Allegheny County voters could soon vote to impose term limits on all elected county officials.
Council member Dan Grzybek will introduce an ordinance Tuesday calling for a ballot question to be put before voters in November, asking if the county controller, district attorney, sheriff, treasurer, and members of County Council should be subject to a three-term limit.
The home rule charter already restricts the chief executive to three four-year terms. If approved by voters, Grzybek’s proposal would apply similar requirements to other county offices.
“As people spend more and more time in office, there is less and less urgency,” Grzybek said. Twelve years is “more than enough time to get all of those common sense pieces of legislation that you, particularly, are passionate about and knowledgeable about [passed].”
The proposed changes also seek to more clearly define the length of a term if an official resigns or is removed from office before serving the full duration.
Grzybek, a Democrat, said the proposal was prompted by stagnation at the state and national party level. He believes that generating more turnover among officeholders is a “good government” reform – one that could make the government more representative, by affording opportunity to younger members as well as people of color and those of varying economic backgrounds.
Critics of term limits argue they remove quality elected officials popular with voters from office, curbing officials’ incentives to work hard and potentially leading to loss of institutional knowledge.
But at County Council, most legislation proposed and passed is coming from first- or second-term council members, Grzybek countered. “They’re not the folks who have been there over 12 years,” he said. “Because there are only so many things that you can accomplish on that body.”
For both council and the row offices, “You grow into a form of stagnation, and you find yourself entrenched in the status quo and there’s less of an interest in making changes, which is what people often want,” he said.
Incumbents also tend to have easier time fundraising, which can put challengers at a steep disadvantage. “By being entrenched in the county structure,” Grzybek said, long-time office holders benefit from existing relationships with party officials and donors with deep pockets.
“Not having all of those things to run up against I think will allow our elected officials to much more closely represent the people of Allegheny County,” he said.
The bill’s introduction comes as one long-time council member, Bob Macey, is set to retire. Macey announced in January that he would not seek reelection after nearly 20 years of representing District 9 on council. Should voters approve the ballot question, other officials could soon depart; council members Nick Futules (first elected in 2007) and John Palmierie (who took office in 2011), and District Attorney Stephen Zappala (first elected in 1998) would complete their current terms but be ineligible to run again.
Other council members running for reelection would enter into their last term, should they win, while more still would hit the limit after finishing their current term. Taken together, the result would be a remaking of the body within a few years.
Grzybek is also part of a group of council members introducing a second ballot question Tuesday. If council approves, voters would weigh in on whether each council member should be allowed to hire additional staff to assist with constituent and legislative work.
Council members are part-time officials who share four full-time staff members and a part-time solicitor. The charter currently bars councilors from using “any County funding for personal staff, local district offices or fringe benefits.”
Grzybek said the existing staff is stretched thin during busy times like budget season, when council must pass a $3 billion spending plan for operating and capital expenses. Staff must juggle members’ competing interests and needs, limiting council’s ability to meaningfully respond to the county executive’s budget proposal.
“That is such a huge ask from such a small staff,” Grzybek said. He argued that having additional employees could help make the legislative branch more independent, and better able to provide checks and balances to the county executive.
Given the county’s currently precarious finances, Grzybek said he has no interest in adding to the legislature’s operating costs. Approval wouldn’t result in hiring additional employees right away, he said, but would give council the opportunity to do so in the future.
The full council must approve each bill before either is added to the fall ballot.
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