See You In September ‘09

The Daily News highlights the coming change of the guard in the City Council as 36 of the current crop of 51 members will lose their seats to term limits in 2009. Many of the departing members have their sights set on other political posts.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Council Member Tony Avella from Queens will go after the mayoral spot, as well as other term-limited officials like Comptroller Bill Thompson, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum.

Outgoing Council Members Eric Gioia and John Liu both from Queens are likely to run for Betsy Gotbaum’s Public Advocate seat. In the race for Comptroller we’ll most likely see Queens members Melinda Katz and David Weprin, and from Brooklyn, David Yassky and Simcha Felder, as well as current Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión.

For borough president from Brooklyn we find that outgoing Council Members Charles Barron and Bill de Blasio will most likely be running. On Staten Island, Council Minority Leader James Oddo and Democrat Michael McMahon will be looking towards the BP post after they must vacate their seats, and in the Bronx, Council Members Joel Rivera and Helen Foster will go after Adolfo Carrión’s post.