Ex-Mayor Campaigns for Term Limit

An initiative campaign to limit the terms of Glendale City Council members will be proposed today by former Mayor Jerold Milner.

Milner, who stepped down last year after serving eight years on the council, said he expects to meet with about 20 community leaders to determine if there is enough support to launch an initiative campaign.

Milner is proposing that council members be limited to two four-year terms. Two council members up for reelection next year--Ginger Bremberg, first elected in 1981, and Mayor Carl Raggio, serving his second term--would be affected by Milner’s proposal.

Bremberg, who has served as mayor for a year in each of her three terms, said she is “totally opposed to it.” She said local officials are the most accessible to the public and therefore the most responsive.

Limiting the terms of council members, she said, “would automatically make someone the lame duck . . . who could do as they please and be totally irresponsible if they wanted.”

Milner said if he finds the support, he would expect to collect 15,000 signatures on petitions by Aug. 1 to qualify the initiative for the Nov. 3 general election ballot.

“I personally feel strongly that we need to have citizen politicians as opposed to career politicians,” Milner said, although he added that Glendale has “never had career politicians.”

He said he is proposing the initiative because of growing interest in the issue of limiting terms of all politicians. The U.S. Supreme Court in March dismissed the final legal challenge to California’s sweeping term-limit initiative passed by the voters in 1990, which limits the terms of state legislators and officers, including the governor.

Several cities also have adopted limitations. A statewide petition is being circulated and proposed legislation could force other local governments to follow suit.

“The whole issue across the board is coming to the fore,” Milner said. “There are lots of good people in this town who could do a very good job on City Council. In most cases, they are unwilling to put their selves and persona on the line against an incumbent.”

Invitations were sent for the private breakfast meeting to be held at 7:30 a.m. at the Verdugo Club, 400 W. Glenoaks Blvd.