A key ally of Mayor Bloomberg is suing him over the city's recent change to the term-limits law.
Former Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari is the lead plaintiff on a suit to be filed today against Bloomberg, who recently won a controversial City Council bid to grant all city officials, including himself, a third four-year term.
"One person has the awesome power - and only one person - to be able to change the electoral system in our city, a city of over 8 million people. That's wrong. That flies in the face of democracy," said Molinari, a Republican who was forced to leave office in 2001 because of term limits.
Molinari, who helped elect Bloomberg mayor, insisted the suit has nothing to do with either Bloomberg's ability to govern, or his own anger toward the mayor for leaving the Republican Party in June 2007 to become a political independent.
"This is a mockery of the word democracy," Molinari fumed. "When I think back to the days when I was fighting with the Marines in Korea . . . people would say, 'We're here to defend our democracy.' "
Still, he said, he would consider supporting Bloomberg for re-election if the lawsuit fails.
Other plaintiffs on the suit include City Council members Letitia James and Charles Barron, both Brooklyn Democrats, Comptroller Bill Thompson, who plans to run for mayor next year, and Gene Russianoff of the New York Public Interest Research Group.
A mayoral spokesman declined to comment last night.
Molinari said the suit would be filed in federal court today on "constitutional issues," but declined to give further details.
The suit will argue any change to term limits should be put on a ballot for voters - rather than the council - to decide, the source said.
