Decision to Limit Board Terms Delayed

A decision on a proposal to limit terms for members of city boards and commissions, giving more people the chance to serve, was delayed this week.

At the suggestion of Mayor Tom Daly, the City Council voted 3 to 2 to wait 60 days before voting on a policy that would limit officials to two consecutive four-year terms.

Daly said he wanted to get input from board and commission members who are now serving. He said it would be “a disservice to make a decision before we talk to them.”

Councilmen Tom Tait and Bob Zemel opposed continuing the matter. After the meeting, Zemel said the delay is “a very typical bureaucratic stall. . . . A 60-day continuance is absurd.”

A committee, made up of department heads, Daly and Zemel, met twice in February to consider the idea of term limits for council-appointed board and committee members.

Zemel supports limiting terms to eight years because it would create more opportunity for others interested in serving the city.

Now, Zemel said, many residents feel they have no chance to get appointed to a board or commission because the same people continue to serve.

The proposal before the council would still give the council discretion to reappoint a person who had served eight years to additional terms.

Tait said because of that exception, the proposed revision “would do nothing. It still leaves sole discretion to the council. This policy doesn’t say anything, so I wouldn’t support it.”

Councilwoman Shirley McCracken said that she would like to develop an application and interview process for interested persons and a policy of thanking volunteers when their terms expire.