The Onondaga County Legislature is trying again to let voters decide whether the county executive and comptroller should have term limits after the county executive vetoed a similar measure last month.
The Democratic majority spearheaded the measure, and the final 10 to 7 vote was once again largely along party lines. This version still imposes three-four year terms, but added the comptroller’s office at the request of Republicans. Democratic legislator Jeremiah Thompson said it’s a natural next step after voters approved the same term limits for county legislators last fall.
“Do we want to set one standard for one branch of government and a separate and different standard for the other branch of government? I would argue that we don't," he said. "If these are two co-equal branches of government, the terms should be the same.”
“And it's important that this body be a co-equal branch of government because we are closer to the people," said fellow Democrat Gregg Eriksen. "There are 17 of us. We go out to the grocery store. People have a chance to tell us what they think. And when there are 17 of us, we can hear from a heck of a lot more people than one person in the county exec's office.”
But Republicans argued the county executive’s office is different enough that a maximum of four terms or 16 years should be permitted. That’s what David Knapp proposed in a separate local law that ultimately failed to get enough votes.
“It's a full-time job with an end date, whether it be 12 years or 16 years," he said. "It's still a four-year term. You still have to get elected every four years. So you got to be doing a good job or the voters are going to decide it for you.”
Fellow Republican Kevin Meeker said Democrats are weaponizing term limits under a facade of “good government.”
“This proposal was never about strengthening government," he said. "It was about scoring political points.”
The county executive could veto this measure too. If so, lawmakers have to wait until next year to get it on the ballot.
