The event, which took place on April 27 in her district, is the latest personal gesture of support by Bloomberg for members of the City Council who voted for his term-limits extension last year. Bloomberg also threw a fund-raiser for James Sanders, and attended one for Peter Vallone Jr.

An aide said it was the organizer of the fund-raiser who invited the mayor, not Gonzalez herself. Bloomberg, according to this aide, was in the neighborhood filming a campaign commercial and decided to stop by.

Not surprisingly, David Galarza, who is challenging Gonzales, sees this as an opportunity. He emailed me to say, “Now we know what Sara Gonzalez got in return for her term limits extension vote. Mayor Bloomberg has turned City Hall into a 99 Cent store. Council Members are flying off the shelves and into his pockets.”

Gonzalez’s spokesman, Michael Schweinburg, told me, “She certainly didn’t do this  because of Bloomberg.”

Gonzalez, it should be noted, is not term-limited this year, and would have been one of the most senior members of the Council if the extension was not passed. (There was talk, albeit by her aides, that she might run for speaker.)

According to a transcript provided by a reporter who attended, Quinn was asked, "There were individual members who have said in the past few weeks that they’ve been approached by staffers from the central Council office to see—"

Quinn cut the reporter off and answered, “We've answered that question repeatedly—that did not happen. Let me be clear—when my staff speaks, they speak for me. If you don't trust what my staff says, then you should come and make a formal complaint. You have been told by my staff that that didn't happen. My staff has never misrepresented themselves to you. That did not happen."

Then, in a lower voice, she added, “Don't ask something that's been asked already."

Quinn's staff has told the press that the office is not contacting members, although this appears to be the first time she has denied claims that Council members say they have been contacted by her office.

Last month, Quinn said that she is not having any conversations with the mayor about term limits.

Quinn is not generally so defensive--she remained notably calm when pelted with a barrage of questions about member items and inquiries about the fake organizations that found their way into the budget.

He's not the only one. David Weprin has also asked that bill drafters in the Council write up a bill opposing the possible extension, his office said.

Also, Weprin is organizing a press conference for this Sunday at noon on the City Hall steps about his own bill. Expected to attend the event are groups like Citizens Union and New Yorkers for Term Limits--Ron Lauder’s group.

UPDATE: According to this document, Weprin's request to draft a bill on this issue was made on September 5.