UPDATE: 7:08 a.m., June 6, 2018
With all precincts reporting, the yes on National City’s Measure B has 50.6 percent of the vote, while the no side has 49.4 percent.
Measure B would put term limits on all elected officials. The no on B votes have 46 percent of the vote.
Measure C, which keeps the current term limit on the mayor's office and applies the same limit to other elected positions, has 54.4 percent of the vote, while the no side has 45.6 percent.
UPDATE: 11:30 p.m., June 5, 2018
The yes on National City’s Measure B vote is leading with 52 percent of the vote. More than 40 percent of the precincts have reported.
Measure B would put term limits on all elected officials. The no on B votes have 46 percent of the vote.
Measure C, which keeps the current term limit on the mayor's office and applies the same limit to other elected positions, is leading with 52 percent of the votes.
UPDATE: 9 p.m., June 5, 2018
Two term limit proposals are on the June ballot for National City voters. On the surface, Measures B and C both expand term limits for elected officials.
The yes vote is leading on National City’s Measure B, which would put term limits on all elected officials. With nine percent of the precincts reporting, yes is leading with 57 percent, no votes are 43 percent.
Measure C keeps the current term limit on the mayor's office and applies the same limit to other elected positions. The yes vote is leading, but by only 50 votes, or 50.9 percent to 49.1 percent.
Read original story.
Two term limit proposals are on the June ballot for National City voters. On the surface, Measures B and C both expand term limits for elected officials. But one particular elected official stands to benefit most from just one of those measures; one who is already subject to an existing term limit law.
That existing law is Proposition T, passed in 2004 by 70 percent of National City voters. It put a term limit in place for just the mayor's office: Four years per term, with only three consecutive terms allowed.
"The idea was that term limits keep people from getting entrenched politicians," said Mesa College political science professor Carl Luna, who has been watching National City politics play out for decades. "The current mayor would be termed out in 2018, this next election cycle, when lo and behold there’s a new measure out, Prop. B."
Measure B would repeal the earlier Prop. T and put term limits on all elected officials, with a standard limit of two terms for all positions.
Its most vocal supporter, current National City Mayor Ron Morrison, said, “B puts us basically in alignment with what other cities do. The idea is two consecutive terms for all elected positions. Up to this point, we haven't had term limits, we’ve had term limit. So, it's on the mayor only and not all of our elected officials. Which includes the council members, the city clerk and the treasurer.”
Because it includes a repeal of the previous law, Measure B also hits the reset button on the term limit clock for Morrison. Under the current law, he is set to term out this year, after 12 years as mayor. If Measure B passes, he becomes eligible for two more four-year terms.
Luna said Measure B is "like changing the rules after the fact. It would help labor unions, business groups and other interest groups that apparently have very good relations with the current mayor and who may not want to change things. It helps the current power structure in National City."
City council candidate Jose Rodriguez said Measure B is deceptive, and he is critical of Morrison. "What he’s doing now is a testament to his leadership. He’s trying to change the rules allowing him to run again for office and this is how he’s run his tenure and it’s why there’s been staunch opposition against him in the community,” he said.
Rodriguez supports a competing measure, Measure C, which keeps the current term limit on the mayor's office and applies the same limit to other elected positions.
“What happens in National City is people decide to jump from one elected position to another and they stay here for 40 or 50 years. I think public service is good but people have to change with the times. And allowing new people to come up is going to allow our city to be flexible with issues in the future,” Rodriguez said.
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But Morrison feels experience is what National City needs, not new leadership. So, after 14 years on the city council and 12 years as mayor, what else does Morrison want to do?
“Oh my gosh, there’s tons of stuff. We're getting ready to open up the waterfront and there’s a big dispute," Morrison said. "The groups that they back want to turn everything into parks which is really nice … really nice. The problem is our city, like most, is looking at deficits in the future because there’s less revenue coming in because of internet sales and things along that line.”
Rodriguez countered, “the mayor has been in office a quarter of a century and he hasn't accomplished, he says, what he wants to. If you haven't done it in a quarter of a century you’re probably never going to do it.”
Luna said in between Measures B and C, there are also accusations of entrenched government — and the possibility of no one walking away the victor.
"Often when you have competing props it divides up the votes and they both fail. So you might be left with the status quo after all of this,” he said.
