Ballot May Include Dueling Term Limits

A campaign to impose term limits on City Council members will probably share a place on the April ballot with a measure designed to do the opposite, city officials said Monday.

City Atty. Scott Howard has ruled that a second initiative, proposed by a homeowners group opposed to restricting how many terms a council member may serve, also qualified for the same ballot.

“Ideally, I would like to see neither issue on the ballot, but because the council has decided to bypass the initiative process and place [term limits] on the ballot at the request of a few individuals, then I want to have our proposal on there as well,” said Gene Mestel, president of the Glendale Homeowners Coordinating Council, which supports the anti-limits measure.

A furor erupted last fall when term-limit proponents asked the council to place a charter amendment on the ballot limiting council members to two consecutive terms in office, and requiring members forced out by term limits to wait two years before running again. Critics assailed the group of about 12 influential business people, all but three of whom at first insisted on remaining anonymous.

Because many term-limit proponents had been involved in local politics before, critics accused them of trying to oust incumbents and then run for the open seats--a charge the group denies. Opponents were also angry that the council put the issue on the ballot without going through the initiative process, which would have required that the group collect more than 10,000 voters’ signatures.

The countermeasure, a charter amendment that simply states that “there shall be no limit to the consecutive number of terms served” by any elected city official, was proposed in January as a last-ditch effort by the homeowners group.

Four-term councilman and Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Larry Zarian, an outspoken critic of council term limits, said he supports having the second measure on the ballot so that “both viewpoints will be represented.”

“If [term limits] passes, you’re going to force some very talented and experienced people that this city needs out of the running, and you’re taking away the public’s right to choose,” said Zarian, who has said he will not seek reelection when his term expires in 1999.

If approved, the term-limit measure would be retroactive. Councilwoman Eileen Givens, serving her second term, would be forced to leave office when her term expires in 1999, while first-term members Rick Reyes, Mary Ann Plumley and Mayor Sheldon Baker would be allowed to serve one more full term.

The council is scheduled to vote today to put both items on the April municipal ballot, but city officials said the vote may be delayed a week.