A motion at the Board of Supervisors meeting to introduce a ballot measure that would increase the number of four-year terms a supervisor can serve from three to five was called "disingenuous" by County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky Tuesday.
Following discussion of the motion, the board agreed to table the motion for a week and take up the discussion then.
The motion had been introduced by County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, who represents unincorporated La Crescenta, La Canada Flintridge and Altadena. Antonovich is termed out in 2016 under current rules.
Yaraslavsky denounced the measure as misleading, as the language proposed in the measure says it would "limit" supervisors to five terms and makes no mention of the existing law that limits supervisors to three. He suggested that people would believe they were introducing terms limits to the board rather than increasing the number of terms they can serve.
"We should not mislead the public by the way we word the ballot measure," Yaroslavsky said. He introduced a motion at the meeting that would direct county counsel to change the language to make it clear the measure would increase the number of terms a supervisor can serve.
Antonovich countered the charge that the language was misleading by noting the ballot analysis sent to voters would mention the existing three term limit law.
"It’s not denying the public to not know what they are voting on," Antonovich said.
Yaroslavsky also criticized Antonovich for posting the motion in a supplmental agenda on Friday afternoon after the regular agenda was posted for the public to see - that meant that the motion did not appear in the regular agenda at all, nor in the regular email sent out to reporters on Fridays before Board meetings.
After discussion of the issue, the Board agreed to delay the motion for a week so people would have a chance to discuss it before it was voted on.
Voters introduced term limits for the Board of Supervisors for the first time in 2002; previously there were no limits.
The 2002 measure allowed all incumbent Board members to run for three more terms and for all new candidates to be limited to three terms.
Under the laws set up by that measure Antonovich would be termed out of office in 2016, as would Supervisor Don Knabe. Supervisors Gloria Molina and Yaroslavsky will be termed out in 2014.
The new would allow for all four to serve for two more four-year terms.
One of the biggest flaws is that not every region has term-limits. I feel this hurts those that do in that it gives non-term-limit states, cities, counties a more experienced politician and staff, which allows them to hold on to more businesses, jobs, federal money, better understanding of the regions needs, and so on. Another area where non-term-limit regions seem to have a leg up, is in responsibility of the office holder. Given that we have the opportunity to vote the seat holder out at every election, the public always has the option to vote them out. But an office holder that knows they will not be in office in a few months no matter what can vote for things that do not have the long term well being of the voters at heart. The real carrot and stick for a politician is being IN office, so longer terms should have an overall positive effect on the region in question. With respect to Antonovich, while I would generally oppose any republican, I find few things he does that I do not either fully agree with or support as for the areas good. His track record and accumulated political will/power have been more than good enough for me to say I would walk an extra mile in my support for him. I think he is right, it is time we look at these rules and revamp them to reflect what we learned since they were first instituted.