PARAMUS, NJ - A resident has started a petition on Facebook to encourage term limits for local government to "have an important effect on the way residents perceive our government and, with any luck, in the way our public officials work together."
Joe Cofone, the resident who launched the idea, said, "The hope is that this movement will create a groundswell with future implications for higher levels of government, as well."
Cofone said he has lived in Paramus for 45 years and his wife is a lifelong resident. He assured others he was not putting out the petition as "an appeal for money. Nor [as] an endorsement, repudiation, or condemnation of any political party, candidate, or any person who presently serves or formerly served as mayor, member of the borough council, or as an officer or member of the Board of Education.
"Finally," Cofone said, "this petition is not being presented in pursuit of seeking public office."
Cofone said he needs the "backing of the majority of the Paramus residents who are registered or eligible to vote. The support of our current political leaders would also go a long way in bringing about this change."
Cofone explanation is about recent "political acrimony, hypocrisy and dysfunction."
"The move to term limits is but a small step in a serious and well-meaning attempt to restore sanity, civility, respect, and reasonableness to our system of governance," he said.
"I believe term limits would make for better government and here is why:
1. It gives more people an opportunity to become involved in government.
2. A regular change in leadership increases the possibility for the introduction of new and possibly better ideas.
3. After too many years in office, people become complacent, inertia sets in, and they are less likely to seek compromise. This can lead to long-term stagnation and political in-fighting.
4. Term limits can promote cooperation. With term limits, people know that they have only a certain amount of time to get important initiatives completed. If they really want to achieve their goals, they will have to learn how to compromise and arrive at a consensus. Consensus is an assurance that the best interests of the citizens come first.
5. Term limits minimize the potential for political dynasties. It also reduces the possibility that long-lived acrimonious relationships will form and continue.
6. Term limits will help to restore and reaffirm people’s faith in government. It is also a good first step in reestablishing respect for those fellow citizens who devote valuable time and make a sincere effort of serving in public by holding elected office.
Cofone explains the reason he thinks it needs to be done in Paramus:
"Term limits cannot be left for upper levels of government to bring about, though it is certainly needed there more than at the local level. The will and the power of the people should always supersede those of political parties. However, the parties and politicians that are long entrenched view term limits as a threat to their power and would probably never support or allow such a change. Since we can’t rely on a change to term limits happening at upper levels of government, i.e., from the top down, maybe we can affect this important change working from the bottom up. Hence, the move to start this at the local level. And what better place to launch this idea than our beloved Paramus. It is my hope that the great people of Paramus will lead the way to common sense and better government and I believe the adoption of term limits is the right first step to get us there."
Visit Joe Cofone on his Facebook page to find the petition.
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February 04, 2021 at 11:55PM
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Paramus Resident Starts Petition to Institute Term Limits - TAPinto.net
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