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Lansing charter panel weighs term limits for appointed boards, considers reappointment process
Summary
The Lansing Charter Commission heard public comment opposing term limits and debated proposed cooling-off language for appointed boards, then deferred final change in favor of drafting clearer reappointment rules for council consideration.
John Scott, a fire commissioner speaking as a private citizen, urged the Lansing Charter Commission April 22 to reject a proposed charter change that would impose term limits on appointed board members.
“I oppose term limits,” John Scott said, arguing that limits would strip boards of institutional knowledge and worsen persistent vacancy problems. He cited Article 5.102.7 of the current charter to argue the council already has checks on mayoral appointments and that the city’s vacancy problem reflects political inaction rather than a structural flaw.
The commission spent more than an hour debating whether to add a one-year “cooling-off” requirement after two consecutive terms and whether to instead strengthen the reappointment process. Legal counsel presented draft text that would bar reappointment to the same board until a person had been off that board for one year after serving two consecutive terms; the draft also counted partial terms of at least two years as a full term.
Commissioners who have served on multiple boards said they worried two-term limits would remove hard-earned expertise and make understaffing worse on boards that already have trouble attracting volunteers. “People are just trying to get by — they don’t want all this,” Commissioner Washington said, summarizing conversations with other board members about recruitment challenges.
Other commissioners said the root problem was lack of follow-through by the mayor and City Council on nominations and confirmations, not the absence of term limits. Several members asked staff to draft alternative language that would clarify the reappointment process, including requiring the mayor to forward reappointment materials and giving Council a formal opportunity to review reappointment candidates.
The commission paused consideration of a formal term-limit amendment and directed counsel to draft language strengthening the reappointment procedure for discussion next week. The chair asked that counsel prepare proposed reappointment language, and commissioners requested the mayor’s office and council application materials be included in the review.
The commission also discussed procedural details that could affect reappointments — for example, whether council should receive full applications for all reappointment candidates — and several commissioners said they preferred adding clear steps for reappointment rather than imposing term limits.
The commission did not adopt a formal charter change on term limits at the meeting; it instructed staff to return with specific reappointment language for further review.
