Supporters of City Council term limits in La Mesa have collected enough valid signatures to put the measure to a vote, City Clerk Mary Kennedy says in a letter to those behind the effort.
The matter comes to the City Council at its May 27 meeting.
“The May 27th hearing is merely to execute some ministerial tasks regarding the ballot process,” Bill Baber, the initiative’s campaign manager, said in a prepared statement released by La Mesa Term Limits Committee. “We will get to vote on term limits in November!”
Residents asked the council last year to institute term limits for mayor and City Council. When it declined, Councilmember Kristine Alessio suggested they launch an initiative effort. Backers of term limits then used a combination of paid and volunteer signature gatherers to secure more than 4,500 signatures within 180 days to qualify the initiative for the November ballot. Some 3,306 valid signatures were needed.
The measure calls for the mayor and councilmembers to serve no more than three consecutive terms. Asked in a question and answer session with the La Mesa Courier earlier this year why there was such resistance on the council, Alessio responded:
“I think that most of those who hold elected office enjoy having the perks of the same, whether they be in the form of financial benefits or plain old ego gratification. It is no surprise at all that long-term politicians in any office are resistant to the idea of having their terms in office limited.”
In a statement released Wednesday, Alessio said, “This is a balanced approach. It’s modeled after the state term limits law passed by voters in 2012.”
Opponents say they don’t need new laws limiting their choices on whom to elect to the council. With Ernie Ewin announcing he will not run for re-election, and with Mark Arapostathis opting to seek the mayoral post, the council is guaranteed to have two new members after the November elections. Backers of the measure point out that no incumbent has lost an election bid since 1990.
Putting the measure on the ballot would cost an estimated $15,000 to $20,000. The council could opt to adopt the measure itself.
The last time La Mesa voters had an opportunity to weigh in on the question of term limits was June 2010, when voters approved Proposition B to impose term limits on members of the county Board of Supervisors.
Proposition B won the support of two-thirds of La Mesans who cast a vote on the proposition.
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1 comment:
Craig S Maxwell posted at 11:14 am on Thu, May 15, 2014.
A good day for La Mesa. That term limits qualified in spite of the outright hostility of La Mesa's corrupt political status quo (read: Art Madrid) is a credit to the common sense of (at least some of) the people. Make no mistake, term limits are no cure all, but they will help to minimize the odds of another dreadfully interminable, Madridian political infestation.