Should Bradenton officials have term limits? Voters could decide this year
Voters may decide this fall whether to impose term limits on Bradenton City Council members and remove the mayor’s voting power.
On May 6, city council members debated the two changes and whether to pose the questions to voters this November. City council members shared mixed opinions on both changes but will need to approve the ballot questions before they’re added to November’s ballot.
If approved by voters, the charter amendments would begin a limit of three, four-year terms on Bradenton’s elected officials.
The other consideration is to remove the mayor’s power to vote in the event of a tie. By removing the mayor’s voting ability, it would allow the mayor to speak freely about future voting matters with other council members without Sunshine Law violations.
Florida’s Sunshine Laws prohibit two or more members of a public board to meet outside publicly advertised meetings and to discuss matters that could be voted on at a public meeting.
Bradenton considers term limit vote
Mayor Gene Brown introduced the item at the May 6 workshop, pitching the idea of term limits as something that’s been talked about for years, but without much momentum. Brown’s suggestion comes after the previous two mayors each served for 20 years.
“I think it’s time to do it. Bring it up and let the citizens decide on it,” Brown said.
While the possible change would limit a council member from sitting for 12 years, the proposal would allow a council member to take a break for four years after reaching the limit and then run again.
The term limits would also be staggered to prevent all seats from turning over at the same time.
However, some city council members were hesitant about creating term limits.
“I think that we do have term limits here, and they’re called elections,” said Councilwoman Marianne Barnebey, who added that the council should listen to the people on whether term limits are needed.
Barnebey, the longest-tenured councilmember, served on the city council from 1998 to 2012 before taking a break and returning in 2020, where she has served as the Ward 2 council member since.
Councilwoman Lisa Gonzalez Moore said she’s concerned that term limits may detract candidates from applying to council seats.
Moore said, while she understands term limits would be a good idea to reduce complacency, she worries what might happen if a council member terms out and no one applies to fill the seat.
Some council members, like Councilwoman Pam Coachman, were more receptive to the idea. Coachman said not having term limits can lead to complacency and an “unwritten power.”
“We represent a portion of the city, but yet our focus is citywide,” Coachman said. “But in that only representing one part of the city means that your pool of people are limited to that area. And if you can control your area, a person can sit up here for a long time, and that’s not necessarily a good thing.”
The other consideration is to remove the mayor’s power to vote in case of a tie. This would allow the mayor to talk with other council members before council meetings.
“In all the years that I’ve been on the council…the mayor’s tie-breaker vote has never come up,” Brown told the Bradenton Herald. “That’s something that’s holding us back a little bit because, right now, I can’t talk to the council members about things that could come up for a vote.”
Currently, city staff members brief council members on items that will come before them for a vote. If this ballot measure passes, the mayor would be able to be a part of discussions, which some council members saw as a positive.
“I think it’ll put more importance on building consensus that way,” Councilwoman Jayne Kocher said about not having a tie-breaking vote. “If you can’t build any consensus, then maybe we need to not have it pass and figure out a way to build consensus.”
Coachman said she sees it as a positive so more conversations can happen about agenda items.
“Honestly, I have felt like I was held out in the dark on things because of that process,” Coachman said. “And it made me feel like stuff was going on kind of without me or behind me.”
Next steps for potential ballot items
City council members would first need to approve the two changes to be added to the upcoming ballot through a public hearing, which could happen in June.
The ballot questions need to be sent to the Supervisor of Elections by early August to get approved to be on the November ballot, according to city staff.
If approved by the public, the city council term limits would start with council members selected in the 2028 cycle.
