Council directs city attorney to draft 3 separate term-limit measures for March ballot

The Los Angeles City Council on Nov. 14 instructed the city attorney to draft three separate ballot measures relating to council term limits: one to extend term limits to three terms, one to extend to four terms, and one to remove term limits entirely. Each draft will return to the council next week for final decisions about whether to place one or more measures on the March ballot.

The action followed extended debate. Supporters argued longer terms would give officeholders time to learn procedures and complete multi-year projects; opponents said the change would appear self-serving and that voters had repeatedly endorsed term limits. Councilmembers suggested different political trade-offs: some favored three terms as a compromise; others preferred abolition of limits or four terms to allow longer service and institutional memory.

Procedural notes: the council passed instructions for a three-term measure (vote recorded as 10 ayes, 2 noes) and for a four-term measure (8 ayes, 4 noes). After discussion and procedural moves, the council also approved drafting a no-term-limit measure (final recorded vote 8 ayes, 4 noes). The city clerk and city attorney noted that instructing the attorney to draft the measures by Nov. 14 preserved the option to appear on the county’s consolidated March ballot and that the council may still decline to place one or more measures on the ballot next week.

The council emphasized the drafting step does not itself change term limits; it only authorizes the city attorney to prepare language for the council to consider. Councilmembers asked that any measure clarify whether its effect would apply prospectively or reset prior terms; some members requested the drafts state explicitly that the measures would not create additional new terms for current officeholders.