A Seal Beach council member proposed extending term limits at the Monday, Jan. 13, meeting.
District Four Councilman Gary Miller asked for an item on a future agenda to discuss amending the City Charter to allow district representatives to serve three terms on the council. The Charter currently allows only two terms.
Miller’s term ends in 2016.
The City Council will at possible editions to the election ballot at the Monday, Feb. 10 meeting.
City Manager Jill Ingram said that to consolidate with the June election, staff would need to bring the matter back to the council by Feb. 10.
This is an election year. The terms of councilmen Gordon Shanks, of District Three; Michael Levitt and Mayor Ellery Deaton expire this year. Under the current rules, Shanks and Levitt have termed out.
Miller elaborated on his proposal for the Sun.
“It took me five years on the City Council and numerous contacts with other elected official over those years to be voted onto the Orange County Transportation Authority Board of Directors, which has been beneficial to the citizens of Supervisorial District 2 and Seal Beach,” Miller said.
“In 2014 we possibly could see three new Council Members elected in November, with Councilman (David) Sloan and I only having two more years of service to Seal Beach. It takes three to four years for a council member to become proficient at serving and representing our citizens. This is why our state legislators now can serve 12 years of combined service in the State Assembly and State Senate.”
At the council meeting, City Attorney Quinn Barrow said that the last time the council looked at amending the City Charter, there was a study session.
Barrrow recommended a study session and said that a request from an individual council member for an agenda item would have to be answered within two council meetings.
The last time City Charter amendments were proposed was in 2012, when city staff recommended changing the Charter to eliminate the requirement that a candidate for City Council win 50 percent of the vote plus one to take a council seat.
Right now, the charter forbids a former council member from taking a job as the city manager for one year after leaving office.
In 2012, city staff also proposed expanding the ban to include prohibiting council members from becoming paid department heads.
However, none of these issues made it to voters because the 2012 election was cancelled. When the deadline for candidates to file their had passed, only the incumbents had pulled papers to run. The election was cancelled and the city saved approximately $50,000.
That same night, the council unanimously agreed to expand the Tree Advisory Board to six members. The council also discussed adding a technical advisor to the Environmental Quality Control Board.
Mayor Ellery Deaton argued in favor of a technical advisor for the environmental board.
District Three Councilman Gordon Shanks tended to agree. “I don’t like even numbered committees,” Shanks said. However, he said he saw her point.
The council rejected the staff recommendation that the Memorial Committee be disbanded. The committee was created to develop a memorial for the victims of the Salon Meritage shootings.
