BUENA PARK : Council Votes 4-1 for Term Limit Initiative

The City Council voted 4 to 1 to put a term limit initiative on the November ballot despite opposition from some residents.

The initiative is termed an “advisory vote” because cities that are bound by general California law do not have the power to enforce term limits on local officials.

Councilman Don R. Griffin, who voted against the proposal, noted the law is not enforceable and unnecessary.

He said the barometer to measure the will of the electorate regarding term limits already exists in the ballot process. “In fact, this very last election, the voters elected me to my fifth term,” he concluded.

Griffin also said he shared the anger of some residents who had strongly urged the council to draft an initiative on the controversial transfer of the city’s fire department to Orange County.

Resident Terry Longacre picked up that theme when he spoke to the council.

“I would be remiss on behalf of a number of people who were appealing to you, begging you, to put the issue of the fire department--an issue of life and safety--on the ballot,” he said. “You ignored the wishes of the people to put that on the ballot and now you thumb your nose at them and put this issue on.”

But councilwoman Rhonda J. McCune, who voted in favor of the measure, said earlier that she feels so strongly about term limits that she will not run for a third term this fall.

Mayor Donald L. Bone said the council will push legislators to change state law so local governments can set the term limits. Assemblyman Curt Pringle told him several such bills have been introduced but never made it out of committee, Bone said. Pringle also said that an advisory vote from a city in support of the law might give the assemblyman some leverage to persuade other legislators to change the law, Bone added.