Appointing incumbents runs contrary to spirit of term limits

That Washington voters are suspicious of political power isn’t a recent phenomena.

Washington elects eight statewide executives while most states elected only two or three. That lowers the clout of our governor.

The same constitutional convention tried to block the Legislature from giving away the treasury to the railroads and other big businesses.

State voters added the initiative and referendum in 1912.

While voter-approved term limits on statewide offices was ruled unconstitutional, local term limits do exist. Tacoma voters approved a 10-year limit in 1973. Seven years later while drafting the first Pierce County Charter, freeholders decided eight years was enough.

Limiting the power of elected officials is in our DNA, a fact reinforced when Tacoma voters rejected an attempt by the politicians to extend city term limits last year and Pierce County voters rejected a similar move earlier this month.

All this comes to mind while hearing about attempts by some on the Tacoma City Council to appoint a pair of term-limited incumbents to new vacancies on the council. Under this notion, Rick Talbert and/or Connie Ladenburg could stay for two more years by being appointed to replace Julie Anderson and Marilyn Strickland.

Anderson has two years remaining in her second term on the council but will resign later this month to become Pierce County auditor. Strickland has two years remaining in her first term on the council but will resign on Jan. 1 to become mayor.

The argument for such a plan is that the council could use some seasoned pros to help the newly elected and recently elected members. If the council opts for fresh faces for the two vacancies, five of the nine members of the next council would be rookies, two would have just two years experience, one would have four years and one would have six years.

But such a circumstance is a byproduct of term limits that voters understand and can live with. Besides, Strickland’s supporters argued that her two years on the council provided her with valuable experience and the voters seem to have agreed.

Technically, Talbert and Ladenburg would be eligible under the 10-consecutive-year limit since they would have served just eight years. Legally, they could be appointed to the two years remaining on Anderson’s and Strickland’s terms.

But the charter allots 10 years so that someone could join the council by appointment and then win a pair of four-year terms on their own. The spirit of the charter is for the extra two years come at the start of a council member’s service, not the end.

So what should the council look for instead? First it should politely rebuff the movement by some to appoint candidates who just lost elections. Sorry, it is harsh but these people didn’t finish second, they finished last. Voters decided not to put them on the council and the incumbent members should respect that.

Since term limits are a fact of city life, the council can play a role in making sure there is a supply of people who are eager to serve and have some background in city issues and policy making. They should have a farm team.

If done right, that’s what bodies like the Planning Commission, the utility board and the parks board can be. It’s also a function neighborhood councils can perform. All are places where people can get some experience wrestling with issues, understanding how policy is formed. It is there that they can develop the proper relationship with staff – accept information but use it to make independent decisions.

So while council appointments are significant decisions, so are the less-publicized appointments to the boards and commissions where the detail work is done. That’s where true rookies should go first for training.

It takes gutsy politicians to worry about the next generation of leaders because they might just be creating future rivals. But since city and county government are based on orderly and frequent turnover, it is the right thing to do.

Peter Callaghan: 253-597-8657

peter.callaghan@thenewstribune.com

blog.thenewstribune.com/politics