Say what you mean and mean what you say.

It sounds easy enough but among politicians, it is easier said than done. 

Case in point, our own Allan Jennings, who went all the way to lower Manhattan to the NY1 studios to appear on the show “Inside City Hall.”

On the air he championed the cause of not tinkering with the term limits law — the law that voters twice approved as part of the way elections should take place in the city. 

But suddenly he not only changed his mind, his name somehow ended up on the legislation designed to extend the terms of eight lawmakers whose terms were cut short by redistricting. 

He said that he changed his mind after he became more comfortable with the language of the proposal.

But what the councilman left out in his explanation was that the new legislation, which I hope he reviewed before his debate on NY1, would actually benefit him next year. 

The so-called “tinker” legislation has a so-called “side effect” that would keep former-Councilman Tom White from coming after him next year. 

In fact, it seems that many of the freshman pols who signed off on the law will also eliminate some of their competition because some potential candidates will have to wait two more years to run because they are former council members.
I am no fan of the career politician. 

I think once out of office they should find something else to do with their lives and either move up in politics or out altogether. 

However, I am also not a fan of self-service in politics at the cost of the rights of the people. 

If this flaw in the law is an accident, it should be fixed.

If it is not, then it was a deliberate attempt to muddy the waters.

I would hope that when any elected official from this area decides to take a stand, he or she would completely understand the nature of what he or she is fighting for.  

Everyone is allowed to change their minds but Jennings either didn’t fully understand what he was doing before he opposed the new legislation or he doesn’t now. 

If his motivation for changing sides and flip-flopping was to serve himself, then that compounds his lack of preparation and proper representation with what should be democratic indignation.
In the greater scheme of things, this may only be a hiccup in the process of selecting those we choose to represent us.

But it is disturbing to see all the new blood, who were elected because of a sense that they would somehow bring new ways into the system, seem to be exhibiting some of the same old habits that did not endear us to many of the people they replaced.
I admit it is sort of a double-edged sword. 

This new “tinker” law will delay former lawmakers from seeking their old jobs.

I guess I don’t really mind that.  

What I do mind is the bare-faced, self-centered way in which this all hit the fast track, sidestepping the democratic process. 

Any changes to the way we elect anyone should be decided by us, don’t you think?  

The council’s vote this week sacrificed democracy for politics. 

It’s a shame because I thought that was one of the reasons we got rid of the old batch of folks in the first place. 

Out with the old, in with the old? Could it be? 

What these new freshman lawmakers may have guaranteed is that they will be allowed to benefit from the same status quo that we voted out.

This move on their part will also most certainly guarantee a lawsuit that could make its way to the State Supreme or Federal Supreme Court. 

Either of them could rule the new legislation attached to the old as unconstitutional and throw the whole thing out, thus reverting us back to the old “stay as long as you want” way of doing things.

— Gary Anthony Ramsay is a weekend anchor
and journalist on the all-news
cable station NY1 and along-time resident of Queens.