Residents demanding a voter referendum on term limits held a rally on Saturday led by Yonkers City Council member Anthony Merante.
In November 2022, the city council and mayor amended the city charter to allow themselves to serve four four-year terms. This year, Mayor Mike Spano and council member Mike Breen are seeking this new fourth term. However, other council members like Anthony Merante–who is the endorsed Republican nominee for mayor–have fought hard against this change.
On Saturday May 27th, Merante gathered his supporters to distribute petitions for a referendum to restore term limits. This referendum will put the choice of term limits back in the hands of voters as it was in 1993 and 2001.
At the rally, Merante stood aside another Republican candidate for office, Ron Schutté. For the first time in over a decade, the fifth city council district in Yonkers will have a choice for their Republican nominee against incumbent Mike Breen. The spectacle around term limits and redistricting prompted Schutté’s first run at public office.
The petition to restore term limits requires at least 4,800 valid signatures to be delivered to the Yonkers City Clerk, Vincent Spano. Upon receipt, the clerk will verify the signatures and transmit them to the city council for a vote to add a referendum on November’s general election ballot. Merante expects over five thousand signatures to be delivered in July.
The group created the website, http://www.restoretermlimits.com/ to gather supporters in an effort to help complete the petitioning process.
Restore Term Limits campaign photo gallery
