Public weighs in on axing term limits in Monroe

The Monroe City Council held the first of two public hearings last week, taking testimony in support and opposition of Councilmember Patsy Cudaback’s proposal to repeal the city’s eight-year term limit for elected positions in the city.  

The idea to implement term limits was proposed in 2011 by former Monroe City Councilmember Kurt Goering, who provided testimony during the hearing in support of keeping the term limits. When the proposal was initially introduced, the city’s process included a council-initiated advisory vote, in which 2,622 of the 3,431 Monroe voters that participated voted in favor of term limits. Because of the 76.42 percent approval rate, the ordinance establishing term limits for Monroe’s elected officials was passed in January 2012.

Under current Monroe Municipal Code, no one can serve on the city council for more than eight years, unless they were previously appointed to fill a vacancy for a period of less than one year. A person who reaches the term limit is eligible to return to elected office after an eight-year lapse since they last served. 

The motion directing staff to draft an ordinance repealing term limits was introduced by Cudaback on Tuesday, Oct. 25. Term limits were never needed in Monroe, she asserted, because there are no issues with entrenchment among the city’s elected officials, such as what occurs on a federal level.

Monroe resident Bridgette Tuttle opened testimony by speaking in support of repealing term limits. There is a variety of reasons for term limits, Tuttle said, including discouraging entrenchment, preventing career politicians or a political party from holding office for extended periods of time, keeping corporate influence in check and preventing elected officials from losing touch with the community they represent.

“Term limits is a solution to a problem that can occur, but it’s a problem that I don’t believe we have here in Monroe,” Tuttle said. “I think this policy has an unintended consequence that is important to consider in a community like ours.”

Having term limits effectively removes options for voters, Tuttle said, by hindering their ability to support the candidates they want to support. She said there is value in the historical knowledge that comes with time spent serving in an elected position. Monroe is a small, close-knit community. Elected officials brush up against their constituents at work, in schools, at the bank, while eating out in local restaurants and during community events.

Term limits make sense in high-level government, she said, but not in Monroe. When residents are ready for a change, they can choose to vote the person out.

“There’s no reason in Monroe big enough for me to want to see the choice taken away from the voters,” Tuttle said.

She pointed out that the implementation of term limits hasn’t assured there are fresh new candidates prepared to run for office every time there is an election. 

“If there are candidates whom the voters believe in and trust to make decisions for the community, why would we want to take the privilege of choice away from them?” she said.

Monroe resident Erin Angus-Snapka also spoke in favor of repealing term limits.

Goering gave testimony in support of term limits. It was his first time back in council chambers since completing his term last December. Goering said he’s enjoyed having more time with his family and campaigning for newly-elected Snohomish County Councilmember Sam Low, who ran against Councilmember Hans Dunshee in November’s election.   

“I’ll just be straight to the point,” Goering said. “I don’t believe two public hearings is enough when there is an issue of the people being governed and how they’re governed.”

He zeroed in on some of the arguments raised during discussion on Oct. 25, including how other cities have gone away from term limits and that participation in the advisory vote was low. Cudaback said during discussion that she didn’t find the numbers compelling; 3,431 people out of 6,817 of registered voters in Monroe had voted on the proposition at the time.

According to the Snohomish County Auditor’s office, 2,622 people voted in favor of term limits, with 809 people voting against.

Goering offered a different perspective.

A total of 3,431 people voted on the term limits proposition, which is more than the number of voters who participated in the individual 2015 elections of Councilmembers Jim Kamp, Ed Davis, Jason Gamble and Kirk Scarboro, including the votes for their opponents, Goering said. The races of each of the four councilmembers received varying numbers of total votes, ranging from 1,783 to 2,106.

Voters do care about term limits, he said.

“They voted yes for this,” Goering said. “It doesn’t matter if other cities do it or not; it’s what Monroe voters wanted.”

An administrative change increasing the term limit to accommodate councilmembers having previously served in the council’s former two-year position is justifiable, Goering said, because they aren’t changing the way people are being governed. But if the council is interested in pursuing an outright repeal, he said he strongly hopes to see the item on an upcoming ballot.

“I know there’s costs to doing these things,” Goering said, “but this is how people are governed.”

A second public hearing will take place 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6, to collect additional testimony.