SANTA MONICA — With election quickly approaching, Santa Monica will be looking for some new candidates to serve on its city government. However while several city official members conclude their terms until Nov. 2018, Santa Monica City Council is looking to add term limits to its board.
On Monday, Jan. 29, 2017, the process began in Santa Monica to add term limits to its city council. Now, over year later, the process is finally coming to a close and will be limiting the number of terms officials on the city council may serve. Currently, city council members can serve an unlimited number of four-year terms until choosing to step down from their role.
Santa Monica City Council is, in fact, one of the few board not limited to terms, and a couple of members have taken full advantage of that fact. The city council currently has two members who have served the council for five terms and only had two reigning members lose their re-election in the last 25 years. Two other members died in office and were replaced by council appointment.
However, residents of Santa Monica may find the limitation of terms beneficial to their endeavors as council members become less and less engaged to voting as their terms lengthen. The proposed charter will restrict members to three terms of four years before having to resign from their position. A limit of terms could assist in new ideas being developed or further progress with current proposals to tackle current hot topic discussions such as homelessness and overdevelopment.
General Municipal Elections will be held on Nov. 6. To register to vote, go to smvote.org. For a full list of of election events and dates, check out the election calendar.
Photos courtesy of the City of Santa Monica’s Instagram.
