NEWPORT BEACH : Group Tries to Limit City Council Terms
A group of Newport Beach residents has begun a petition drive to limit City Council terms to two.
This week, Newport Residents to Limit Council Terms filed the preliminary documents necessary to amend the City Charter. They plan to start collecting signatures by the end of next week, spokeswoman Janine Gault said. Amending the City Charter would require a referendum on the November ballot, she said.
Four of the council’s seven members--Ruthelyn Plummer, Donald Strauss, John Cox and Evelyn Hart--are in their third terms of office.
Strauss and Hart are up for reelection in November, 1990. There is no limit now to the number of four-year terms that a City Council member may serve.
The petition drive began because “a lot of people would like to run for the City Council, but choose not to run against incumbents,” Gault said.
“We’re not out to unseat anyone,” Gault said, but believe “the two-term limit would be in the best interests of the community.”
The group has until July 1 to gather enough signatures from at least 15% of the 43,322 registered voters in the city, she said.
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