Finally, a significant awareness campaign and call to action is being made for National Term Limits Day, Monday, February 27th. There’s interest in imposing term limits for U.S. Congressional seats, but all state and local seats should be term-limited throughout the country. Even board positions that aren’t political should be term-limited. New people and fresh ideas mean less room for abuse of power and corruption.
Be wary of any elected official wanting to do away with term limits or extend their current terms, which is happening in Boca Raton. For the life of me, I can’t understand why it’s OK to have elections every two years for representatives on the federal and state level, but on the local level, they need three or four years. Residents are supposed to be okay with term extensions when there’s so much room for abuse of power? It’s important to remember that you may be OK with the people in office now, but if you’re not OK with the ones who come in after, too bad.
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Residents should question why these city council members are trying to extend their terms. The charter amendment in Boca would benefit them personally. Why aren’t more people asking about this? There’s no way that loads of people came forward, begging Boca City Council members to stay in office longer. Many capable, intelligent, skilled, honest, and talented people in Boca Raton are willing to serve in office. The idea that we need people to stay in office longer because of a “steep learning curve,” an argument that two of the Boca city council members made, is weak at best and is not true. For many years, people could learn the job and get things done, but these people can’t, and you, the voter, should give them more time to figure it all out. We’re not buying it.
There are a few reasons current elected officials in any seat are interested in being in office longer. A former Florida elected official says that this move is self-serving. The purpose is to be set up to run for another seat, such as county commissioner.
Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer and His Dem Allies Should Cancel Self-Serving March Election
Running for a seat while in office is a much more powerful tool for a campaign for higher office than being a former local politician. In the political world, the moment you’re out of office is the moment you become irrelevant. Don’t think that anyone currently in office doesn’t know this. They do.
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Jolt contacted State Representative Peggy Gossett-Seidman, who represents Boca Raton, to get her thoughts on Boca’s term extension city charter amendment. She said that Highland Beach attempted to do this same thing in 2022. It didn’t work. The residents voted it down.
Termlimits.com is a website devoted to the National Term Limits holiday. The site has yard signs, t-shirts, and pins to show support. They will use social media with the hashtag #TermLimitsDay to send a message that “we the people” support term limits and that we will no longer be quiet about it. You can do the same thing on social media to spread the word.
According to Termlimits.com, this holiday is on Feb. 27 because it commemorates the ratification of the 22nd Amendment. In 1951, term limits were imposed on the president of the United States. That was 72 years ago.
Term limits have worked for presidents for almost three-quarters of a century. They were good enough for George Washington. They are good enough for anyone.
Other stories you may want to read:
President George Washington Was for Term Limits, and Boca Raton Should Be Too
Bob Rubin-Vote No on Term Limit Extension in Boca Raton on March 14th
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