Measures Won’t Be on Redondo’s November Ballot

Poised to place a series of ballot questions before city voters Nov. 6, the Redondo Beach City Council suddenly backed down Tuesday night, deciding in a surprise move to table the measures.

Council members voted 4 to 0 to shelve ballot questions on issues ranging from term limits for elected officials to campaign reform to the size of the city’s library commission. The council could still decide to put some or all of the measures on the municipal ballot next March, however.

A key factor in Tuesday’s vote was a change of heart on a competing pair of measures affecting term limits. One would remove an existing City Charter provision prohibiting council members and the mayor from serving more than two four-year terms.

The other would broaden the two-term limit so it applies not only to the mayoral and council posts, but also to the city’s other elective offices: city treasurer, city clerk and city attorney.

Terry Ward, one of three council members who voted last month to place the term limit questions on the ballot, said he backtracked because he did not want to risk extending the two-term limit to the city’s treasurer, clerk and attorney. Those posts, he said, require long experience and expertise.

Councilman Ron Cawdrey, chief backer of the measure to abolish the two-term limit, indicated that he changed his mind on the need for a referendum because he may challenge the term restriction in court instead.