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Voters will decide on term limits

By John Larson

Tacoma Weekly
jlarson@tacomaweekly.com
Published on: July 03, 2008

Voters will decide this fall whether Tacoma City Council members should continue to face term limits. After considerable debate, a divided council voted 5-4 July 1 on a resolution that will put the issue on the ballot for the general election in November.

Councilmember Connie Ladenburg requested the item be on the council agenda. She had briefly discussed the matter at a recent meeting of the council’s Committee of the Whole.

Councilmember Marilyn Strickland offered an amendment to Ladenburg’s resolution that would extend the term limit to three terms, rather than eliminating them altogether. Her amendment failed to pass.

Strickland voiced her support for term limits, claiming city government benefits from turnover and new perspectives. Strickland said term limits allow for a wider range of people to serve on the council.

She voted against the resolution, as did Julie Anderson, Mike Lonergan and Mayor Bill Baarsma.

The mayor argued strongly against the resolution. He feels changes to the City Charter should come during regular charter reviews. The last one was conducted in 2004.

He also criticized the cost of $100,000 to place the issue on the ballot.

Baarsma said this matter should have gone through the council’s Government Performance and Finance Committee and a public hearing.

“It is not the question of term limits that is at issue here, it is the issue of amending our constitution, our charter,” Baarsma remarked.

Lonergan also argued in favor of using the review process to change the charter. “We have a forum, a way to do that,” he said.

Anderson said she respects Ladenburg for promoting something that would generate controversy.

Anderson said she is concerned about “an accidental and incremental change of scope on the council over time.” She said term limits are healthy and worries that eliminating them could upset the balance between the council and the city manager. Anderson noted the increased workload of council members and their lack of staff to assist them. “The situation is not helped by expanding term limits or doing away with them.”

Ladenburg said the charter does allow for resolutions such as hers. She said she personally is opposed to term limits for the council, but the more important thing is she wants voters to weigh in. “This gives the citizens an opportunity to have their voices heard.”

Unlike some of the complex, technical issues that come before the council, Ladenburg argued that citizens are knowledgeable on term limits. “This issue has been talked about for hundreds of years. Our founding fathers talked about it.”

Her push for doing it now is to have it on the ballot in November, when voter turnout will be high due to elections of the president and governor.

Councilmember Jake Fey said term limits hurt Tacoma because council members serve on regional boards with people from other cities that do not have term limits. The power on such boards goes to those who can serve on them for extended periods of time, he said.

“This is simply placing before the voters the opportunity to have that robust conversation,” said Councilmember Rick Talbert. “They have no greater say than with their vote. I look forward to the discussion between now and November.”

Councilmember Lauren Walker said she opposes term limits because of her experience being around strong leaders at the local, state and federal levels who were not limited in their time in office. She voted for the resolution for “the opportunity to give our constituency a chance to vote on the issue,

A few citizens testified prior to the vote. Charles Creso criticized both Ladenburg’s resolution and Strickland’s amendment. “It is a hasty modification to a hasty proposal,” he declared. “It pushes Tacoma back toward that good-old-boy system of government. Serve Tacoma citizens by voting no, or serve yourselves by voting yes.”

Larry Davis said he is a University of Washington-Tacoma student making his first speaking appearance at a council meeting. He offered his support for term limits. Davis feels many Tacoma residents are not aware of Ladenburg’s desire for a public vote and asked the council to delay voting on her resolution.

If voters pass the ballot measure, current council members could run for office again. Some of them are in their second terms and currently prohibited from running again. Baarsma said he would not seek a third term as mayor.

“Even if this passes, it would be unethical for me to run again,” he remarked.

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