“It was a backroom deal, as many things are in Yonkers politics. The proverbial fly on the wall should be called to testify.”

YONKERS – Mayor Michael Spano signed legislation on Tuesday that extends the length of term limits.

The legislation was approved last week by the city council by a 5-2 vote, and brings the Yonkers term limits law into conformity with the Westchester County law, which allows office holders to serve up to 12 years consecutively. Until now, term limits in the city wee eight years.

“The city will have continuity and also reasonable term limits,” Spano said. “It’s good for the county government, and it makes sense for Yonkers.”

In 2001, for instance, a referendum was put forth that, if it had passed, would’ve benefited John Spencer, a Republican who was halfway through his second mayoral term. The repeal effort lost overwhelmingly.

When Bloomberg engineered his term extension in 2008, he asserted that New York City desperately needed his financial expertise to guide it through the hazards of the Great Recession.

In Yonkers, the Bloomberg argument was flipped sideways. It basically went like this:

With a continuing downtown renaissance aimed at attracting young professionals, declining crime rate and an 86 percent high school graduation rate, the term limited officials were so successful in changing the fortunes of the city for the better that they deserved an opportunity to stay in office to continue their professed great work.

Critics didn’t see it that way. It wasn’t on the level. They saw it as a fast and easy way to bamboozle the people.

Some believed the council was motivated by a lust for fatter pension benefits that another term in office would bring.