LAPPIN VOTED 'NO' ON TERM LIMITS, AMENDMENT

Mayor Michael Bloomberg scored a decisive victory in his quest for a third term on Oct. 23 when the City Council passed legislation extending term limits. The final vote was 29 in favor of extending term limits to 22 opposed. Council Member Jessica Lappin decided to vote against the bill to â??respect the will of the voters who voted for term limits in 1993 and 1996. She said she was â??disappointed with the final result and will be â??moving on to govern and tackling the fiscal crisis. The bill almost headed for defeat when Council Members Gale Brewer, Alan Gerson and David Yassky introduced an amendment that would have made the term limit extension valid only through a voter referendum, essentially gutting the mayor"s plan. The amendment was defeated 28 to 22 with one abstention, clearing the way for Bloomberg"s bill. The East Side"s other Council member, Dan Garodnick, was an early foe of extending term limits through Council legislation. He voted against the bill and for the amendment. There were only two opponents of the term limit legislation who voted against the amendment: Lappin, and Queens Republican Anthony Como. Como, like many of his colleagues, took the opportunity to explain his vote on the floor of the Council, citing the high cost of a referendum at a time budgets are being slashed. Lappin did not explain her vote when she cast it, but defended her decision a day later. â??One of the reasons I voted no on the bill because I didn"t like the process, she said of the mayor"s bill. â??The amendment certainly was impractical and an impossible process. So to be consistent I voted no on both.