Some people have been upset since Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz decided to run for a third term as Mayor. This was in spite of the fact that she had publicly vowed early in her first term that she would impose on herself a two term limit.

We can understand people being upset when they felt the Mayor has played loose with existing City Ordinances, etc. But people harping on her going back on her word about only running for two terms is a moot point.

There are far more pressing issues to be concerned about.

In the past, there have been other politicians who changed their minds on how long they wanted to serve in office. Some have even decided to leave their office before their term was up. Diaz simply changed her mind. As far as I know, there is not an ordinance or resolution on the books that limits the term of the Mayor in Perth Amboy. As far as I know there is not a “If I break my vow, I’m breaking the law” ordinance on the books.

We have written editorials in the past supporting term limits for all political offices. If it’s good enough for the President, it’s good enough for every political office to follow suit.

As we have stated before, look what Mayor Michael Bloomberg did in New York. He challenged and was able to change the term limit of the Office of Mayor from two terms to three. New Yorkers went to the polls twice demanding term limits for the office Mayor of New York City. Once in 1993 and again in 1996. In 2008, Bloomberg stating the financial crisis in New York was a reason to need his expertise and went to the City Council to make his plea. The Council overturned the law without voter consent and changed the Office of Mayor of New York from two terms to three. In 2010 the voters overwhelmingly restored the two term limit.

If you want to raise your eyebrows about something, let’s make a chart: (see below)

The one constant component in all the names mentioned in the chart (see above) is “Wilda Diaz.” The exception was Joel Pabon in 2010 who ran independently his first run for Council and was the top vote-getter that year.

One of my favorite songs is called “Time to Change Partners” sung by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. This seems to ring true.

You simply have a choice. You could vote for the candidate of your choice, write in a candidate’s name or simply don’t vote at all.

There is another alternative which would be for the future.  Perth Amboy follows Faulkner Plan B (From Wikipedia) which lists several municipalities where residents have a choice to institute an ordinance for term limits.

As in all Faulkner Act municipalities, citizens in the mayor–council system enjoy the right of initiative and referendum, meaning that proposed ordinances can be introduced directly by the people without action by the local governing body. This right is exercised by preparing a conforming petition signed by 10% of the registered voters who turned out in the last general election in an odd-numbered year. Once the petition is submitted, the local governing body can vote to pass the requested ordinance, and if it refuses, it is then submitted directly to the voters.  

If a term limit ordinance gets on the ballot and the people vote in its favor, then that should solve the problem – unless – this is a BIG UNLESS – the Council decides to do what the 2008 New York City Council did and ignore the wishes of the people.

Going to Council Meetings you see and hear people flip-flopping and going back and forth all the time. What else is new?

We’re not trying to take sides. We just want to show sometimes people get elected when there is a lot of money thrown at them and sometimes they elected on a shoestring budget. It is what it is.

If you feel so strongly either way, the election is Tuesday, November 8, 2016.

C.M. & K.M.