Term Limit Votes to Gauge Mood for Reform

Voters have the chance next week to impose term limits on county supervisors and on council members in seven cities, a prospect that delights residents but has some critics predicting a future of less efficient government and inexperienced lawmakers.

Sensing the public mood for reform measures, the Board of Supervisors and the city councils of Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Dana Point, Orange, Laguna Niguel, La Palma and Yorba Linda have put term-limit measures on the ballot.

Yorba Linda council members put two options to the voters. One kicks incumbents off the council for life after three terms. The second, similar to those in other jurisdictions, allows officials to seek office after sitting out two years. The one that gets more votes wins.

The spate of municipal term-limit initiatives was made possible by a law sponsored by state Sen. Quentin L. Kopp (I-San Francisco) allowing term limits for councils in general-law cities, which are governed by state law.

Some political scientists fear the limits will cut short the democratic process and leave complex matters of government to longtime city staffers, who will have to compensate for the constant turnover of the elected officials above them.

But a new Times Orange County Poll shows overwhelming support for Measure A, which would limit county supervisors to two consecutive four-year terms.

The survey found broad support for the measure among both Democrats and Republicans, according to pollster Mark Baldassare, chairman of the department of urban planning at UC Irvine. The measure enjoys support in both northern and southern portions of the county.

“There are no pockets of opposition,” Baldassare said. “It appears that term limits will be the one element of government reform that looks like it is going to survive” following Orange County’s $1.64-billion bankruptcy.

The Board of Supervisors placed the measure on the ballot in June at the request of Supervisor Marian Bergeson, who argued that voters should decide the issue.

Bergeson and Supervisor William G. Steiner said term limits would level the playing field and draw newcomers into the political process.

“This is an issue of clear public interest, and I think voters should have the opportunity to decide it,” Steiner said. “I think it would provide an opportunity for fresh voices in county government.”

In March, voters overwhelmingly rejected a county charter proposal that included a term-limits provision. The charter was designed to reform county government in the wake of the bankruptcy by placing more power in the hands of a county chief executive and converting some elected county officials, such as treasurer, to appointed ones.

Now, even opponents of the charter are supporting Measure A.

“Orange County needs these term limits,” said activist Patrick Quaney of the Concerned Citizens Committee of Orange County. “The only problem is that the term limits cannot be made retroactive.”

“Charter” cities Newport Beach and Irvine have great autonomy in setting up their own laws and in previous years have imposed term limits on council members.

Some general-law cities previously tested the concept of term limits by running advisory ballot measures, most of which passed with huge margins. Now that the law permits voters in all cities to impose mandatory limits on politicians, the measures appear to be assured of success.

“It is a rising tide that is sinking all boats,” said Fred Smoller, associate professor and chairman of the political science department at Chapman University. “Term limits are a byproduct of a very cynical electorate. I don’t think the public is discriminating. They’re going to judge anyone in public office the same.”

The danger, according to Smoller and others, is that municipalities will lose experienced politicians who are familiar with the sophisticated nuances of complex public policy issues.

“Whether it is privatization or dealing with the state, it takes anyone in public life three or four terms before they become competent,” he said.

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Smoller said voters are drawn to term limits because they are still furious about the bankruptcy, which they lay at the feet of a seemingly entrenched elite that had become careless and arrogant in office.

“I think the lesson of the bankruptcy is that we need to recruit the most talented people into office,” Smoller said. “If you make it increasingly painful to serve, you’ll get the quality of leadership you deserve.”

The League of Women Voters of Orange County has been warning voters that term limits will limit democracy rather than open the gates to new ideas.

“We have the ability now to vote someone out of office or to recall them,” said Joan Cohen, president of the league. With term limits, she said, “ if you have someone who is particularly good, you cannot vote him into office, and that infringes on our right to vote.”

Cohen said the term limits will do nothing to stop the real corruption of government, which is caused by lobbyists funneling money to incumbents or preferred challengers, many of whom just change districts to avoid the restrictions of term limits.

“It does nothing to level the playing field. It has nothing to do with the quality of service,” she said. “I am appalled at the way some people get elected, and they don’t know anything about government. In some instances, you’re getting all these new faces coming in at the same time. They have no background or history, so the danger is that the experienced staff is running the show, not the people we elect.”

Council members who support the limits say that that view makes government seem more complicated than it is.

“It isn’t something that has a very sharp learning curve,” said Laguna Niguel Councilman Mark Goodman, who testified for term limits in legislative hearings for Kopp’s bill. “Most of the candidates running here will be able to step in and do a good job on the first day of the job.”

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The more important ramification of term limits is that it will weaken the inherent strength of incumbents, he said.

“At the city council level, I’ve seen too many people spend 20 years on the council,” Goodman said. “It tends to dissuade people from running because the incumbent has so much name recognition.”

With most of the measures allowing council members to run again after sitting out one or two terms, voters can still call back their favorites, proponents said. “All we’re doing is deferring voter choice and allowing new energetic people into the system,” Goodman said.

In Yorba Linda, voters have the choice of imposing the most draconian limit of all: a lifetime ban from office for incumbents.

Mayor John M. Gullixson said that would be just fine with him.

In his view, the power of name recognition does not fade after a few years, he said. And the turnover in office breaks up the cozy, “good old boy” systems that allow cities to remain inefficient and corrupt. Rather than giving too much power to the city’s permanent staff, term limits will break their power, he said.

“New councilmen will be more inquisitive and critical of staff recommendations,” Gullixson said. “The staff just hates it when you get a new crew of guys in and they say, ‘Hey, we’re not doing it that way anymore.’ ”

Moreover, the constant criticism and pressure from the public on officeholders inevitably wear everyone down, said Gullixson, who is serving his second term.

“If you don’t have your agenda done after eight years, you’re never going to get it done,” he said. “You get tired and grumpy. This gives a chance for new blood, new faces and new energy.”

The Times Orange County Poll surveyed 600 registered voters by telephone Oct. 19-21.