Did Arlington term-limits proposal represent the ‘essence of voters’?
Term Limits Advisory Committee members rehashed their concerns about the group’s recommendations as the Arlington City Council returned from summer break on Tuesday.
All but one speaker at the end of the evening council meeting implored council members to respect the will of the nearly 63,000 voters who approved Arlington’s three two-year term limits in 2018.
“In this juncture of our city history, Arlington can’t afford this fiscally or emotionally,” said Michael Ledford.
The 24-member panel was tasked with exploring alternatives to the city’s three two-year term limits and compiling recommendations to the City Council. The committee’s recommendations included lengthening the three-term limit to four, instituting a two-year cooling off period between four consecutive terms and eliminating the lifetime cap on years eligible to serve.
Some committee members who supported the 2018 initiative to place term limits on the ballot or were among the 61% of voters to approve the measure on Election Day questioned the group’s legitimacy.
Andy Prior read aloud the letter that he and five other committee members wrote, which described the group’s four-meeting stint as a “missed opportunity for the city” to discuss methods to bolster election day turnout and liability issues that may arise if the alternatives land on a ballot.
“Our collective opinion is that moving forward will result in opposition by the voters of Arlington to the rest of the TLAC’s recommendations and potentially the defeat at the ballot box of any candidate who supports them or Council members who vote to move it forward,” the letter read.
Syed Hassan, Gwen Hicks, Ray Whitworth and Billy Wilson also signed the letter.
Council members discussed the recommendations during the afternoon council session. Mayor Jeff Williams congratulated the committee for facilitating public discussion and delivering a possible second option for voters on a future ballot.
“There shouldn’t be anybody upset about having an alternative here so that citizens have a choice,” he said.
However, Marvin Sutton, District 3 councilman, said the proposed elimination of lifetime term restrictions eliminates the heart of the 2018 vote. Sutton, who helped garner the 11,000 petition signatures to put term limits on the ballot, said the proposal eliminates the “teeth” of term limits.
“I don’t know if we captured the essence of the voters in the meeting,” he said.
It is not immediately clear when the council will vote whether to put the issue on a future ballot. According to Susan Schrock, city spokeswoman, the deadline to place an item on the ballot is Aug. 17.
Council members such as Helen Moise, District 1, said the conversation about term limits was more important than any vote that may occur.
“We just had a lot of people who, after the term limits, raised their hands and said, ‘I didn’t get a chance to participate in this,’” she said.
City fields housing, budget questions
Arlington City Council members fielded larger questions about its approach to housing and next year’s budget as the city estimates a $13 million budget reduction as the it feels the human and economic toll of novel coronavirus.
The City Council also kicked off conversation about the budget for fiscal year 2021, which City Manager Trey Yelverton said may decrease by over $13 million as property and municipal taxes are expected to take a hit.
“We’re doing all the things that people at home are doing and small businesses are doing,” he said, which includes cutting back on departmental expenditures and eliminating positions that were left vacant.
The city is expected to face a $20 million shortfall between March and September.
Meanwhile, the city also intends to set aside funds for projects Unity Council’s equity plan, reapportionment legal services and park facilities set to open next year.
“We don’t wanna build it without caring for it,” he said.
Development also took center stage as the council weighed questions about building more multi-family housing. Members denied 7-2 a proposal to build 380 new units at 8224 Webb Ferrell Road. The proposal would use nearly half of the property’s space for landscape preservation and nature trails — a point that multiple council members said may be an indication the land could be better used.
“It’s a very large tract,” said Sheri Capehart, District 2 councilwoman. “We don’t have many of those left positioned as well as this one is.”
With only Dr. Ignacio Nunez, District 5, and Dr. Barbara Odom-Wesley, District 8, dissenting, members’ concerns about optimizing the 39-acre space prevailed, along with concerns that traffic from the development would hinder emergency response.
“I feel like if we don’t check ourselves now, we’re potentially zoning ourselves out of an opportunity to bring jobs, sustainable wage jobs and other opportunities to our city,” said Dr. Victoria Farrar-Myers, District 7 councilwoman.
Meanwhile, council members approved plans to rezone 2015 South Cooper Street for construction of a 90-unit apartment complex. The plans call to demolish retail stores and various other commercial developments — a fact that Mayor Jeff Williams and Farrar-Myers applauded.
“Thank you for redeveloping land in your community,” Williams said.
The council also approved Eden Terrace, a 123-unit multi-family development that Robert Kembel said people will find desirable whenever social distancing protocol is relaxed.
“It’s a really great opportunity to make an impact on a site that’s been really unproductive,” he said.
Council members also unanimously denied the construction of an automobile service center at 2011 Duvall Drive.
This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 10:18 AM.
