The Onondaga County Legislature on Tuesday passed a new local law which would limit the county executive and comptroller to three four-year terms in office. County Executive Ryan McMahon still needs to sign it into law. “Term limits are important because they prevent the entrenchment of politi cal power,” said Majority Leader Nodesia Hernandez, the bill’s sponsor, as she introduced it. The bill passed 11-6, with Legislator Ken Bush siding with Democrats to pass the legislation. Should McMahon veto the bill, the legislature would need a two-thirds majority, or 12 total votes, to override his veto. McMahon has expressed a preference for another bill, brought by Republicans, which would give the roles a 16-year limit instead of 12.  The bill would not take effect until the county executive and county comptroller elections are held in even years in 2030. That means McMahon could theoretically serve until 2042 under the 12-year bill, or 2046 under the 16-year bill. McMahon says his preference is not based on his own desire to remain in power until that time but rather his concern that 12 years will not be enough for future county executives to finish projects. He argues that voters naturally limit leaders’ terms through elections. “I don’t see this impacting the current county executive at all,” said Legislator Dave Knapp, who sponsored the 16-year law. “We’re changing the charter forever, and forever is a long time. And so we have to look down the road. We have to anticipate what could happen in a hundred years, for example, not just what’s going on right now.”  Democrats argued that good ideas will transcend administration changes. “Any idea that is that good [like Micron] can transcend administrations,” said Legislator Gregg Eriksen. “A good idea is not dependent on one person or another.”  Four bills related to term limits have come through the legislature in the last two months. Last year, the legislature voted to limit legislators to three four-year terms, with plans to later limit the county executive and comptroller. After the county executive signed that bill, about 72% of voters approved the measure. Republicans fought Democrats’ earlier version of the local law that did not include term limits for the county comptroller, arguing that the county comptroller should be limited in the same bill. Current Comptroller Marty Masterpole is a Democrat, while McMahon is a Republican, inspiring complaints of partisanship.  Democrats proposed a second local law that would limit the county comptroller to the same 12 years. Ultimately, McMahon vetoed the first bill, saying he would only sign a bill that limited both roles at once.  Both Democrats and Republicans drafted new legislation to limit the county executive and comptroller at the same time. Both groups say they agree with the premise that term limits should exist but disagree on the length of time. In arguments during a committee meeting last month, Republicans argued that their four-term bill would be passable as the county executive supported it. Democrats argued that it would not matter if he supported a bill so long as a supermajority of legislators did.  Democrats argued the county executive should serve the same length of time that legislators do. “Do we want to set one standard for one branch of government and a separate and different standard for the other branch of government?” asked Legislator Jeremiah Thompson. “I would argue that we don’t. If these are two co-equal branches of government, the terms should be the same.”  Republicans argued that the Democrats failed to follow good political process by not conferring with legislature Republicans nor the McMahon in drafting the law. Republicans accused Democrats of trying to score political points.  After passing the Democrats’ law, Legislator Elaine Denton briefly proposed postponing voting on the Republicans’ law until the next legislative session in August. The motion caused uproar.  After a ten-minute recess, Denton retracted her motion. In a vote, the four-term legislation failed to pass. Two legislators broke with their parties. Dan Romeo, a Democrat, voted in favor of both laws. Republican Ken Bush supported the three-term legislation and voted against the four-term legislation. The post Onondaga County Legislature passes three term limit for county executive, comptroller appeared first on Central Current. ...read more read less