Mayor Bloomberg's plan to permanently change the structure of local government is prompting anxiety among public officials and community leaders.
There is talk in political circles that a commission to be appointed by the mayor to perform a top-to-bottom review of the city charter would seek to curtail the authority of borough presidents and the public advocate, or do away with their positions altogether. Officials say they also are hearing that the commission may attempt to restructure the charter to remove community boards from the often contentious approval process for development projects.
Mr. Bloomberg has signaled that he would like to leave the city with a more modern, streamlined, and efficient local government, an accomplishment that could be realized through a charter revision commission.
Exactly how he goes about trying to save money, rid the government of redundancies, and update what he considers antiquated regulations is fueling the concern.
"I don't know if it is going to be a political fight or our own mini version of a constitutional convention," the president of Manhattan, Scott Stringer, said.
If the charter revision commission tries to gut the office of borough president, the public advocate, or community boards, Mr. Stringer said he will be ready to go to battle.
"I will spend the next two years fighting to have a diversified government with different opinions," he said.
The charter revision talk is intensifying as Mr. Bloomberg moves deeper into his final term in office and the window to tackle complex questions about the structure and makeup of city government shrinks.
A spokesman for the mayor, Stuart Loeser, declined to comment on the commission and would not say when it might begin and who would be appointed.
The mayor announced in January his intention to appoint a commission, but nearly six months later no appointments have been made and the $354,000 set aside in last year's budget for the commission went unspent. More than $1.4 million has been set aside for a commission to use this year, and another $354,000 is on the books for next year.
Signaling that the new commission would be different from recent ones, the mayor said during his State of the City address that it had been 20 years since the city had taken a comprehensive look at its structure and operations and that it was time to do it again.
There has been speculation that Mr. Bloomberg might try through the charter commission to overturn term limits or extend them to three terms from two. A survey reportedly conducted by the mayor earlier this year found that New Yorkers are opposed to changing term limits.
One of the key obstacles to any proposals to diminish or do away with the offices of borough presidents and the public advocate would likely be members of the City Council, many of whom are campaigning and raising money for those seats in 2009.
But some officials argued that cutting the position of public advocate might not garner the same opposition.
"I don't think the public advocate's position is desperately needed by New Yorkers," Council Member John Liu, a possible candidate for public advocate or comptroller, said.
Mr. Liu added that he does not think the city government is in need of a radical overhaul.
"It is a distraction from the real issues," he said.
