Torrance Voters to Decide Term Limits for Council : Politics: A measure requiring that the city clerk and treasurer be appointed rather than elected will also be on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Come November, Torrance voters will decide whether to impose term limits on City Council members and change the way the city picks its treasurer and clerk.

In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the City Council decided to place measures on the Nov. 3 ballot that, if passed, will require that the clerk and treasurer be appointed by the council rather than elected, as they are now.

The council also approved a ballot question on whether council members should be limited to two consecutive four-year terms. Terms in progress at the time the limit provision is adopted would count as the first term.

The mayor’s post is already subject to a limit of two consecutive four-year terms.

“I am thrilled, particularly about the term limits,” Councilwoman Maureen O’Donnell said. “Our first president, George Washington, was so popular he could have served for life. But he chose to step down after two terms. If two terms is good enough for George Washington, it ought to be good enough for elected officeholders at all levels of government.”

The ballot measures were recommended by a committee appointed by the council in April in the wake of an investment scandal that sparked a wide-ranging review of Torrance investment policies. The uproar arose when Torrance was notified in mid-December that more than $6 million in city funds entrusted to Orange County investment adviser Steven D. Wymer were missing.

Wymer has since been indicted, accused of defrauding Torrance and other cities of more than $100 million. It is uncertain whether Torrance will recover the money.

Under the proposed amendments to the City Charter, the treasurer would report to the city manager and the clerk would report to the council.

Committee members said the clerk and treasurer positions should be appointive because they require technical expertise that is unlikely to be weighed sufficiently in a political campaign.

And if the clerk and treasurer “don’t cut the mustard, then they can be fired” under the proposed reorganization, Ron Littlefair, the committee chairman and a retired insurance negotiator, said after Tuesday’s meeting.

Littlefair said the treasurer, responsible for managing the city’s $68-million investment portfolio, should be a “financial wizard.” He pointed out that many cities have appointed treasurers.

Until February, Torrance’s investment portfolio had been handled exclusively by City Treasurer Thomas C. Rupert. But for the past five months, Rupert has been on leave for an undisclosed illness.

The council last month added an accountant to the Finance Department to monitor investment transactions, part of a checks-and-balances system in the department. On Tuesday, the committee took pains not to single out Rupert for criticism.

“We’ve just been fortunate that Tom Rupert, who has been here for 27 years, learned on the job,” Littlefair said. “The next guy could walk in off the street and say ‘Hey, I want to run’ . . . and we’re stuck with him for the next four years. He could be a crook for all we’d know.”

City Clerk John A. Bramhall agreed with the committee’s recommendations, saying that appointment of a professional city clerk is in the city’s best interests.

“There has been a quantum leap in the professionalism of city clerks,” Bramhall said. “There is a lot of talent out there that the city could tap into.”

Indeed, the council decided to place the measures on the ballot with little debate. First-year councilman Don Lee praised the 15-member committee that proposed the measures and said he welcomed the November vote.

“Having just been through the election process a few months back, all three of these topics were talked about quite a bit,” Lee said. “I look forward to seeing them on the ballot.”

Since the offices of city treasurer and city clerk were established in 1922, both positions have been subject to four-year terms that run concurrently with that of the mayor. Yet, the offices of clerk and treasurer were not targeted by the term limit measure--an indication of the committee’s confidence that voters will opt to make the positions appointive.

And not all council members favor term limits. Councilman Mark Wirth said he doubted that the limits are necessary in Torrance.

“There’s something to be said for experience,” Wirth said. “When there’s not an experienced council, that can possibly give more power to the city manager.”

Nevertheless, he said, he supports placing the issues on the ballot and letting voters decide.