Musical chairs to stay in political office

When voters overwhelmingly adopted term limits in Colorado in 1990, the aim was to end political careerism and bring in fresh ideas.

It hasn't quite turned out that way, and El Paso County voters in particular are in for a round of musical chairs in 2010 when office holders scramble to find another government slot when their time is up.

That game is playing out at the state level. One study found the percentage of lawmakers who sought another elective office has nearly doubled since term limits kicked in, with lawmakers rotating through seats to stay in the power game.

Take Bill Cadman. Facing retirement from the House in 2009 because of term limits, the El Paso County Republican sought and gained an appointment in December 2007 to fill Ron May's unexpired Senate term.

Keith King served eight years in the House, and last year won Andy McElhaney's Senate seat after term limits turned McElhaney out.

King said office hopping preserves the voters' desire to limit terms while retaining experience.

"If people didn't think I'd done a decent job and didn't have any business going from the House to the Senate, they wouldn't have voted me in," he said. "I think it's accomplishing what the voters asked. Eight years is enough in any one house."

The revolving door can undermine term limits' aim of attracting new faces, said Elena Nunez, program director for Colorado Common Cause, a nonprofit government watchdog.

"If it happens so much that there's no place for new people to get involved," she said, "it has the impact of not giving government fresh perspectives or new ideas."

A similar carousel is set to spin in county offices in 2010, with two commissioners poised to seek other county offices, and two Colorado Springs council members eyeing county seats.

"Sure," Commissioner Jim Bensberg said, "I'd be interested in serving as treasurer if the circumstances are right. In the past, county commissioners ran for three or four terms. Now that term limits are in effect, they find they still have many talents and desire to serve local government, so it's only natural they look elsewhere in the political field."

State voters overwhelmingly approved term limits nearly two decades ago amid anti-government sentiment and fears that newcomers had no chance against entrenched incumbents. The idea was to purge the system of lifers and reinvigorate government with new faces and fresh ideas.

Since then, 15 states have adopted term limits, and Colorado voters applied term limits to local offices in 1994. In six other states, term limits have been repealed by the Legislature or court action.

Term limits in Colorado restrict office holders to eight years but don't bar them from seeking another office or the same office after sitting out four years.

A 2004 study commissioned by the National Conference of State Legislatures found that before term limits took effect less than a third sought other elected posts; now more than half do.

The study also noted a trade-off inherent in term limits: lost experience, leading to more short-range thinking, increased reliance on bureaucrats and lobbyists and heightened conflicts and partisanship.

Bensberg argues veterans like him have a lot to give.

"The accumulated experience helps you cut right to the chase when a problem needs to be solved," he said, noting his 25 years as a commissioner, lobbyist and government aide. "Sometimes when you're a newbie it takes a while to get your bearings. You may not get a second chance to do something."

The job he wants is held by Sandra Damron, who was circumspect about her plans but might be interested in Bensberg's commission seat or the clerk and recorder's job when Bob Balink is forced to the sidelines by term limits in 2010. Balink wouldn't reveal his plans.

Balink's post also appeals to Commissioner Wayne Williams, a lawyer and past county GOP chairman who can't run again in 2010.
As for Williams' commissioner seat, Colorado Springs Councilman Darryl Glenn, seeking his second city term this April, might go for it.

"It's definitely something we would have to explore," he said. "We do share a lot of the same constituents."

Bensberg's commission seat could pit two veteran Republican politicians against one another: Ed Jones and Lionel Rivera.

Jones, county commissioner from 1995 to 2003, served a state Senate term before being defeated in 2006 by Democrat John Morse.

"After the (Senate) election, it was not a matter of being done with politics," Jones said. "I remember my eight years with the county, and we were able to get things done. I was a force to get things done. I think I could still do the job. Things haven't changed that much."

Rivera served on City Council for six years before becoming mayor in 2003. He'll be forced out by term limits in 2011, the year he would assume the commission seat if elected.

"I like being involved in local government," Rivera said, adding he believes experience is important, although not a guaranteed path to office. "You have to work for it, make the case you're the right person for the job."

Rivera's public pay would go from $6,250 a year as mayor to $87,300 as a commissioner, the same salary paid to the treasurer and clerk and recorder. State legislators are paid $30,000 annually plus per diem expenses during legislative sessions.

The idea of an insider revolving door doesn't sit well with Nathan Fisk, executive director of the El Paso County Republican Party. He noted newcomers do enter the fray, notably Rep. Mark Waller, who defeated Douglas Bruce, and Commissioner Amy Lathen, both elected to first terms last year.

"I wouldn't say it's a foregone conclusion that just because they're an elected official they'll be elected into (other) seats," he said. "Being an elected person is a leg up, but there are plenty of examples where that didn't carry the day."

The downside of term limits - legislative standoffs, discord and heavy reliance on lobbyists and staff - has spawned ballot measures in several states to extend the number of years allowed.

But all have failed miserably, said Jennie Drage Bowser, senior elections analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures. "These have not been popular proposals," she said, because the public doesn't detect the problems insiders observe.

Former Colorado Rep. Alice Borodkin, D-Denver, said last spring she would introduce a measure in 2009 to increase the limit to 12 years in each house but now can't propose the bill because she lost her Senate bid.

But Bowser said a change might be premature. More time probably is needed to judge term limits' effects and that of the musical-chairs countermove.

"If you regard one of the faults of term limits to be lack of experience, then this people shuffling is something of an antidote to that," she said. "You retain their experience, just in a different position, perhaps."