OPINION—At a recent meeting, the Sebastian City Council voted unanimously to place a referendum on the upcoming ballot to change the city charter, giving council members four-year terms instead of their current two-year terms.
The main reason given was the expense of having an “off-year” election when no federal, state, or county elections were being held that year. This provides the city with the total burden of the cost of the election, which is approximately $70,000.
Some other reasons given in favor of four-year terms are that we don’t get the voter turnout in the “off-year” elections and that it takes too long for new council members to “get up to speed,” so they spend the first year of their term learning the process and then pivot to reelection the next year.
This is not meant to be an indictment on the current council, as I trust most of them and generally support and endorse their decisions; however, I will not endorse council terms going to four years as that is a terrible idea for Sebastian.
Let’s take the so-called savings first. The City of Sebastian’s annual budget is just short of $50,000,000. A savings of $70,000 every two years equates to about 70 one-thousandths (0.070) of one percent of the budget over four years—essentially a rounding error on a large project. The city could save that much by changing the toilet paper in the parks to a lesser brand, but that would also be a bad idea.
Now, we will tackle the issue of low voter turnout in “off-year” elections. The turnout for off-year elections is indeed very low compared to those held simultaneous to larger elections; however, I would question how that could be considered a bad thing.
These voters are the most in-tune voters the city has. They are the ones who pay particular attention to local issues. Of course, it would be nice to have greater participation, but would you want that participation at the expense of unknowledgeable voters electing our council members? Many of those entering the voter booth during general elections have no idea who their mayor is or who is running for the Sebastian City Council election.
They are there to vote for the next president, governor, or sheriff and often just pick a name they like or recognize or just the first name on the list for Sebastian City Council. How many of you have stood in the booth and voted to retain a judge that you have never heard of? I firmly believe that the elections held in the off years do a better job of providing a true representation of the desires of the citizens.
Finally, the idea that it takes a year for a new council member to get up to speed makes no sense. Council members are elected to represent the citizens of Sebastian. They are there to bring ideas and a vision. Sure, it takes a little getting used to, but the professional staff run the city’s day-to-day operations as outlined in the charter.
A council member’s impact should only be as great as their ability to persuade others on the council to support their ideas. If they don’t perform, they should be replaced, and two years is plenty of time for the public to decide if they are effective representatives. No individual council member has any level of authority greater than any other citizen in the community. There really are no good reasons to change the terms of council members to four years, but there are several reasons why it is a bad idea.
One of the biggest reasons Sebastian should not move to four-year terms is that politicians get lazy. Access to local officials and their accountability is critical to ensuring quality citizen representation.
One can always tell when an election is near when you start seeing your elected officials appear. They attend more parades and local events. They become more vocal in support of citizen initiatives and never miss a photo op. This is very evident when dealing with our county commission, which has four-year terms.
Except for County Commissioner Laura Moss, very rarely do you see these elected officials in Sebastian attending our local events, attending council meetings, or even reaching out to council members to discuss issues important to our community—unless it’s an election year. This has, at times, trickled down to council members, whom you see more during election season; however, because we have two-year terms, they must be more present and are much more accountable.
The most important reason Sebastian should not vote for four-year terms is that sometimes we get it wrong. Sometimes, lies and trickery get bad people elected. It’s easy to remember what happened just a few years ago when three council members were elected, and the city went into chaos. Of course, there are mechanisms in place to remove council members who prove to be unfit, and that process was used in an unprecedented fashion to remove them from office.
But let’s be clear: that process would have been complicated, if not impossible if those individuals had not been so stupid as to blatantly violate the law and their oaths in front of the world.
These individuals were set on taking over the city and placing their friends in command positions such as City Manager, City Clerk, and City Attorney, and they would have been successful had they not violated the sunshine laws. Imagine what damage could have been done if they were allowed four years in office. There have been many occasions when an individual got elected to the council and lost their reelection bid after just one term because the public realized they got it wrong. Sebastian wasn’t harmed because there were five council members, and they only had two years in office, and the citizens made it right.
The citizens of our community recently decided on this issue when the charter review committee discussed it and deemed four-year terms a bad idea. The Charter Review Committee is established every eight years and is comprised of representatives of our community to discuss issues they may see with our charter.
I sat on the charter review committee in 1999, and we discussed extending terms, as has virtually every charter review committee before and since. However, for many of the reasons stated in this rant, the committees have never recommended extending the terms of the council to four years.
It can be difficult, if not uncomfortable, for council members to worry about an election every year. They don’t know who they will be working with or even if they will get their seats back. It’s not fun to be scrutinized every two years, nor a pleasure to deal with the town clowns who pop out every year. It may not be fun, but it is what they sign up for. There is a very strong incumbency advantage, and time has proven that all you must do to win reelection is to do a good job and be accountable and available to the citizens.
Sebastian is celebrating our 100th anniversary this year. To me, it is the most amazing piece of paradise there is. I truly believe that one of the things that makes it so wonderful is the level of engagement the public has in the decision-making process. An essential part of this process is having annual elections. We should never let this important process slip away. We should vote no to four-year terms.
Jim Hill
Jim Hill is the former Mayor and Council Member of Sebastian, serving the citizens for more than 20 years. This column reflects the opinion of Jim Hill.
