Events Calendar
In This Section
Most Read Stories
Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Browns' roster nearly devoid of consistent players
Coventry man killed in crash at I-77 ramp
Does it work? Test team returns to try out new products advertised on television
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Friday Night Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Browns vs. Lions live …
Akron Zips:
Akron trounces Howard to reach .500
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Robiskie, Harrison inactive
Kent State Sports:
Kent State blown out in second half, loses to Temple 47-13
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Sunday Sanity Challenge
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (69) The Brookings Institute Study on "Bending the Curve" – Four General Strategies
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
A Random Rant on Testing
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
The statewide issue that should be on the November ballot
Published on Sunday, Sep 14, 2008
Sadly, two efforts to extend legislative term limits in Ohio have fizzled since 2005, despite bipartisan recognition from party and legislative leaders and the governor that term limits create roadblocks. All sides agree the most achievable goal, in terms of voter approval, is an extension of eight-year limits to 12 years. That would allow six two-year terms in the House and three four-year Senate terms.
A decade after the term-limits movement swept the nation, at least 24 local governments are attempting to repeal or extend term limits. The New York Times reported last week that elected leaders from New York to Tacoma, Wash., have confronted the same altered dynamics that have surfaced in Ohio.
With term limits, the newly elected are quickly drawn to small-scale projects that can be achieved quickly and generate maximum voter appeal, their eyes already on the next office. Why bother, if it takes years to master legislative mechanics and develop the personal connections to tackle substantive issues? Thus, lobbyists and those toiling in the bureaucracy become a powerful branch of government.
So far, efforts to alter term limits have generally been unsuccessful. Still, should initiatives at the local level succeed, the momentum created in the 1990s might reverse, and for exactly the same reason it started: frustration with government inaction.
Given politicians' fears about being perceived as self-serving, the best route to the ballot in Ohio would be a broad-based citizens' coalition leading a petition drive after the dust has settled this year. Every interest group imaginable, from one end of the political spectrum to the other, complains about how difficult it often is bringing legislators up to speed on complicated issues. Together, these groups could bring Ohio voters up to speed on the damage term limits have done to moving the state forward.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
