Palmdale voters to decide 3 issues

When Palmdale residents go to the polls Tuesday, they will be asked to elect a new City Council member, vote on a proposed increase in the hotel occupancy tax and decide whether to repeal an ordinance that limits how long elected officials can serve.

Voters approved term limits by just 16 votes in 2001, and the issue remains a point of contention with some who argue that it unfairly penalizes those officials who are doing a good job. The ordinance limits officials, who are elected at large, to serve eight years either as mayor or on the council.

“There’s always been thoughts that the voters would like to reconsider this whole idea,” said Mayor Jim Ledford, a Republican who is serving his ninth and final term in the top post. “It gives voters an opportunity to choose who they want to represent them.”

But supporters of term limits argue that repealing the current law is a self-serving move by politicians who “just don’t want to step aside.”

“It was already voted on by the public,” said Drew Mercy, Republican Party chairman for the 36th Assembly District. “It was brought up by the mayor in an attempt to have an option for keeping himself in office longer.”

Maggie Campbell, founder of the Palmdale-based Inspiring Values Democratic Club, agreed.

“There’s always someone better around the corner,” she said. “But how would you know that if no one else can step to the forefront and offer their skills and expertise.”

After November’s general election, the City Council set the date for a required special municipal election to fill a seat that became vacant after former Councilman Steve Knight was elected to the state Assembly. The term of the vacant seat expires in November.

The municipal election was originally scheduled for June 2 but was changed to Tuesday in order to coincide with statewide elections, officials said.

Two local measures were then added to the ballot, one that would raise the city’s hotel tax from 7% to 10%, and the other on term limits.

The mayor said there has always been some interest among the electorate to revisit term limits since the initial ordinance passed by such a slim margin. He said Tuesday’s election provided a good opportunity.

Campbell, who is a candidate for the 36th Assembly District, said she believes the mayor could have found a way to appoint someone to fill the vacant council seat for the remaining six months and save taxpayers the cost of the election. Also, the council should have postponed the vote on the hotel tax issue until the November elections, Campbell said.

But officials said the state mandates that the city hold a special election to fill a vacant council seat. The first bill introduced by Assemblyman Knight would allow municipalities to leave vacant City Council seats unfilled until the next regularly scheduled election.

Ledford said that he had no intention of running for reelection as mayor. But he wouldn’t discount seeking a council seat in the future, he said.

“If you are doing a good job, and the voters support you, why shouldn’t you be allowed to continue?” he said.

Max Neiman, associate director and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, said “term limits have been both a boon and a detriment” to governance.

On the one hand, they can create opportunities for new blood to join the political ranks, he said. But they also can curtail continuity and lead to the loss of expertise and institutional knowledge.

“You’re flushing that down the toilet when you turn over the City Council,” Neiman said.

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ann.simmons@latimes.com