Blow Out Cobwebs on the Council

A government of the people, by the people and for the people was a worthy goal that has dimmed over the last 200 years. Now the concept of limiting the terms of elected officials promises a potential for recharging the lost energy behind that historic goal.

Long-term incumbents have robbed the people of sensitive, thrifty and benevolent governments everywhere and at every level. As terms in office grow longer, the elected official has become more a representative of the entity he is elected to, rather than a representative of the citizens who elected him.

The net result of long-term incumbents is an unresponsive and overpaid bureaucracy that grows in leaps and bounds. Incumbents have rubber-stamped annual salary increases to the point where the jobs are not worth the salary paid, and services provided grow smaller every year.

Yorba Linda is no different than any other governmental entity. This term limit will provide an opportunity to break up a “good old boy” system of 20-year incumbents and let new eyes review old questions and come up with new ideas. Bureaucratic solutions that have been mindlessly rubber-stamped can suddenly be subject to vigorous scrutiny. A new voice of the people can say no to rising government costs and taxes through council members that represent the people, not the city.

Twenty-year incumbents are adept at measuring which way the wind blows, counting heads and opting for the political decision promoted by special interests. The biggest benefit of this term limit will be the potential to elect council members who embrace logic and common sense as the benchmark of their decisions rather than politics as usual.

Term limits will help to eliminate the politicians and give people more opportunities to elect leaders who can say no, even when it’s unpopular.

JOHN M. GULLIXSON, Mayor Pro Tem, City of Yorba Linda