Spokesman Supports Term Limits, and a 30-Year Incumbent

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By Azi Paybarah

July 22, 2008 | 4:22 p.m

The spokesman for Marty Connor's re-election campaign, Chad Marlow, supports term limits, even though his boss, a state senator, has been in office since 1978.

In 2005, when the City Council was reportedly looking to alter the city's term-limit laws, Marlow authored a blog post on the Drum Major Institute’s web site called "Confessions of a Term Limits Convert." He wrote:

“If you believe our elected officials are largely comprised of highly talented, innovative thinkers who represent the very best our society has to offer the public sector, you would naturally oppose term limits. I do not.”

Connor’s opponent, Dan Squadron, talks frequently about the need to shake things up in Albany.

I asked Marlow about his feelings on term-limits and how it lines up with his work on Connor’s campaign.

“As a general rule, I have become a convert to term limits,” Marlow said. He explained how believing in the value of term limits doesn't conflict with the race because there are no term limits for state lawmakers.

Later, he emailed:

“To be more concise, I continue to support term limits, but that is not a relevant issue in this race where there are none (whether there should be is a debate for another day).

“I believe change that moves us in the right direction is always good and always necessary, but mere change for change’s sake is not (you can also change for the worse). You certainly don’t want to replace an excellent legislator with a poor candidate just for the sake of change, but that is exactly the sentiment Dan is banking on to win and to make up for his lack of credentials.”