Term Limits Bill for Florida County Commissioners Dies

The effort to enact term limits on County Commissioners in the state of Florida has died in the Senate for 2024. This has been widely reported in the media and the House sponsor, Rep. Michelle Salzman, has vowed to bring it back.  I was surprised that it did not go this session, but I believe it will go next session.  Interestingly, Salzman and I discussed this very issue on a recent Coffee with the Commissioner.  Lots of folks have asked my opinion on this, especially given that  I'm an incumbent County Commissioner and Michelle Salzman is a friend of mine.  For many years.

As I told her on the coffee--I'm generally supportive of term limits, and I know my constituents are in full support.  I believe the need for term limits is much stronger at the federal level, where we have folks in congress serving for decades and decades.  That never seems to happen though.  Neither does the desperately needed balanced budget amendment at the federal level, either.  But I digress.

Florida legislators have 8 year term limits.  Florida Governors do too, as do elected cabinet members. Recently, Florida school board members were capped at 8 years.  According to Salzman, all elected constitutional officers, if she has her way, will eventually be subject to term limits--she's not just picking on school board members and county commissioners.  She is just starting with county commissioners.  Okay, that sounds reasonable and fair.

I believe 12 years should be the magic number, because in government it takes years and years to get big projects over the line.  A soon to open fire station, for example, has been an 8 year, sustained effort.   The soon to open boat ramp in D1 has been nearly 9 years in the making.  The Beulah Interchange will have been a nearly 15 year effort once it is constructed.  I am 6 years into the effort to build a replacement fire station on Bauer Road.  In short--big stuff takes time in local government.  And if the voters boot out Commissioners every 8 years--who is to say the project that has been in the pipeline for 4-7 years will be carried forward?  Answer--there is no guarantee.  As an example:  D2 in Escambia County wanted public beach access and pushed for the purchase of 300 feet on the Gulf to provide this.  After electors booted the incumbent in 2014--the next commissioner did NOT want that beach access opened and he kept it locked behind a gate and no trespassing signs for the next 8 years of his term.  Also in D2, the incumbent in 2013 was on his way toward getting a 4-lane solution out of Perdido Key and Sorrento Road all the way out of the beach area.  His successor killed that project upon his election because he had different priorities.

So "8 is Enough" might have been the cute moniker of a cheesy 70's sitcom--But 8 years isn't always enough in the world of local commissioners.

So 12 years is appropriate, in all areas, in my opinion.  2 terms as U.S. Senator, 6  2-year terms for U.S. House, and 12 years for the constitutionionals in Florida.  Along the way, the voters will and do have the ultimate power to enact shorter terms, as appropriate, in elections along the way.  

Because a quick walk through the 2nd floor of 221 Palafox Place---where all former Escambia County Commissioner pictures and terms of office are memorialized--starkly illustrates that Escambia voters have historically been keenly adept at imposing term limits on commissioners without a formalized legal cap............  4 year, 4 years, 6 years, 8 years, 4 years, 4 years. 8 years, 12 years, 4 years, 8 years, 4 years.    I encourage folks to go look for themselves and do the math and check the average term in office for the commissioners over time locally.  Then decide this for yourself:  Is the imposition of term limits for county commissioners by the legislature  really a pressing need? ---- or is this actually just a politically-motivated solution to a problem that the voters have already solved?