National City Mayor Ron Morrison’s future as mayor will be left to that city’s voters in June.
The National City City Council voted 4-1 to place two competing initiatives regarding term limits for office holders on a ballot for a June special election. Councilwoman Mona Rios opposed putting both measures on the ballot.
“I supported a “No” vote because of my personal values of protecting an open, transparent and fair process of consideration that was not supported in bringing this initiative forward,” Rios said. “The steps that Ron Morrison, (council members) Albert Mendivil and Jerry Cano went, to deny our National City Voters transparency and open government serves to undermine the trust in our public process.”
City Clerk Mike Dalla said a June special election will cost National City $50,000 to $70,000 for both measures.
National City last held a special election in June 2006.
The first ballot measure will eliminate a term limit of three consecutive four-year terms for the office of the mayor, and would instead impose term-limits on all elected offices of two-consecutive four-year terms.
The ballot measure reads: “A measure to repeal the existing-voter approved limit of three consecutive four-year terms upon the office of the mayor, and its place, impose a limit of two consecutive four-year terms upon the offices of the mayor, city council members, city clerk and city treasurer.”
Morrison has publicly supported this measure. He said it would impose term-limits for all elected offices.
The measure would end the existing term-limit provision for the mayor’s office and replace it with a two-term limit for all of the city’s elected offices.
A competing ballot measure aims at keeping the existing term limits on the mayor to three consecutive four-year terms and would impose a limit of three consecutive four-year term terms on the office of city council member, city clerk, and city treasurer to a lifetime total of six four-year terms in all of those offices combined.
Councilwomen Rios and Alejandra Sotelo Solis have supported this measure previously. They also point out that Morrison supported a measure for term-limits for the mayor’s office in 2004 when he was a councilman but now that he is mayor and his term is ending, he wants to remain in office.
In 2004, about 70 percent of National City voters approved a measure establishing a 12 year cap on the mayor’s office.
National City resident Victor Barajas, one of the signatories of the petition to repeal term limits, said he is glad to know both initiatives made it to the ballot because it gives voters “flexibility.”
“If people want the mayor in (office again) that’s great,” he said after the council meeting.
“Neither one of these initiatives guarantees results for anybody.”
“To me you have to take the good with the bad. In this case if people are genuinely tired of having mayor Morrison in (office), then great vote him out. But if he does get in there he’s got potentially eight more years in office where as the other initiative would ultimately allow a single candidate —which in that case would benefit Mona Rios and Alejandra—to seek office for up to 24 years,” Barajas said.
Alma Sarmiento, a signatory for the measure to preserve term limits, said she will continue to campaign against Morrison and the repeal of term-limits for the mayor’s office.
“If the measure to repeal term limits passes, it would potentially give Ron Morrison 31 and a half years in office which would be ‘perpetuating the position. That’s exactly why he, himself pushed for term limits in 2004,” she said.
Morrison has 26 years in elected office. He has served National City for 14 years a councilman and has been the mayor for the last 12 years.
Under the city’s current system, this is Morrison’s last year of his last term as mayor. But that can change in June.
