to limit an incumbents term
find someone better to run against him.

This is a good and viable way for checks and balances in our branches of government, including local. Thank you, Citizens group, for your efforts on this!

A couple of comments on here highlight the problem of lifetime politicians. Throw the bums out except our bum he/she is great. This is not directed at Ms. Morrison but all lifetime politicians. On every level, local, state and national we must start voting these people out. New, fresh minds are a plus. Please, that lame old argument, it takes a long time to gain enough power to gain influence. We know and once a politician has attained influence they are so indebted to special interest they forget who they work for, US!

Misty:No, I am not Jeff, nor do I have any qualms with Geannie Morrison. I think she is serving us well and I know that she is extremely responsive to her constituents. Nor am I a friend of David Hagan. What you describe as my "fascination" with him is rather my fascination with responsive government. Unfortunately, Mr. Hagan is the only member of the council who seems to listen to his constituents about the critical issues facing our city. Trust me, I would love to heap praise upon someone other than Hagan. I can only hope that one day another member of the council will provide me that opportunity. Unitl then, you can count on me to defend Hagan from his attackers and to highlight his admirable service on behalf of taxpayers.  I consider it  a public service. 

Exactly how would term limits be applied?
Would it apply to people elected into council in the next election?
Or would it be for members elected in on the NEXT election?
Would terms already spent on council count towards limits?

Dear Jeff Williams,

My humblest and heartfelt apologies. I understood that you had identified yourself as "ShinetheLight" [STL] in a previous post. I wouldn't want to be misidentified as STL, either. Again, so very sorry!

Yes, if you are not STL then my comments about Geanie have absolutely no relevance to this article.

Just in case anyone misunderstood, I hope Geanie is not subjected to term limits. She serves us well, as do most of the members of our city council. OK, that's about all I can say to that.

Peace,
MD

term limits are a great idea !

MistyDawn,

The previous post [ShineTheLight]that you "assigned" to me was not mine. As to term limits for the Texas state house and/or senate, the opinion expressed by the editorial staff is in regard to city council term limits so try to stay on topic. I have not spoken out regarding term limits but seeing you are trying to put words in my mouth, I will in the near future.

Have a great day! Jeff Williams

Jeff, aka "ShinetheLight",

OK, well, are you asking for your sister, Geanie, to be term limited out of her office, too? Geanie can tell you from having served that it takes awhile to become effective in any office. Geanie can further tell you that the threat of the next election keeps politicians behaving somewhat within reason. Removing that re-election possibility in the 2nd term could create some real issues! Wake up and smell the coffee, Jeff.

I'm not sure what your fascination is with Mr. Hagan, but its starting to sound like you two are quite good friends. Maybe you are letting your friendship (emotions)get in the way of reason.

Is the Editorial Biatd at the Advocate suggesting that all term limits are bad or just the ones being proposed for the Victoria Mayor and City Council? The abuse of power in office is a serious thing and the people of Victoria who support he charter amendments such as term limits are utilizing all of the tools available to them to curb such abuses. While we most certainly see the will of the people expressed at the ballot box when a number of current council members will be voted out because of their steadfast refusal to listen to their constituents, the use of term limits is also a valid tool to prevent a powerful incumbent like the Mayor from misusing the power of his office for an extended period of time. That is the idea behind having a two-term limit on teh highest and most powerful office in the land--President of the United States. In order to be consistent in their position will the Editorial Board call for the elimination of presidential term limits as well? There is no elected official from President of the United States to Victoria City Council member that is so important that they should not be replaced after two terms. I think it is highyl commendable that David Hagan is supporting the term limit amendment. In doing so, he is in effect limiting his own length of service on the council, but he cares about the greater good and is aware that even though he is doing a great job as a true public servant, there are other in our city who can do as good, if not even better job than he. I only wonder why Mayor Armstrong dosen't feel that he can or should be replaced?

Where I used to live, there were towns around that had term limits. The ones that did had the stipulation that a person could not serve more than X terms in a particular seat. Which meant that you could serve 2 , 3 or 4 terms as a representative of district Y then run for election as an at large council member.
As for congressional term limits -- the "Contract With America" was going to change the lifetime member of congress situation.

If the Congress of the United States had term limits, I truly believe that we would not be in the present economic mess we are in. The Barney Franks and Ted Kennedys would not be around. The longer a Congressman is in power, the more people he owes and the further he gets embedded in the greed and corruption of the system.