State lege takes up municipal term limits

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The Chronicle‘s Matt Stiles posts that Houston voters might soon get a chance to vote on revisions to the city’s term limits:

The bill, authored by state reps. Garnet Coleman and Carol Alvarado, would call for an election, allowing voters to decide whether elected officials like the mayor, City Council members and controller would be able to stay in office longer.

Those officials now can only serve a maximum of three, two-year terms. Alvarado, for example, had to leave the City Council after six years, and Mayor Bill White is being forced from office this year. The bill, which still must pass the Texas Senate, would extend that to six, two-year terms or three, four-year terms.

Stiles reports that the Texas House passed the legislation today (131-8), and that it will move on to the Texas Senate.

Term limits have been a topic of discussion at recent blogHOUSTON gatherings, and we’ve grudgingly come around to the notion that we need to retain term limits in Houston, but extend the terms. What do you think?

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Kevin Whited is co-founder and publisher of blogHOUSTON. Follow him on twitter: @PubliusTX