Gene Berardelli for City Council 2009

I am for term limits when voted on by referendum, and believe that only another referendum should amend that – not legislative action. The term limits debate was a perfect opportunity for our leaders to stand up and show that they were not going to let the current climate control our political landscape & that they believed in the will of the people to govern themselves. Instead, we saw self-interested politicians think “me first” and go against their constituency. They forgot who's in charge

The obvious answer is we need to do our part to fix the economy & stop squeezing the life out of people with our oppressive tax policy. The city has to be leaner than it is right now, providing essential services with limited taxation, becoming more efficient and explore and adopt innovation like "greening" government buildings. Simply because the business of the city has been traditionally handled a certain way does not make it the right way. We can come out of this period stronger!

People are frustrated because governmenl programs don't provide full accountability and transparency, especially the electoral process. We need to explore ways to get more people involved and we need advocates for new legislation in New York putting the voice of the people beyond the reach of politicians - they should not be able change amend any referendum! We also need to clean up loopholes in the campaign finance law like the “doing business” loophole that some businessmen have exploited.

Beside correcting the entire "term limits" debacle by supporting charter revisions to both the term limit law and changing how referenda can be amended, discretionary budget reform is sorely needed. We need to examine the Council’s qualification process and see what changes, if any, resulted. We also need to closely watch “member items” and council initiatives in the future and see if the Corporation Counsel or the Dept. of Investigation should have some kind of oversight or review.

Councilman Fidler muddied the waters with visions of building 2 tunnels at the same time and promoting the “hydrogen” car, which is the most expensive/least beneficial alternative fuel car! We need real ways to induce people to use our buses and subways and discourage people from using cars in the city. Investing in infrastructure improvements and improving service is a start. Recruiting businesses willing to promote public transportation use by their employees is another option to explore.

Based on my experience,, I believe that New Yorkers want to “go green” and will be environmentally responsible when called upon - as long as there is minimal disruption to daily life. The right investment will bring down costs drastically and add relief to a neighborhood’s infrastructure - and create jobs. City design and construction regulations need to incorporate "green" standards. All city buildings should become LEED certified. Improving these buildings will create green-collar jobs.