League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	San Joaquin County, CA November 4, 2008 Election
	Measure T City Term Limits City of Tracy Majority Approval Required Pass: 15480 / 67.42% Yes votes ...... 7479 / 32.58% No votes See Also: Index of all Measures

Arguments For Measure T

Arguments Against Measure T

Over 40 cities in California have term limits. Voters pass term limits overwhelmingly by 70% margins. Our President, Governor, State Legislators, County Supervisors and neighboring cities in San Joaquin County have term limits. Measure T will limit a person to two (2) four year terms as a Tracy City Council Member and two (2) two year terms as Mayor. That's a maximum of 12 years on the City Council; 8 as a Council Member and 4 as Mayor. The current Mayor has been on the council for nearly 18 years; two council members for 10 years each. We need new leadership, but long-term incumbents often receive special interest campaign money thus protecting the status quo. We need term limits to help ensure elected officials serve the public and not special interests and themselves. Tracy's current election system encourages career politicians, not public servants. Tracy has capable residents willing to serve. However, concerned citizens are discouraged from running against incumbents whose campaigns are financed by special interests and run by public relations firms. It's too easy for incumbents to be re-elected, regardless of their record and the public interest. Term limits will help end the cycle of entrenched politicians. By encouraging more residents to run for elected office, we'll actually increase voters' choices. Your vote will still determine who will serve on the City Council and as Mayor. The City refused to adopt term limits, so citizens qualified this voter initiative. Only 2,921 signatures were required to qualify Measure T for the ballot, but over 4,000 signatures were gathered. Who opposes term limits? Long term incumbents and lobbyists. Who supports Measure T? Tracy citizens. Please join me and thousands of your fellow Tracy voters in supporting Measure T. Vote YES on Measure T for Tracy Term Limits. Submitted by: /s/ Staycee Hall, Life-long Tracy Resident and Co-Author of Measure T Rebuttal to Arguments For The interest in term limits for elected representatives has been waning in recent years as the voting public experiences the negative effects of term limits at the state level. Term limits create a revolving door that strips a public agency of experienced lawmakers and policy makers and positions un-elected government staff with greater decision-making responsibilities. The term limits measure before the Tracy voters would greatly restrict the mayoral position to only four years of service. It takes at least two years to learn the job with only one two year term remaining for the Mayor. Candidates who run for Mayor are not necessarily interested in running for City Council and vice-versa. While an eight-year service limit as a City Council member allows more time for a Council member to learn the responsibilities of the job, Council members do not necessarily aspire to be Mayor because of the extensive time commitment. Additionally, it is inaccurate to say that all City Council candidates would be able to serve a maximum of 12 consecutive years because four termed out City Council members cannot all be Mayor. This term limit measure before the Tracy voters would take effect after the November 2008 election and would have little or no effect on the current incumbents. Voters need to consider that there is ample opportunity for any eligible Tracy Citizen to run for Tracy City Council and win. Term limits for City Council are unnecessary. Vote NO on term limits for Tracy City Council. Submitted by: Tracy City Council Resolution 2008-157, adopted August 5, 2008

Most often, term limits for elected officials are put in place by the voters to prevent members of an elected body from becoming career politicians. In a large city where the Mayor and City Council are full time positions with substantial salaries, term limits may be an appropriate limitation. However, the City of Tracy is a general law city with a City Manager form of government. The City Council hires the City Manager and the City Attorney and the City Manager as CEO runs the city government and is accountable to the City Council. The Mayor and the Council are part-time Citizen Representatives elected by the voters and receive a stipend of about $500.00 a month to oversee the government operation. The Mayor is elected to a two-year term and City Council members are elected to four-year terms with two terms expiring every two years. Restricting terms of the Mayor and Council in this case is unnecessary. Since 1980, there have been nine mayors in the City of Tracy. The average length of service during the last 28 years has been 3.1 years. Between 1980 and 2008, there have been 20 City Council members elected or appointed in Tracy. The average length of service for a council member has been 5.6 years. To further restrict the terms of the Tracy City Council would create a revolving door at City Hall that would produce uncertainty among employees and staff and among those looking to do business in Tracy. It would also remove the knowledge and stability of the more experienced members who help the first term elected members learn the responsibilities and protocol of being a Tracy City Council member. For a city the size and structure of Tracy, term limits are unwarranted and should be rejected. Submitted by: Tracy City Council Resolution 2008-157, adopted August 5, 2008 Rebuttal to Arguments Against Term limits create more competitive elections opening our government to new people with new ideas. Voters support term limits because they see the damage caused by career politicians who have remained in public office too long. With the exception of Irene Sundberg, our current City Council and Mayor oppose term limits that will weaken the grip of special interest money which funds their re-election campaigns and protects the status quo. Our current Mayor has been on the Council almost 18 years. His last campaign benefited from over $135,000 in special interest/PAC money that was spent to keep him in office. Two other incumbents have been on the council a combined total of 20 years; one has collected $50,000.00 in campaign contributions, and has refused to disclose a single contributor. These are career politicians. The current Mayor and Council preoccupation with "learning curves" and "experience" shows their arrogance and belief that they alone are qualified to serve in public office. In reality, there are many capable, experienced, and dedicated Tracy residents willing to serve on the Council and as Mayor if given the opportunity. It doesn't take a full term to "learn the job" unless a person is incompetent to serve anyway. We elect our council members to do a good job from the first day in office, and be competent from day one. Career politicians are fighting to keep control of Tracy. Let's take it back. Vote YES on T for Tracy Term Limits. Submitted by: /s/ Staycee Hall, Life-Long Tracy Resident and Co-Author of Measure T