(AP) - A last-minute proposal to let voters, instead of the City Council, decide whether to change city term-limit law has been defeated.

By a vote of 28-22, with one abstention, the 51-member council knocked down the measure. It would have begun the process to hold a special election next year on term limits.

The amendment was introduced as the council prepared to vote on Mayor Michael Bloomberg's bid to change term-limit law. Opponents say this is not the job of a legislature, and should have been up to the voters in a referendum.

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