TUSTIN : City Inches Toward Term Limit Measure

Following a sometimes testy debate, the City Council this week moved closer to placing a term limit measure on the November ballot.

If approved by voters, the ordinance would prohibit council members from serving more than two consecutive full terms. This ordinance would not be enforceable, however, unless the California Legislature votes to allow general law cities, such as Tustin, to enact term limits. Legislation on this issue is pending in Sacramento.

Voting in favor of term limits Monday were Councilman Jim Potts and new council members Michael J. Doyle and Tracy Worley. Doyle and Worley were elected in April after pledging to reform city government.

“It’s up to the people to decide,” said Potts in voting for the council-sponsored ballot measure.

Worley emphasized that “politics as usual is just not acceptable any more,” and predicted that term limitations will become increasingly popular among cities.

But Mayor Thomas R. Saltarelli and Councilman Jeffrey Thomas spoke out against term limits, warning that the city’s power would be weakened on county and regional boards that operate on a seniority basis.

“I believe it is the absolute worst thing we could do for the city,” Saltarelli said. He added that Tustin, with its population of 59,000, would be overshadowed on regional boards by bigger cities such as Anaheim, Irvine and Santa Ana.

“Two terms is simply too little,” said Saltarelli, who suggested that a three-term limit would be more appropriate.

Thomas warned that “we’re making a mistake” by calling for term limits when many cities in the state are not operating under such restrictions. A better approach, he said, would be for the voters to decide when a council member needs to be replaced.

“They are pretty smart right now,” Thomas said.

Longtime local resident Berklee Maughan of Tustin Community Participants, a citizens action group formed after last April’s election, said he was “very pleased about the healthy debate” on term limits that has occurred during the past three council meetings.

However, Maughan, a 56-year-old investor, said he was shocked that Saltarelli and Thomas were opposed to the ballot measure.

“We’re just asking them to let the people vote on the issue,” said Maughan, adding that he believes council members tend to become less responsive to the electorate the longer they are in office.

“Before the politicians get elected, they always walk the precincts and they ask you what you want,” Maughan said. “It seems that after they get elected, they start telling you what you need. And there’s a big difference.”