City of Irvine Lifetime Term Limits, Measure W (November 2014)

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A City of Irvine Lifetime Term Limits, Measure W ballot question was on the November 4, 2014 election ballot for voters in the city of Irvine in Orange County, California. It was approved.

Upon approval, Measure W amended the Irvine City Charter to make its current consecutive term limits apply non-consecutively - i.e. over an entire lifetime. This means that no person can hold office on the city council for more than two four-year terms in his or her entire lifetime, rather than simply in consecutive order. Likewise no person can hold the office of mayor for more than two two-year terms. This means that under Measure W, no person is allowed to serve as an elected official of the city of Irvine for more than 12 years total in his or her entire life.

This measure only applied going forward. This means that only terms that started on or after November 4, 2014, count towards the new limits and term history would be erased with regard to limits for current officials. Some critics said this measure was designed by some current elected officials precisely to reset their own term limits, allowing them to run for re-election immediately instead of having to wait a term to run for office again. Supporters said the measure was a well-designed law to keep legislators from circling through different elected positions and using the current consecutive term limit rules as a loophole.

Election results

Orange County, Measure W
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		29,361	74.6%
No		9,986	25.4%

Election results via: Orange County Registrar of Voters

Text of measure

Ballot question

The question on the ballot appeared as:

“

Shall the ordinance amending the Charter of the City of Irvine to establish that no person may serve more than a total of two 4-year terms as a member of City Council and two 2-year terms as an elected Mayor, whether served consecutively or non-consecutively, effectively creating a lifetime term limit of 12-years, be adopted?

”

Impartial analysis

The following impartial analysis was provided for Measure W:

“	This Measure was placed on the ballot by the City Council for the City of Irvine. The City Council for the City of Irvine is composed of four elected City Council members and one elected Mayor. (This impartial analysis refers to the City Council members and Mayor collectively as "Elected Officials.") California state law authorizes cities to establish limits on the number of terms an Elected Official may serve in office. Term limits must be approved by the voters of the City of Irvine. Section 400 of the Charter for the City of Irvine currently imposes consecutive term limits for its Elected Officials. More specifically, a member of the City Council cannot serve more than two consecutive four-year terms, and the Mayor cannot serve more than two consecutive two-year terms. In other words, a person cannot be a City Council member for more than eight consecutive years, and a person cannot be the Mayor for more than four consecutive years. Because existing law only limits consecutive terms, an Elected Official can return to the City Council after sitting out for a term (or part of a term), or can potentially serve as an Elected Official indefinitely by alternating between terms served as the Mayor and terms served as a City Council member. If a majority of voters vote "yes" to approve this Measure, Section 400 of the Charter for the City of Irvine will be amended to create lifetime term limits for Irvine Elected Officials. If approved, the Measure will prohibit a person from serving as a member of the City Council for more than two four-year terms, and will prohibit a person from serving as the Mayor for more than two two-year terms. If approved, the proposed Measure will effectively create a lifetime term limit for Elected Officials of twelve years (i.e. eight years as a City Council member and four years as the Mayor). If approved, the Measure would apply prospectively only, meaning the terms an Elected Official served that commenced prior to the adoption of this Measure would not count toward the newly adopted lifetime term limit. Instead, only terms that began on or after November 4, 2014, would count toward the lifetime term limits. Therefore, if the Measure is approved, terms for Council members and the Mayor that are being voted on at the same election as this Measure will be included as a term counting toward the lifetime term limits ban.	”
—Todd Litfin, Irvine City Attorney

Support

Supporters

The following individuals signed the official arguments in support of Measure W:

• Jeffrey Lalloway
• Lynn Schott
• Steven Choi
• Christina Shea

The Orange County Republican Party officially endorsed a "yes" vote on Measure W.

Arguments in favor

The following was submitted as the official arguments in favor of Measure W:

“	Measure W enacts strong term-limits for the Irvine City Council. If passed an Irvine resident could serve no more than two term as a Councilmember and two terms as Mayor. Afterwards there is a lifetime ban on future service. Currently there is a 'loop hole' in the city's term limits ordinance that allows local politicians to run for Council, then Mayor, and back again - over and over. One member of the Council, first elected in 1978, has been serving continually in office since 1998 and is eligible to seek re-election again this year. We believe that every politician, even in local government, should ultimately have to return back to private life and live under the laws and regulations they have created while in office. We believe that with strict term limits, closing the 'revolving door' loophole, and a lifetime ban, that we ensure that our city council will always attract citizen representatives who are in touch with our residents. Irvine voters passed a measure years ago that they thought enacted strong term-limits, but as we have seen it contained a loophole allowing politicians to jump between Mayor and Councilmember in perpetuity. So to summarize this simple but important measure: Two Term Limit for Councilmembers Two Term Limit for Mayor Permanent lifetime ban once limits reached Closes 'revolving door' loophole Please join us in enacting real and meaningful term limits here in the City of Irvine.	”
—Jeffrey Lalloway, Lynn Schott, Steven Choi and Christina Shea

Opposition

Opponents

The following individuals signed the official arguments in opposition to Measure W:

• Larry Agran
• Mary Ann Gaido
• Carolyn Inmon
• Christopher H. King

Arguments against

The following was submitted as the official arguments in opposition to Measure W:

“	Vote NO on Measure . It's a fraud. Measure is NOT a "term limits" measure. It is just the opposite. It is a TERM EXTENSION for the Mayor and City Council. According to the Irvine City Attorney's impartial analysis, Measure W would permit its authors, Mayor Steven Choi and Councilman Jeff Lalloway, to stay on the Irvine City Council continuously until the year 2026! Under Irvine's existing term limit system -which was adopted by Irvine voters in 1986 - even if he were re-elected this November, Steven Choi would be termed-out as Mayor in 2016. But if Measure W is adopted, he could run for an unprecedented third two-year term as Mayor in 2016. And then he could run for two more terms as a Councilman after that, serving on the Council continuously until 2026. In the case of Jeff Lalloway, under Irvine's current term limit system, even if he were re-elected this November, he would be termed-out as a Councilman in 2018. But if Measure W is adopted, he could run for an unprecedented third consecutive term as Councilmember in 2018 and serve until 2022. And then, he could run for two terms as Mayor after that, serving on the Council continuously until 2026. Does this look like real term limits to you? Of course not. It's obvious that the Choi-Lalloway Measure W is NOT about true term limits. It is a self-serving fraud to keep incumbent Councilmembers in office for another 12 years. It should be rejected. Irvine voters elect a Mayor and City Councilmembers to serve the people, not to serve themselves. Let's stop this Choi-Lalloway term extension scheme before it gets started. Please join us in voting NO on Measure!	”
—Larry Agran, Mary Ann Gaido, Carolyn Inmon and Christopher H. King

See also

• Local term limits on the ballot
• Orange County, California ballot measures
• November 4, 2014 ballot measures in California
• Irvine, California

External links

Suggest a link

• Orange County Elections Office website
• Irvine City Elections Office website