ANAHEIM : City to Look at Term, Contribution Limits

Contributors to city campaigns would be barred from donating more than $1,000 to any individual candidate under a plan to be considered Tuesday by the City Council.

Also under consideration will be several proposals to limit the number of consecutive terms that mayors and City Council members may serve.

The proposed cap on contributions is spurred in part by the rising costs of running a campaign. Some council members have acknowledged that the cost of city campaigns has become too expensive, with $200,000 now seen as the minimum a candidate must spend in order to have a chance of winning. That has led some contributors to give up to $5,000.

City Atty. Jack L. White, who wrote the proposed ordinance to limit contributors to donating $1,000 to each candidate in any election, said the council could choose to increase or decrease that figure. He also said the council could choose to place the ordinance on the November ballot before the voters as a charter amendment.

In addressing the issue of term limits, White drew up three proposals. The council cannot institute a term limit plan on its own, but it could pick one of the proposals and place it on the November ballot as a charter amendment.

One plan calls for limiting officeholders to two consecutive four-year terms as either mayor or council member. After that, an officeholder would have to sit out one election before running again.

A second plan would allow someone to serve two four-year terms as mayor and two four-year terms as a council member in any order, as long as the person did not serve more than 16 consecutive years in office. After the 16 years, an officeholder would again be eligible to seek office after sitting out one election.

A third plan would limit council members and mayors to eight consecutive years in office. But officials could hold office indefinitely as long as they switched jobs every eight years. To run for the same office a third time, a candidate would have to sit out one election.

The council meeting will begin at 5 p.m. at City Hall, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd.