Anaheim to Vote on Term, Contribution Limits : City Hall: The council decides to put the issues on the ballot after inquiry shows more than $2 million in donations since 1984.

Acting on what they contend is a growing national and local discontent with government leadership, City Council members Tuesday moved toward limiting themselves to two terms in office and placing ceilings on contributions to council candidates.

The council voted unanimously to place both issues before the voters as early as November, though the wording of the ballot measures is not set.

Mayor Fred Hunter proposed that the city follow the county’s lead by restricting contributions to $1,000 per contributor for each election term. Candidates for the Anaheim council now need about $200,000 to wage a successful campaign.

“What’s happened in politics is that too many people have made politics a career in this country,” Hunter said. “We need people who are not in it for the pension, who are not in it for the money, who are not in it for the bennies.”

Last month, Hunter admitted that large donations had influenced policy decisions and that contributions from developers, government employee associations and other special interest groups have become “outrageous.”

Hunter made his statements as a computer-assisted investigation by The Times showed that the five current council members have received more than $2 million in contributions since 1984.

Although voting to place both issues on the November ballot, Councilman Tom Daly said the city’s political history did not warrant a limit on council terms.

“I’m wondering what the problem is and what needs to be corrected,” Daly said.

The councilman referred to a city study presented Tuesday, showing that in the past 40 years, just seven of 24 council members served more than two terms of four years each. The study also found that just three council members served more than three terms.

“I don’t think there’s a problem,” Daly said. “That is what the numbers show. This shows that voters have turned out politicians, often after one term in office.”

In making its recommendations, the council asked that the term limit proposal, if approved, become effective by 1994. However, Hunter asked the city attorney to draft an ordinance on the contribution issue so it can be adopted before 1994.

The council instructed City Atty. Jack L. White to bring back written proposals of their recommendations by Feb. 25. The limits of $1,000 per contributor and two terms per council member are only proposals and could change when the council considers them next month.

Hunter first proposed the term and campaign finance limits last month, saying that “career politicians” often lose touch with their constituents and set their agendas based on the interests of large campaign donors.

“What’s wrong with politics today is careerism,” the mayor said Tuesday. “No. 2 on that list are campaign consultants. They are running this country, not the candidates.”

Councilman Bob D. Simpson has agreed with Hunter that unlimited political service sometimes makes officeholders susceptible to corruption, or the appearance of it.

As an example, some city government officials point to the city’s longstanding and friendly relationship with Disneyland. For more than 30 years, the theme park--far and away the city’s most valued corporate citizen--had showered Anaheim’s elected representatives and staff members with free tickets, gifts and annual trips.

The company’s annual trips to San Diego were canceled this year out of concern for how it would be perceived amid talks on the park’s $3-billion expansion.