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San Mateo County, CA November 3, 2009 Election
Measure W
Term Limits
City of Foster City

Majority Approval Required

Fail: 1,406 / 34.3% Yes votes ...... 2,692 / 65.7% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

Results as of Dec 29 12:09pm, 100.0% of Precincts Reporting (18/18)
27.8% Voter Turnout (77,340/277,759)
Information shown below: Impartial Analysis | Arguments | Full Text

Shall an ordinance of the People increasing the number of terms a Member of the City Council may serve from two full terms (8 years) in succession to three full terms (12 years) in succession be approved?

Impartial Analysis from the City Attorney, City of Foster City
The City's current term limit ordinance, Foster City Municipal Code Section 2.08.380, provides that no person may hold office for more than two full four-year terms in succession. This ordinance was approved by a majority vote of Foster City voters on November 5, 1996, and, according to state law, thereafter went into effect.

Amendment of the current term limit ordinance for the City Council was discussed by the City Council at its regular meeting of April 20, 2009. At that meeting, the City Council adopted Minute Order No. 1149 directing staff to prepare an ordinance increasing term limits for the office of Member of the City Council from two full four-year terms (8 years) in succession to three full four-year terms (12 years) in succession.

On May 18, 2009, Resolution No. 2009-42 was adopted in order to place before the voters of Foster City the ordinance increasing the number of terms a member of the City Council may serve from two full four-year terms (8 years) in succession to three full four-year terms (12 years) in succession.

If this ordinance is approved by the voters, Councilmembers would be entitled to serve no more than three successive four-year terms in office. If this ordinance is not approved, the current term limit ordinance will remain in effect entitling Councilmembers to serve no more than two successive four-year terms in office.

Under the current ordinance and the proposed ordinance, Councilmembers who are term limited would be eligible to serve again as Councilmembers provided there is a break in service between their term limited service and re-election.

Term in office as used in the ordinance is a four-year term.

 
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Arguments For Measure W Arguments Against Measure W
Term Limits:

No person may hold the office of Councilmember for more than three terms in succession.

Term of office is defined as four-year term.

A yes vote will change the current two-term limit to a three-term limit. Term limits were put in place due to voter resentment towards career politicians. We are beginning to see the effects of term limits as they have played a role on the State level relative to the recent budget debacle. At the local level, interested individuals are eager and dedicated to serve their community. The potential of serving up to three full terms (12 years) allows councilmembers to fulfill their goals in representing their city. In a small city like ours, councilmembers are our neighbors and we have easy accessibility to voice our opinions. The power of our vote should determine whether a public servant serves 1, 2, or 3 terms. When the voters have deemed councilmembers were not doing the job of the people, they were not re-elected. The potential to having a longer term in office allows the councilmember to follow long-term projects as they affect the community. Two terms or eight years in succession is not often long enough to see these projects through. With the political climate on the state level being in disarray, it is important that the local level of government remain stable.

We support increasing the current local term limits from two 4-year terms to three 4-year terms. Keep government consistent. The decision to re-elect qualified councilmembers should be in the hands of the people they serve. A yes vote will allow this change to occur in Foster City.

/s/ John Kiramis, Mayor

/s/ Rick Wykoff, Vice Mayor

/s/ Pam Frisella, Councilmember

/s/ Art Kiesel, Councilmember

/s/ Linda Koelling, Councilmember

None Submitted

Full Text of Measure W
Foster City Municipal Code Section 2.08.380, Term Limits of

Chapter 2.08, City Council, of Title 2, Administration and Personnel, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"2.08.380 Term Limits.

A. No person may hold the office of councilmember for more than three terms in succession. This provision does not prohibit holding the office for more than three terms."

B. "Term of office" as used in this section is defined as a four-year term.

C. For the purpose of determing the number of terms of office, only those terms of office occurring after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this section shall be counted."


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Created: December 29, 2009 12:09 PST
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