Mariam Aboudamous
“Exploring term limits” is an item on the American City Council’s to-do list for the coming months.
City Councilmember Mariam Aboudamous has for several years advocated term limits for the mayor and four council positions. On Tuesday, she brought up the issue again and interested a majority of her colleagues.
The City Council can't in-and-of-itself impose limits on how many four-year terms the mayor and councilmembers can hold. But it can place a measure on the ballot and allow citizens to decide.
Aboudamous, and City Councilmembers Mark Joseph and Pierre Washington voted for staff to bring back term limit options to discuss at a future meeting. Mayor Leon Garcia and City Councilmember David Oro voted “no.”
Aboudamous argued that a mayor and council members at some point should be forced to move on.
“They no longer have fresh ideas, but they will continue to get elected because of their name recognition and because of the fact they’ve built up these networks of funding and they have money in their pockets and they can do the campaigning,” she said.
She worked very hard building up name recognition to get elected to her first council term in 2016, Aboudamous said. It took less effort and less money as an incumbent in 2020, she added.
A place once dominated by sweaty, hard work is to become a place of play in American Canyon.
Washington, elected to the council in 2020 after an incumbent decided not to run, also favored the idea. Term limits give elected officials a window of opportunity to meet their objectives, he said.
“If you can’t do it, in my opinion, within two terms, it’s time for someone else to come in,” Washington said.
Garcia, first elected to the council in 2002 and as mayor in 2006, didn’t favor term limits. If people want to see someone else in the office, they can get behind that person’s campaign, he said.
“This system works,” he said.
Joseph, first elected in 2010, said he’s open to term limits. But he wants to take time to explore whether the limit should be two or three four-year terms, among other issues.
“If things are going OK, you tend to default to the incumbent,” Joseph said. “I frankly don’t think OK is always the standard we should be striving for. You don’t get bold and exciting and cutting edge when your focus is on OK.”
Oro, appointed to the council in 2017 and elected in 2018, didn’t favor term limits. But if the council goes down that route, it might also look at creating districts for council seats, he said.
The city of Napa in 2020 created districts for four city council seats while still allowing the entire city to vote on the mayor. It did so under threat of legal action with the goal of creating a more diverse council.
Perhaps some people supporting term limits are frustrated by Garcia being a long-term mayor, Oro said.
“If people wanted a change in mayor, our most recent election wouldn’t have had 63% of the people vote for him,” he said.
Aboudamous said she wasn’t attacking the mayor or saying only the mayor should have term limits. People are afraid to run against incumbents because it’s expensive and they don’t know the issues as well.
Two citizens spoke during public comments and favored the City Council creating a ballot measure for term limits.
“Incumbents, no matter how powerful or popular, cannot become indispensable,” Karina Servente told the council.
Sindy Biederman said term limits allow more minorities and women to enter the political sphere. She thanked Aboudamous, Washington and Joseph for thinking outside of themselves and for the people.
About 15% of municipalities in the United States have term limits, a city report said. Nearby cities are Pleasanton, Freemont, Dublin, Livermore, San Jose and San Leandro.
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Napa Valley Fencing Academy students at practice
Napa Valley Fencing Academy students at practice
Napa Valley Fencing Academy students at practice
Napa Valley Fencing Academy students at practice.
Napa Valley Fencing Academy students at practice
Napa Valley Fencing Academy students at practice
Napa Valley Fencing Academy students at practice
The swords have metal tips at the end to prevent injury.
Napa Valley Fencing Academy students at practice
Napa Valley Fencing Academy students at practice
Napa Valley Fencing Academy students at practice
Napa Valley Fencing Academy students at practice
Napa Valley Fencing Academy students at practice
A student holds a sword at Napa Valley Fencing Academy practice
Napa Valley Fencing Academy students at practice
Napa Valley Fencing Academy students at practice
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Gear used by the Napa Valley Fencing Academy
Napa Valley Fencing Academy students at practice
Napa Valley Fencing Academy students at practice
Jana Wick, Napa Valley Fencing Academy
Jana Wick, head coach, Napa Valley Fencing Academy
Napa Valley Fencing Academy students at practice
Napa Valley Fencing Academy students at practice
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Napa Valley Fencing Academy head coach Jana Wick helps a younger student get geared up for fencing practice.
You can reach Barry Eberling at 256-2253 or beberling@napanews.com.
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American Canyon to explore city council term limits - Napa Valley Register
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