Leave City Council members’ term limits as they are

THE ISSUE A proposal to lengthen the term limits for City Council members from eight to 12 years will be on the ballot in November.

HONOLULU voters will be asked in November to extend term limits for City Council members from the existing two four-year terms to three. Proponents say redistricting changes the members' constituencies at mid-term under the current system, but that is a minor issue that would not be eliminated by adding an extra term. We see no good reason to tinker with the limits.

The City Charter was amended 14 years ago to impose the limits on terms of both Council members and the mayor. In 1998, voters approved staggered terms, with five Council positions open for election at one time and the other four open two years later. Term limits became popular nationally throughout the 1990s, although the U.S. Constitution prohibits them in congressional elections.

Term limits at the county council level are appropriate because name recognition is even more important, resulting in entrenched office-holders, than in higher-profile state and federal contests. Of the four Honolulu City Council races this year, two incumbents were uncontested and the other two won by lopsided margins for second terms last Saturday.

Members of the New York City Council are considering putting an identical measure on the ballot in November, adding a third four-year term to their limits, which became law in 1993. However, a secret poll commissioned by the council's speaker indicated that 57 percent oppose such an extension, according to the New York Sun.

Supporters of changing the New York City law maintain that eight years is not long enough to legislate effectively and erodes the council's institutional memory. Council members told the Sun that voters have been "disenfranchised" and "abducted by term limits."

Honolulu Councilman Gary Okino points out that new members bring "new ideas, new enthusiasm" to the Council. Councilman Charles Djou credits term limits for providing a clean slate following scandals that included the jailing of members Rene Mansho and Andy Mirikitani for abuses of their positions.

"Nobody runs for office the very first time for the power," Djou told the Star-Bulletin's Crystal Kua. "You run for the principle of it all, but if you stay there too long, the power becomes more important than the principle."

Like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- serving his second and, by law, final four-year term as mayor -- Mayor Hannemann opposes adding another four years to City Council term limits. Bloomberg says New York voters have voted twice on the issue, and Hannemann cites voters' 80 percent approval of term limits for both the Council and the mayor by Honolulu voters in the 1992 election. The voters already have spoken on this issue, but will have to do so again next month.