TEMPLE TERRACE - Should an elected official be allowed to remain in office continuously?
That was the debate last week as the Temple Terrace City Council went over suggested changes to the city charter that citizens may vote on in November.
By the end of the April 17 workshop, language that allows a person to alternate eight years as a council member and eight years as a mayor - and then do it all over again - was left in as a proposed question for voters.
"I'm in favor of eight years being enough and then you've got to stay out two years,'' said Council Member Andy Ross. "If you stay in an office long enough, you accumulate a power structure, you accumulate support, you accumulate name (recognition). You become harder and harder and harder to defeat.''
Gil Schisler, a member of the charter review committee, argued that a person can stay in office only so long as the voters allow it.
"If a person is not qualified and not doing a good job, our populace, which is intelligent and reasonable, will not vote him in,'' he said.
Actually, that's a comparatively minor question on the proposed fall ballot. Voters are being asked if they want to change the basic structure of their city government.
The proposal would make the mayor an equal voting member of a five-person city council, eliminating the mostly ceremonial mayor's position as it is currently defined and changing the make-up of the council from five members to four members and the mayor.
It also would eliminate the current charter's provision allowing the mayor to veto a council vote, to be overridden only by a vote of four council members.
Though Mayor Mel Jurado currently has the veto power, she can vote on an issue only to break a two-to-two tie, which may happen when a council member is absent.
The council is expected to approve the proposed ballot in time to put it on the ballot for November. If passed, the changes would likely take effect in 2020.
Council members also corrected an omission to clarify that a council member who has served eight years can't hold office on the council again for two years, and a two-term mayor can't hold that office again for two years.
But they could alternate positions, enabling them to stay in as long as the voters let them.
Frank Chillura, council member and former mayor, pointed out that no one has ever served eight years in the mostly voluntary role of council member, followed by eight years in the mostly voluntary role of mayor.
"If they did, they're out of their mind,'' he said, drawing laughs.
The board asked City Attorney Pamela Cichon to prepare a proposed ballot for review and council vote at an upcoming meeting. Several officials, including the mayor, pointed out the danger of overwhelming voters with too many questions.
Speaking from her own experience, Jurado said, "If it's long and it's at the end of a ballot, and I'm not well-studied, it's safer to say 'no' than 'yes' for me.''
- Contact Philip Morgan at pmorgan@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3435.
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