City Council member Matt Schellenberg believes those serving the legislative branch of city government should have unlimited terms if they can get elected.
Instead, though, he’s pushing a bill that would allow members to serve three consecutive four-year limits instead of two.
It’s an idea gaining some traction among his peers, but not enough to make any decisions Tuesday.
The idea of extending council term limits was one endorsed by a task force last year that reviewed many aspects of Jacksonville’s consolidated government.
That group’s chair, council Vice President Lori Boyer, said during Tuesday’s Finance Committee meeting she is supportive of the idea, too. She just wants to be careful about how to approach it.
Voters would have to decide whether it’s a good idea, just as they did in the early 1990s when they imposed the two-term limit. If the issue is on a presidential ballot, it would be a crowded field, she said.
There’s the possibility a half-cent sales tax extension to pay pension debt would be on the ballot. And possibly a referendum to extend anti-discrimination laws for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.
“I think it starts to get muddied and lost,” she said of the term-limit bill on such a ballot.
Boyer also suggested the amendment might need to exclude current council members from being eligible for that third consecutive term. That would eliminate any argument about the bill being about the current group.
Schellenberg said he didn’t object, but wanted voters to decide on that — if it didn’t affect current members, the impact wouldn’t be felt for another seven years.
“That’s a long way off for all the knowledge,” he said.
Besides, not every member would go for a third term and others might not get re-elected. Voters in his Mandarin district for close to 20 straight years churned out one-term candidates until Schellenberg secured a second term last year.
Others showed signs of support. Council member Aaron Bowman pointed to the recent JAX Chamber trip to Oklahoma City, where they have done “amazing things” with the help of continuous leadership.
Due to a special election, council member Reggie Brown has been able to serve more than two terms — a reason he’s been able to see projects through over the years.
John Crescimbeni was part of the group from the early 1990s who collected petitions to impose term limits. He questioned why constitutional officers and mayors weren’t included in the bill and said he preferred a straw ballot, instead of a referendum, to gauge where public interest is on the subject.
In effect, Tuesday’s discussion served somewhat as a straw ballot. No vote was taken and instead pushed back to the Feb. 9 meeting to allow for more data about other counties to be collected.
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