NEW YORK (AFP) — Billionaire New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg faced a nail-biting showdown Thursday with opponents of his ambition to stay in office a third term.
The city's government was scheduled to vote at 2:00 pm (1800 GMT) on a bill proposed by Bloomberg to change the current limit of two terms to three, allowing him to run again in 2009.
The issue is the most divisive for years in the city, pitting Bloomberg, once considered a possible White House contender, against an increasingly well-organized coalition of opponents.
Referendums in the 1990s twice confirmed the two-term limit and growing numbers of New Yorkers say that only a fresh referendum -- not a City Council vote -- can change the rule.
Bloomberg, a highly popular mayor and successful businessman, argues that voters should be given a chance to re-elect him at a time when the Wall Street crisis poses a grave threat to the city economy.
The controversial bill needs the votes of 26 of the 51 council members to pass.
According to local television news channel NY1 late Wednesday, 18 councilors had so far declared support, 23 were to vote against, and 10 remained undeclared.
Even if the bill squeaks through, opponents promise court action.
The founder of a hugely profitable financial data and news company, Bloomberg has dominated city politics since being elected to the first of two terms in 2001.
He won plaudits in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks for making New York one of the safest cities in the United States, as well as a global tourist destination.
He has suffered few defeats, notably failing to push through a London-style traffic congestion charge scheme in Manhattan.
So when he first announced a plan to overturn term limits, opening the way for him to keep power, few predicted major difficulties.
In a key victory earlier this month Bloomberg secured the backing of Ronald Lauder, heir to the Estee Lauder cosmetics fortune and bankroller of the successful pro-term-limit campaigns in the 1990s.
But grassroots opposition snowballed and on Monday activists won the support of another billionaire, Tom Golisano, owner of the Buffalo Sabres ice hockey team.
"Who has the power here? Is it the people, or the 51 council members?" Golisano asked.
Golisano has promised to spend a substantial sum on television advertising, although the quick scheduling of Thursday's vote may have pre-empted that threat.
Public dissatisfaction spilled over last week at two rowdy public hearings devoted to the issue.
Part of the distaste stems from the fact that many City Council members would themselves be barred from re-election next year, creating what some see as a conflict of interest in the vote Thursday.
A Quinnipiac University poll this week found that 89 percent of New York voters believe term limits should only be changed through another referendum.
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