Onondaga County voters decide this fall if they want their legislators to serve longer, but under limited terms. Lawmakers voted unanimously Friday to change the county charter to extend terms from two to four years but limit serving to three consecutive terms. Any charter change requires a voter referendum.
The proposal has bi-partisan support. For one, Republican Legislator Julie Abbott said, two years goes by too fast before candidates must fundraise and run again.
“You get your feet wet. You start working on a project, you're in a budget, sometimes you have another job, you have kids and a family, you want to work,” Abbott explained, “But then at some point you've got to start to campaign. It's just the reality of the job. What this allows is you to get in there, you to really sink your teeth in, to really serve your community.”
Democratic legislator Charles Garland agreed less initial turnover is helpful at a time when the region is undergoing major changes.
“It's very important that we're able to maintain this continuity so that we're able to concentrate on all these multi-billion-dollar projects, social projects and other things instead of disrupting everything by changing over the legislators so soon,” Garland said.
He is in his second two-year term with no plans to stay longer. The term-limit changes are the first to come before voters in about 40 years.
Republican Floor Leader Brian May said different versions have been considered formally or informally since he took office 14 years ago. But he said limiting the conversation to only the legislature made it easy to discuss and move forward.
“If we introduced other positions, if we let the situation become political, all of which has happened in the past, the whole thing gets stuck in the mud,” May said. “Not the case with this. It was a pretty easy process.”
To get a consensus, May said term limits for other offices like sheriff, county executive, clerk, and comptroller were left out of the proposal. If approved by voters, the new terms and term limits take effect after the 2026 election.
