The November Washington City Council Meeting, held this coming Monday, November 13th at the Pope Center, will include a vote on term limits for mayor and city council members. Councilman Matt Denard has suggested the action item that would limit the term of a council member or mayor to eight years beginning in 2025. Councilmen Nathaniel Cullars Sr. and Maceo Mahoney, have served more than eight years so would no longer be eligible to serve if the motion passes.
The item was not listed on the agenda itself nor were there any of the actual items to be discussed or voted on. There was a motion that passed at the October city council meeting, to minimize what is on the agenda and minutes, to the minimum that is required by law. The law states:
(e)(1) Prior to any meeting, the agency or committee holding such meeting shall make available an agenda of all matters expected to come before the agency or committee at such meeting. The agenda shall be available upon request and shall be posted at the meeting site as far in advance of the meeting as reasonably possible, but shall not be required to be available more than two weeks prior to the meeting and shall be posted, at a minimum, at some time during the two-week period immediately prior to the meeting. Failure to include on the agenda an item which becomes necessary to address during the course of a meeting shall not preclude considering and acting upon such item.
This requirement of the Open Meetings Law is important because it allows citizens to know what will be addressed at the city council meeting and every city or county council, board or commission meeting, so they can decide if they would like to attend or make public comments. I contacted the city administrator, clerk as well as mayor and council regarding the omission of the specific matters to be discussed or acted upon. Jerry deBin sent me the updated agenda that he said was delivered to the mayor and council yesterday. You can see the updated agenda below.
What do you think? Should term limits be put in place? Share your comments below.
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Trust it will pass.
"Councilmen Nathaniel Cullars Sr. and Maceo Mahoney, have served more than eight years so would no longer be eligible to serve if the motion passes." Would this mean that they have to step down immediately?
All elected officials at all levels of government should have term limits. This is something we've needed for a long time.
However, the ineligibility should apply at the next election cycle, not immediately (meaning Cullars and Mahoney would finish their current terms and then be ineligible for running in the future).
Yes there should be limits set. Congressional limits and limits for the President exist so new people bring new ideas and solutions. The same should be done in local elections.
Mayor and Council are elected to serve for 4 yrs. If the citizens of the proposed district elects who they want to serve their wishes should be respected. However currently District 1 have more than 60% of voters and District 2 only have a little over 30%. Why should a little over 30% have 50% of a vote on council. This should be put on the upcoming referendum for proposal in November 2024. If the citizens vote to take this route we all should respect their wishes not council members on there way out of office. I can assure you this will be a challenge and create more division.
Term limits is a good thing. It should be enforced in all political positions.
https://atlantaciviccircle.org/2022/01/13/city-council-term-limits-are-a-popular-idea/