Robin Ficker's ballot initiative to pass term limits for county office holders may not get through the courts this year, but this is not the first time Ficker has tried to pass them and it probably won't be the last. In 2000, Ficker put Question C on the ballot, which would have limited county elected officials to two terms. Almost the entire political establishment joined forces to defeat it and the initiative failed on a 54-46% vote. We reprint one of the opponents' flyers against it below.
Showing posts with label Term Limits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Term Limits. Show all posts
Friday, September 24, 2010
Robin Ficker's Term Limits Initiative, 2000
Friday, August 20, 2010
A Solution in Search of a Problem, Part Two
By Marc Korman.
Previously we examined the forty-one members of the Montgomery County Council since the current Charter was adopted. We found that only five Councilmembers have exceeded the proposed term limit Robin Ficker is promoting.
Examining those five individuals, I will demonstrate why a term limits amendment is unnecessary:
Neal Potter
Potter was elected with the first County Council under the new Charter in 1970 and served five consecutive terms until 1990, exceeding the proposed limit by two. County residents were so outraged by Potter’s mad grab for power that they elevated him to County Executive, ousting an incumbent to do so no less. After one term as County Executive, Potter returned to the Council which would be acceptable under the Amendment because it was non-consecutive.
William Hanna
Hanna was elected in 1982 and reelected three more times, serving until 1998 and exceeding the term limit proposal by one term. Why did Hanna step down given his clear domination and entrenchment in Rockville? Oh, wait, he did not step down. He was defeated for reelection by Phil Andrews in 1998. Obviously the dreaded power of incumbency only took Hanna so far before a young and hungry politico was able to defeat him in an open and democratic election.
Michael Subin
Subin was first elected in 1986 and was reelected four more times, exceeding the term limit proposal by two elections. Again, why would the entrenched incumbent feeding off the government trough retire from his cushy lifestyle? Oh, wait, he also was ousted in an open and democratic election in 2006 as a new wave of at-large Councilmembers defeated Subin and took the seat left vacant by Steve Silverman.
Ike Leggett
Leggett served four terms on the County Council between 1986 and 2002. He was not defeated for reelection but stepped down voluntarily. But what did the voters do once they were rid of his terrible long term reign on the Council? They elected him County Executive in 2006. Clearly they were so outraged by his long term tenure on the Council that they wanted to ensure he would not return….by electing him to higher office.
Marilyn Praisner
And now we come to the most outrageous name on the list, Marilyn Praisner. First elected in 1990 and subsequently reelected in every election up to 2006. When she passed, she was serving her fifth term of terror on the Council. There is no pithy ending to Ms. Praisner’s term on the Council. She passed away and left eight politicians without their compass or most experienced voice. She was never defeated for reelection or elevated to higher office.
That is what the Ficker proposal comes down to, Marilyn Praisner. Based on the Amendment, she is the problem. The other four cannot be because they were not so entrenched as to avoid losing reelection to the Council or so hated for their incumbency that they were denied higher office by the voters in open elections when they left their safe seats. The lack of term limits did nothing to stop the voters from elevating or discarding them.
So if you think Marilyn Praisner was the problem on the County Council, then please go ahead and sign the Term Limits proposal and vote “yes” if it appears on the ballot. But if you think the voters can be trusted to enforce their own term limits through elections and that if we want to keep sending Marilyn Praisners back to the Council, we should be allowed, then say no thanks and vote accordingly.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
A Solution in Search of a Problem, Part One
By Marc Korman.
Signatures are being collected for a Charter Amendment proposed by Robin Ficker to limit Montgomery County Councilmembers and County Executives from serving more than three consecutive terms. We have a solution! But what’s the problem?
The proposed term limits language is available here. To summarize, starting in 2014 Councilmembers or Executives cannot serve more than three consecutive terms, but they can serve additional terms if they are non-consecutive. For example, County Executive Doug Duncan served three terms from 1994 to 2006. But under the proposal he would not be barred from seeking a fourth term in 2014 because it would be non-consecutive.
So there is the solution, now what is the problem? There are some generic reasons for promoting term limits such as ousting “entrenched politicians” and ensuring a citizen-legislature. My own view, based on seeing term limits play out in California, is they actually have the opposite effect and elected officials spend too much time hunting for their next office and not enough time doing their jobs. It also ensures that once elected officials have a certain level of experience, they will be shown the door.
But generic discussions aside, what would the effect of term limits actually be in Montgomery County? Let’s take a look.
Since the charter establishing the County Council-County Executive form of government was enacted in 1970, there have been forty-one individual members of the County Council including those elected or appointed mid-term.
Seventeen of the forty-one served only one term or a partial term, which includes incumbents currently serving their first term such as Roger Berliner, Nancy Navarro, Valerie Ervin, Marc Elrich, and Duchy Trachtenberg.
Eleven of the forty-one have served two terms or one term plus a partial term, such as Howard Denis who was elected midway through a term and then reelected to his own.
Eight of the forty-one were elected to three terms, including current Councilmember Phil Andrews and other well known names (among readers of this blog anyway) such as Derick Berlage, who did not complete his third term due to appointment to the Planning Board, and Esther Gelman.
That leaves just five Councilmembers who have ever exceeded the proposed term limit. Incidentally, just one Councilmember surpassed the proposed term limit during the Councils that existed prior to the County Executive between 1949 and 1970. That Councilman was Grover K. Walker, who served four terms.
So maybe the term limit is not such a bad idea, since it won’t really have much effect? Let’s take a look at who these five dastardly people are who overstayed their welcome due to their thirst for power:
Neal Potter
William Hanna
Michael Subin
Ike Leggett
Marilyn Praisner
Now I know what you are thinking. There are some good people on this list, but maybe some did overstay their welcome a bit. We will address these five individuals in Part Two.
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