Proponents of Term Limits for Board of Supes to Try Again

An initiative to limit the terms of Marin County supervisors to no more than 12 years will have to begin from scratch after the county has ruled that the petition was written in a way that violated California’s term limit law, the Marin IJ is reporting.

The petition drive was spearheaded by the Marin Republican Party as a way to inject fresh blood into the office. But county administrators ruled that the authors of the petition erred in the wording by applying rules retroactively, according to the IJ. 

Under the way the original language of the petition was written, veterans such as Supervisor Steve Kinsey would not be allowed to run for office in the next election.

Proponents of the term limits, who including the Marin GOP and Novato supervisorial candidate Toni Shroyer, have said they will try again.

"The purpose of this initiative, by limiting the number of terms a county supervisor may serve, is to nurture a strong county government by developing its civic leaders from our creative and diverse citizenry; promote a citizen government by fostering increased said diversity, and competition, through rotation in office; prevent the establishment of entrenched incumbency and limit the control of campaign contributors in county government," the initial statement said.

"If a member of the Board of Supervisors cannot accomplish their goals in 12 years, they will not accomplish them in 30."

After the petition is reviewed by county attorneys, backers have 180 days to gather at least 11,418 signatures from registered voters to put the issue on the ballot.

Click here to read more about the effort