Councillors vote down term limit ballot question despite favorable subcommittee

Advocate Staff Report

The City Council rejected a motion from Councillor-at-Large Michelle Kelley calling for a nonbinding ballot question on term limits for local elected officials despite a favorable recommendation from the Legislative Affairs Subcommittee. “A nonbinding vote is a powerful tool to gauge what our constituents want,” said Kelley.

But not all councillors agreed. Ward 2 Councillor Ira Novoselsky, Ward 6 Councillor Chris Giannino, Ward 5 Councillor Angela Guarino-Sawaya and Councillors-at-Large Robert Haas, Juan Pablo Jaramillo and Anthony Zambuto voted against the ballot question.

Ward 5 Councillor Angela Guarino-Sawaya objected because the November election includes only the City Council, not the mayor. “We’re expecting a low turnout,” said Guarino-Sawaya. “We’re not going to get a true reflection of the will of the city.”

Guarino-Sawaya proposed putting the question on the ballot of the 2027 election.

Kelley felt it was a mistake to assume many voters would not take part in the upcoming election, and she suggested that a ballot question on term limits might bring more voters to the polls. “I think if we don’t vote in favor of this, we are sending a clear message we do not want to take the opinion of voters into consideration,” said Kelley.

Haas reiterated his opinion that the City Council works best with a mix of veteran leadership and new blood.

Ward 4 Councillor Paul Argenzio, chairman of the Legislative Affairs Subcommittee, went through the steps of submitting a home rule petition: a super majority vote of the City Council, support of the mayor, approval of the state legislature and the signature of the governor.

With the council’s refusal to put the question on the ballot, residents are left with the option of collecting signatures from 10 percent of the city’s registered voters, or about 3,100 signatures, that must be submitted to the election commission for verification. That would put the question on the ballot.

Kelley insisted that approving the ballot question was not about councillors’ opinions on term limits but rather about the council’s commitment to listen to the people they represent. “It’s a tool to get feedback from the community,” she said.

One resident at the meeting asked the council if a ballot question wouldn’t give them the opportunity to know what voters want. “People I come into contact with want to be heard,” she told councillors.