Tuesday during the Tacoma City Council’s Committee of the Whole meeting, Council District five representative Connie Ladenburg made a sure-to-be hotly debated suggestion that voters may be asked to decide on in this November’s election. Ladenburg would like to see the council ask voters to consider extending city council term limits, currently two terms, to three — or even ask voters to get rid of term limits all together. While it must be noted that Ladenburg is in the middle of her second term, her suggestion had more to do with the changing role of council members and the fact that a heavy emphasis is placed on long-term projects. Ladenburg says under the current rules, where a council member can serve only two four year terms, many times council members are unable to see projects they’ve championed all the way through.



Ladenburg thinks that kind of sucks, and would like to see it change. She noted in a phone conversation that out of the top six cities in Washington in terms of population, only two have city council term limits. “It’s not like we’d be going out on a limb.”



Of course, term limits have their purposes. The thought of permanent or career city council members is enough to scare the beejesus out of most government cynics — and certainly citizens are wary of the powerful in Tacoma becoming more powerful. But in the end it’s democracy, isn’t it? Even without term limits citizens at the polls still have the final say about who’s on the Council.



Ladenburg’s suggestion may find some traction. Only time will tell. While she considers the two issues separate, other members of the city council see another proposal being kicked around council chambers — making Tacoma City Council members full-time employees — as key to the term limit decision.



Currently, Tacoma City Council members are basically part-time employees, or are at least paid like them. According to a survey the council recently used to pass a resolution granting themselves health insurance at the same rate as .9 full-time city employees, council members typically work 32 hours a week and are paid a salary of $36,026 a year.



Mayor Bill Baarsma and others have been discussing the idea of going full time, much like Seattle’s city council. That, surprise surprise, would come with a salary increase. If a situation is created where council members earn a large salary and face no term limits, the possibility of a well paid, career city council emerges, according to some on the council.



Most would agree that’s a scary proposition. But whether it’s entirely accurate is another story. Either way, it would seem the council needs to decide which would be better — a fulltime city council with term limits, or extending or eliminating term limits but keeping the council part-time. Despite their differences, the two issues seem unlikely to be separated — both in the minds of voters and the minds of many on the council.  



“It’s not a hobby,” says Ladenburg, noting under the current rules council members are often forced to choose between a better paying job or serving on the city council — because there’s not enough time for both.



“We’re getting to the point where (being a city council member is) demanding more and more,” she said, seeming to support the idea of a full-time city council. “I don’t think (whether the city council is full time or not) should make a difference. The citizens have the right and responsibility to go to the polls and elect the best candidate.”



One thing is clear. To Ladenburg, the issues are completely separate. The city council going full time is a decision that can be made by the council itself, and basically comes down to vote on a pay raise. Abolishing or extending term limits is a decision that requires a change in the city council charter, and thus a vote of the public.



“I do really want to keep these two issues separate. They’re different issues, and not really connected,” says Ladenburg.



“(The idea of the city council going full time) is probably a discussion that’s been going on for years. Currently it doesn’t have a lot of legs.”



Ladenburg says that while she’d prefer to see the issues mulled over separately, both issues will likely be discussed at the next Committee of the Whole meeting. If the council does decide to ask voters in November to tweak or abolish term limits, they’ll need to have a decision on the subject by the end of June.