Term limits may be coming to Arlington, but how severe? Voters get two choices Nov. 6.
Faced with a citizen-led petition that could force five members out of office in two years, the City Council struck back Tuesday with its own term limit proposition that extends their terms and allows them to run again after sitting out a term.
That means Arlington voters will have two competing term limit propositions on the Nov. 6 ballot. Both sides have dug in and the campaign promises to be a messy one.
Tempers flared several times at Tuesday night’s special meeting as supporters of the citizen-led proposition say it’s not fair that they collected thousands of signatures in the heat yet the council can place an alternative proposition on the ballot with one vote.
“We had thousands of people sign our petition,” said Max Hart as he addressed the council. “I just don’t see how hundreds of people equates to the votes of thousands. It would seem like there needs to be a first reading before there’s a second reading.”
Mayor Jeff Williams said the council took an oath of office to represent all of the more than 200,000 registered voters and nearly 400,000 residents.
“We have proposed an alternative here to the original petition in response to our citizens that were not a part of that petition or those who signed it and said we want another alternative for term limits. We’re listening to our citizens.”
This started with a group of Arlington residents who collected more than 11,000 signatures on a petition to put term limits up for a vote. Nearly 9,000 of those were certified as Arlington voters and the council had no choice but to place the item on the ballot.
The proposition is controversial because it limits council members to three two-year terms and, if passed in November, would retroactively term-limit three council members in May. Two more would be forced out in 2020.
The Arlington Chamber of Commerce proposed an alternative term limit that wouldn’t look at past council service so longtime council members could still serve another three terms before being affected.
On Aug. 7, the council directed city staff and the city attorney to draft language that would extend terms from two years to three years and wouldn’t be retroactive.
The council voted unanimously Tuesday to put the city’s proposition on the ballot. Williams requested an addition that council members who serve three full terms have to wait three more years before they can run again, meaning they can’t run for an at-large seat or district seat. They can run for mayor immediately.
The city’s term limit proposal will be listed as Proposition E on the ballot. The citizen-led proposal will be Proposition F.
Proposition A through D are part of the bond election.
Parks, fire stations among major bond projects
Arlington voters will also consider a $189.5 million bond package that includes several road projects, park and trail improvements and rebuilding two fire stations and making major improvements at existing city facilities.
The bond package will be split into four propositions. Here’s a look at the highlights:
Proposition A: Street improvements
▪ $33.9 million to reconstruct existing residential streets throughout the city
▪ $22 million to widen Debbie Lane from the city limits to Texas 360
▪ $15 million to make intersections improvements at nine locations
▪ $14.6 million to widen Mansfield Webb Road from Silo Road to Collins Street
▪ $13 million to widen Sublet Road from the city limits to Joplin Road
Proposition B: Parks and Recreation
▪ $4 million for improvements at Richard Simpson Park, including playground, trail, benches, overlook, pier and boat storage
▪ $3.5 million to extend the Johnson Creek Trail from Meadowbrook Park to Julia Bergen Park, adding about a half-mile of trail
▪ $3 million to acquire land for a new Youth Athletic Complex
▪ $3 million to complete design of a Multi-Generational facility
▪ $2.6 million to widen and realign about 2 miles of the River Legacy Park linear trail
▪ $2.5 million to extend the River Legacy Park trail west to Fort Worth as part of a Fort Worth-to-Dallas trail network.
Proposition C: Public Safety Facilities
▪ $9.5 million to rebuild Fire Station 8 at its current site
▪ $9 million to rebuild Fire Station 6 at its current site.
▪ $6 million to design and construction a new police evidence storage facility
Proposition D: Public Facilities
▪ $8 million to make major repairs and replace aging in roofs, generators, air conditioners and elevators at city facilities
This story was originally published August 15, 2018 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Term limits may be coming to Arlington, but how severe? Voters get two choices Nov. 6.."