The New York City Charter Revision Commission will hold the first of five "Issue Forums" tomorrow in Brooklyn, focusing on term limits.  Addressing the Commission will be three experts on the issue:  Patrick J. Egan, New York University; Richard G. Niemi, University of Rochester; and Gregory Carl Schmid, an attorney currently serving as general counsel of U.S. Term Limits, a nation-wide term limit advocacy group. 

TOPIC: Term Limits
PLACE: Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street, BROOKLYN
DATE: May 25, 2010, 6 p.m.

At tomorrow's forum, the Commission will invite testimony from the expert panel and will accept public comment on the issue. Those wishing to testify can begin signing up one half-hour prior to the start of the forum.  Anyone wishing to testify will be given the opportunity to do so regardless of time of arrival. 

The forum is open to the public and will be streamed live via webcast through the Commission's website at www.nyc.gov/charter 

Patrick J. Egan
Assistant Professor of Politics and Public Policy, the Wilf Family Department of Politics, New York University
Professor Egan specializes in public opinion, political institutions, and their relationship in the context of American politics. He is co-editor of the volume Public Opinion and Constitutional Controversy  (Oxford University Press, 2008)  as well as numerous papers, including "Issue Ownership and Representation: A Theory of Legislative Responsiveness to Public Opinion," "Opinion Leadership, Backlash, and Delegitimation: Supreme Court Rulings and Public Opinion" (with Jack Citrin, UC Berkeley).  Professor Egan served as an Assistant Deputy Mayor of Policy and Planning for the City of Philadelphia under former Mayor (current Governor) Edward Rendell of Pennsylvania. He was a visiting scholar at Princeton University's Center for the Study of Democratic Politics from 2006 to 2007.  Professor Egan holds a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, an M.P.A. from Princeton University, and a B.A. from Swarthmore College.

Richard G. Niemi
Don Alonzo Watson Professor of Political Science, University of Rochester
Professor Niemi specializes in voting behavior, legislative term limits, and civic education.   His current research includes projects on college student voting, state legislative elections, and voting machines and ballot design.   Professor Niemi is the co-author/editor of a new edition of the highly respected Controversies in Voting Behavior (CQ Press, 2010) and of the compilation, Vital Statistics on American Politics, 2009-2010 (CQ Press, 2010).   He is also co-editor of a comparative volume on voting and elections, Comparing Democracies 3 (Sage, 2010); a work on usability aspects of voting machines and ballot design, Voting Technology: The Not-So-Simple Act of Casting a Ballot (Brookings, 2007); and of Institutional Change in American Politics: The Case of Term Limits (University of Michigan Press, 2007).   Professor Niemi is the 2010 recipient of the William H. Riker University Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching.  He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from Lawrence College. 

Gregory Carl Schmid
General Counsel, U.S. Term Limits
Gregory Carl Schmid serves as general counsel for U.S. Term Limits, the grassroots organization that for over a decade has been the premier advocacy group for term limits nationwide.  A frequent writer of legal technical works and public policy studies, Schmid has appeared on radio and television, and been published and quoted extensively in various news outlets and other media.  Schmid holds a J.D. with distinction from Thomas M. Cooley Law School and a B.A. from the University of Michigan.  He has engaged in the practice of law in Saginaw, Michigan, since 1985.