Laguna Beach voters will decide in November whether there should be term limits on City Council service.
Measure E, if passed, would limit councilmembers to two consecutive four-year terms, with the ability to serve again after at least two years have passed. The city has a five-member council with members elected to four-year terms.
If a person is appointed or elected to fill a vacant seat for less than two years of a four-year term, the measure says they would be able to serve two consecutive four-year terms after that.
A citizens’ initiative petition placed the measure on the ballot.
Supporters of the measure said in their ballot argument in favor that Laguna Beach is one of the few cities in Orange County without term limits and that has resulted in “entrenched politicians” who become less responsive to voters and more beholden to special interests.
They also said that running against incumbents can be “a big deterrent for newcomers” and because of that, challengers have to spend significantly more than incumbents to win a seat. Term limits, they argued, would help level the playing field.
“With Laguna’s staggered election cycle, there will always be at least two members remaining on the council to help ensure there’s a continuity of experience and governance,” they added.
Those in opposition, also a group of residents, argued the measure is “asking voters to surrender the right to reelect the leaders they trust.”
In their ballot argument against the measure, they said councilmembers continue to win “because they are good and constituents trust them — not because the system is broken.” Term limits create “an arbitrary clock” for elected leaders, which “hands power to unelected staff and insiderswhile newly elected members are still learning the ropes,” they said.
Since 1992, 76% of Laguna Beach council members have served two four-year terms or fewer and only two have served four consecutive terms, the opponents said in their ballot argument, adding that on the current council three of five members are serving their first terms.
The measure would need a simple majority of voters in support to pass. If approved, it would apply to terms starting this November.