Commission votes against 3rd term

A plan to ask voters to extend term limits for El Paso County elected officials fell apart Thursday over the county commissioners' concerns about appearing "self-serving" and adding to an already crowded Nov. 4 ballot packed with controversy.

The county commissioners rejected a ballot measure that would have let voters decide whether the county clerk and recorder, assessor, treasurer and surveyor should be allowed to seek a third four-year term. The initial proposal would have asked voters to grant potential third terms to the five commissioners, too, but those positions were removed during debate Thursday.

A common concern was the term-limit extension would distract voters from El Paso County's other ballot measure, a 1 percent sales tax to boost the budgets of public health and safety agencies.

Stephannie Finley, a key backer of the sales tax measure, said she opposes term limits but predicted that a measure to extend limits for county elected officials would fail without an extensive campaign to persuade voters.

"This will be misunderstood, it will be misrepresented, and it will be in conflict with some of the other things we're trying to get done right now," Finley said.

The measure failed on a 3-2 vote, with Commissioners Dennis Hisey, Amy Lathen and Wayne Williams opposed. Commissioners Sallie Clark and Jim Bensberg argued in favor of asking voters whether term limits should be extended.

Term limits were imposed in 1994 and applied to virtually all elected officials. Since then, voters in many areas have approved exceptions. El Paso County voters in 2001 allowed the county coroner to serve unlimited terms as long as he or she is a forensic pathologist. In 2006, county voters said the sheriff may seek a third term but rejected similar measures for the treasurer and clerk and recorder.

Bensberg disputed Finley's prediction that voters would be confused.

"I have great faith in the voters of this region," he said. "The public is very well-educated on this issue. Perhaps voters will reconsider their vote from the last time."

Clark said allowing elected officials to serve three terms would let them follow through on long-term projects and build greater institutional knowledge.

The commissioners said putting a measure on the ballot to extend the potential length of their jobs would appear self-serving, but said the only way it could get on the ballot is with their approval. Clark said she removed the commissioner positions from her proposal to eliminate that as a point of discussion.

Another objection was the last-minute nature of the proposal. The first public discussion of extending term limits was Thursday, and the deadline for certifying ballot proposals is today.

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Contact the writer: 636-0187 or perry.swanson@gazette.com