Buena Park : Voters Likely to Get Term Limit Initiative

An initiative to gauge support for City Council term limits appears to be headed for the November ballot.

The initiative tentatively adopted by the City Council in a study session Monday will ask residents if they support the concept of term limits. It will not ask if they want to enact a term limit ordinance, because that is is illegal in a city bound by general California law.

Mayor Donald L. Bone had raised the idea last month after several residents called him about it. Councilman Don R. Griffin had suggested the council pursue state legislation that would allow cities to adopt term limit laws and council members asked the city attorney to draft some ballot measures for them to consider.

City Atty. James L. Markman came to the study session with five options for wording the initiative. Three of them asked voters if they wanted the council to seek state legislation to change the law and then adopt term limits, but that was judged to be too complicated.

Another option asked if the city should adopt a term limit ordinance, but that made the city attorney “uncomfortable” because it did not mention that the ordinance would be legally unenforceable.

The final wording simply asks, “Do you support term limits for Buena Park City Council members?”

Councilwoman Rhonda J. McCune, who has already stated she will impose her own term limit and not seek reelection, said the council should make sure residents want term limits before they launch a campaign to change the law. This advisory vote would “take the pulse of the community,” she said. “I think it’s wrong for the City Council to pursue something the community doesn’t want.”

Griffin said he would not support the initiative because it would not be legally binding. The council can seek new state legislation without going to the voters first, he added.

“If it’s not constitutional, it would be a moot point,” he said of the vote.

A final decision on the ballot initiative--termed an “advisory vote”--will be made at the July 18 City Council meeting.