The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Council debates changes to terms
Voters will consider whether Lorain City Council members should serve four years instead of the current two-year terms in office.
On May 3, council voted 8-3 to have the Lorain County Board of Elections put the question on the ballot for voters in the Nov. 2 general election.
If voters say yes, the issue would not affect the candidates with their names on the ballot in the same election.
Instead, the changes would start Jan. 1, 2024, for council members representing Wards 1, 3, 5, 7 and members representing council at-large.
Council then would have staggered terms, so members representing Wards, 2, 4, 6, 8 and the president of council would have four-year terms commencing Jan. 1, 2026.
Council members Mitch Fallis, Tony Dimacchia, Mary Springowski, Beth Henley, Pamela Carter, JoAnne Moon, Rey Carrion and Joshua Thornsberry voted in favor.
Councilmen Rob McFarland, Greg Argenti and Cory Shawver dissented.
Fallis argued the change would benefit council and the citizens because council members will have more time to focus on city issues.
Staggered terms of four years will add consistency and stability to city government, Dimacchia said.
Lorain voters could consider the same question within a vote of a new city charter in November.
The Lorain City Charter Commission has voted to have four-year council terms as part of the new rules of city government that the commission is drafting now, said Lorain City Council President Joel Arredondo. He also is a City Charter Commission member.
Whatever the language within the charter, if Lorain voters approve it, the new charter likely would supersede the separate vote on future council terms, said Lorain Law Director Pat Riley.
Staggering the terms would allow the city to avoid having an entirely new council at one time every four years, Riley said.
Argenti said he agreed with a four-year term but asked for a three-term limit for future council members.
Fallis argued against term limits, citing his experience with trade group representatives who said it is difficult to engage with rookie state legislators who do not yet understand the legislative process.
Voters will support effective council members and vote out the bad ones, Fallis said. Argenti countered that a lawmaker is hardly a rookie after four, eight and 12 years in office.
The council deliberations were different from those eight years ago.
In 2013, council members debated asking voters to consider changing from a two-year term to a fouryear term and tabled it indefinitely.
At the time, then-Councilman-at-Large Dan Given acknowledged “running for office is a pain” every two years.
But he and his fellows agreed the two-year terms force council members to stay in touch with residents. At the time, they agreed if a member was voted for four years, there is a chance they would be active in the city only during election years.