that he has sponsored and led to enactment include the Prenatal Care Assistance Program for low-income woman, the Child Health Plus Program, a Physician Profiling Law, the Family Health Plus law, the Health Care Proxy Law, the Hudson River Park law and the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 1976.
Gottfried also has a "to be accomplished list" — like legalizing medical marijuana and having single-payer health insurance. The legislative skills of long-time serving legislators I have worked for — like Gottfried, Pete Grannis, Oliver Koppell, Maurice Hinchey and Dale Volker — have served both their immediate constituents but also have made things better. If the state Legislature had term limits, constituents could be deprived of voting for some visionary, skilled and highly principled representatives.
Mayor Joseph Riley of Charleston, S.C., who is serving his 10th term, is another example of a public official whose long service is beneficial for his constituents.
Riley spoke at an Albany Roundtable luncheon in 2000. His speech in Albany has been saved on the Albany Roundtable archive and I urge you to check it out at http://www.albanyroundtable.com/MayorRileyspeech.htm
Riley's speech reinforces what Kim Severson wrote in 2011 about Riley in the New York Times, that "Mr. Riley has made attentiveness to quality of life ... a hallmark of his reign." She wrote that "he started a new division of Municipal Court called Livability Court. It gives residents with complaints about barking dogs and parking a forum separate from a court docket filled with assaults and drug crimes." As Riley said, "A leader needs to understand the hearts of his or her people." Also special about Riley is his strong views that "there is never any excuse to build anything that doesn't add to the beauty of a city" and his appreciation of a cities' historic fabric.
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He told the Roundtable audience that "every building that we have that we can possibly save gives communities memories. It gives it scale. It gives them the Rhythm. It gives it heart and, you know, almost never can you replace with equal quality what you have destroyed."
A term limits law that would bar the voters of Charleston from voting for Riley would be unjustified. Where term limits are appropriate, and there are many instances where that is the case, it should be the voters at election time who apply term limits.
Especially given Albany's history, it is a majority of the voters in an election of a long-serving office holder who need to decide if a candidate for re-election has the character and vision that Riley has articulated and demonstrated.
Paul M. Bray is Founding President of the Albany Roundtable civic lunch forum. His e-mail is pmbray@aol.com.