Stanton voters are expected to decide in the November 2024 election on implementing a three term limit on the mayor’s seat and extending the limit for other city council members.
On Tuesday, city council members voted 4-0-1 to have staff prepare a ballot measure that would establish a three term limit – a total of 12 years – for the Mayor seat. It would also increase the limit for other city council members to three terms in office.
Mayor David Shawver was absent.
Councilwoman Hong Alyce Van proposed doing three-term limits across the board for the Mayor and the other city council members.
“As a council member, I feel like you spend your first term trying to figure out what you’re doing,” Van said, adding that three terms will allow council members to see long term projects completed.
Van was appointed to fill a city council vacancy in 2019 and was elected to her seat in 2020. Her term expires in 2024.
Currently, city council members have a two-term limit, eight years total, after voters decided to impose such limits in 2016.
One year later, the city established district-based elections with residents being able to vote for a council candidate from the district voters live in. The city was split up into 4-districts.
All Stanton voters are able to directly elect a mayor, meaning its a citywide vote for the seat – similar to Anaheim’s election configuration
The term limits imposed on council members in 2016 did not apply to the Mayor’s seat.
Currently, the mayor can serve unlimited terms of four years.
Prior to implementing district elections in Stanton, the mayor’s seat was a one year rotating position.
Councilman Gary Taylor has called for bringing back the rotating seat and creating a fifth election district.
[Read: Stanton Voters Might Decide on Term Limits for Future Mayors]
His idea faced pushback on Tuesday from Van and Councilwoman Carol Warren.
Van said the city would have to redo their district map and that having an at-large Mayor allows residents to vote for two seats.
Warren said elections would get watered down with an additional district in a city so small.
“There’d be nobody to vote. It pulls your voting pool to such a small number,” she said.
Stanton currently has a population of about 39,000 people, according to the census.
The city has just under 18,000 registered voters, according to data from the OC Registrar of Voters.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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