Former Council Speaker Peter Vallone (l.) and his two sons, Peter (standing) and Paul.Photo: Pace for News
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If anyone is biting his nails over term limits, it's the Vallone clan of Queens.
There's the father, Peter Vallone Sr., who was City Council speaker until 2001, when municipal officeholders were first limited to two consecutive four-year terms.
And there are his two sons: Peter Vallone Jr., who took over his father's Astoria seat and faces term limits next year, and Paul Vallone, now running for a different Council seat in Queens.
"It makes for some very interesting family conversations," said Peter Vallone Jr., 47.
Mayor Bloomberg triggered the storm in June when he raised the specter of reversing his once-staunch opposition to changing term limits. He has yet to rule out supporting a Council-imposed third-term option.
The elder Vallone, 73, has been pushing behind the scenes for an extension - not to help his sons, he insisted, but because "it's what's good for the city."
"I've always said it's an abomination," he said of term limits. "It prevents long-term planning for the city."
Now an influential lawyer and lobbyist, the father said he has been recruiting "a group of people who care about the city" to support a third-term extension. He wouldn't name names.
He was in the Council for 27 years and was succeeded by his son in the 22nd District in Astoria.
For 15 of those years, he led the Council, starting in 1986 as majority leader and then as speaker after the title was changed in 1990.
The elder Vallone said he would prefer extending term limits by another referendum but that "there's not enough time."
Like several others, Peter Vallone Jr.'s political strategy is up in the air. He opposes term limits but won't say how he would vote on an extension bill.
"I will deal with whatever comes," he said. "But I'm looking forward to my next stage in public service."
Paul Vallone, 41, is less tossed. His first bid for elected office is being waged in the 19th District of Bayside/Whitestone, where incumbent Tony Avella has announced plans for a mayoral run.
Paul Vallone faces several rivals for Avella's seat, including civic leader Jerry Iannece of Bayside Hills, who considers the son an Astoria carpetbagger trading on his family name.
"You don't inherit a seat, you earn it," Iannece said.
Paul Vallone retorted that he's "very proud to be a Vallone" and is looking forward to the campaign.
A lawyer, like his father and two brothers - a third Vallone son, Perry, 45, lives out of the fray in New Jersey - Paul Vallone is also listed as a lobbyist at his father's lobbying firm of Constantinople & Vallone.
