Letter to the Editor

Questioning motives behind city’s term limit referendum

Letter to the Editor:

The proposed charter ordinance establishes four consecutive terms for mayor and common council members where they must wait six years to run again. The terms are counted both forward and backward when enacted.

Consecutive terms? Applying to those who have already served? What does all this really mean?

Does a partial term count as a consecutive term? Do we need this ordinance because we can’t trust ourselves to vote for the right person to do the job?

In the last two years, Eagle River has had a new mayor and three of the four council members have changed hands. Why do we need an ordinance with this much churn in elective office?

We have trouble finding good people to run for office in Eagle River. The mayor and aldermen do not receive very much compensation for the effort required to do a good job. They certainly do not receive big donor dollars nor access to information to allow insider trading — essentially they are volunteering their time to serve the community.

Perhaps the author of this charter ordinance has another motivation.

If the ordinance is adopted, Kim Schaffer will not be eligible to run for office until 2033. Why has the author of this ordinance singled her out? Why am I being asked to vote on the ordinance to remove a council member from a district that I don’t live in? What is the real motivation of this ordinance?

These issues need to be addressed before adopting this charter ordinance. Vote ‘no’ on the referendum.

Thank you.

Joe Laux

Eagle River