ACHTUNG: This is not a “fair and balanced” story. It is an editorial by the editor.
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — Albert Einstein
Such is the strange case of term limits, the phony political remedy that just won’t go away. There is plenty of evidence that term limits does not improve our system of government, yet it still enjoys many misguided advocates.
The issue was back in the local news Thursday night when Dorr Township Trustees John Tuinstra and Terri Rios trotted out their tiresome insistence that longtime public servants must be shown the door after a spell they haven’t defined well at all. How long should public officials serve? Six years, like in the State Legislature, eight years like in the State Senate and governor’s, attorney general’s and secretary of state’s chairs?
Dorr Township Trustee Dan Weber chuckled not long ago when he asked Tuinstra if he’s thinking about running for a third four-year term on the Township Board next year. If he does, and he wins, he will serve 12 years, twice as many as state legislators under term limits and four more years than senators.
That brings back the striking memories of the ringleader of the successful term limits movement in Michigan about 25 years ago, Glen Steil, who himself was elected state senator and was limited to two four-year terms. As he walked out the door, he admitted that maybe term limits wasn’t such a good idea after all.
As Republican State Rep. Jack O’Malley suggested at Wayland City Hall earlier this month, term limits, since adopted, has increased the power of lobbyists and bureaucrats while diminishing the power of duly-elected representatives.
Furthermore, it creates a system in which quality work over time is rewarded by sending the employee home. Even worse, it artificially limits the power of the people at the ballot box, who should be given the right to decide when they have tired of a long-serving official.
To be sure, term limits proponents have long pointed to worn out public officials like Democratic Congressman John Dingell or Republican Fred Upton. But they forget that in 1992 U.S. Rep. Guy VanderJagt represented this area for more than two decades in Washington D.C. before the voters in the 2nd District threw him out in favor of Peter Hoekstra.
That’s my idea of the best way to throw the rascals out. Indeed, it really isn’t easy because incumbents have ridiculous advantages, such as a complicit biased press, name recognition and large war chests for their doing the bidding of their rich donors.
But I submit if we are dumb enough to keep electing these Bozos over and over again, we are the problem because we haven’t taken the time to educate ourselves about the candidates or the issues.
My earliest recollection of term limits in American history is President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s proposal to have all Supreme Court justices retire at age 70. His plan to pack the court was poorly received and he had to back off.
Not long after FDR died, the first successful term limits campaign resulted in a constitutional amendment to limit the presidency to two four-year terms. The impetus was the election four times of FDR and the fear that without term limits we would be facing something akin to a king or an emperor.
Please note Donald J. Trump has been talking lately about serving more than eight years, he likes the job so much.
Though the issue essentially has been localized since then, such as in Michigan a quarter of a century ago, it still rears its ugly head and I still see well-meaning but misguided Facebook posts call for implementation in Congress and U.S. Senate.
But Michigan certainly has not distinguished itself in state government during this noble experiment. I submit the quality government in Lansing has deteriorated since we tossed out the likes of giants such as Paul Hillegonds and Lynn Jondahl.
Since Hillegonds was retired from his post as rep from Allegan County in 1996, we’ve been through a series of mediocre, at best, successors. The dishonor roll for these parts includes Patty Birkholz, Fulton Sheen, Bob Genetski, Ken Yonker, Steve Johnson, Tonya Schuitmaker, Rick Jones, Aric Nesbitt and Mary Whiteford.
And don’t forget Cindy Gamrat.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Term limits is a bad idea to artificially limit the will of the people. And I suspect the arguments in recent years by Dorr Township officials to get rid of Planning Chairman Bob Wagner, Vice Chairman Robert Traxler and Commissioner Larry Dolegowski actually are all about not liking them personally and their local political views rather than they’ve been there long enough.
Like Dan Weber, I’m anxious to see if Tuinstra will thumb his nose at term limits and seek another term.
Mr Young
Term limitation is a “double-edged sword.”
Using Dorr Township is a perfect example. As a growing township those “newer” to the area fail to understand how we have grown and the “pain” involved.
I doubt either Rios or Tuinstra remember or lived in the Dorr area when three important families helped shape Dorr into a growing township. Do they remember when Dorr was locally known as “the Damveld Village “…”Fifelskiville” or “Wagnerville?”
These families at different times were very instrumental in Dorr’s growth and even today their families strive to promote our effort to grow .
Mr. Young since I moved here some 50 years ago I’ve seen the evolution of four corners in a township grow. So, yes, let our votes count, those with a vendetta or revenge only last in office til the voters realize the error they made in keeping them.
Term limits for state legislative and executive offices have given a lot more power to lobbyists and the parties who hand pick crucial administrative staff for every freshman state representative and freshman state senator and strongly advise who to hire in the suceeding terms. Those same political parties exert influence on important administrative for the governor’s office, state attorney geneneral and secretary of state who are also term limited but elected on a statewide ballot.
There is little reason for bi-partasinship on any issue because its a scramble to please the powerbrokers to see who is going to be backed for upcoming elections. If you are a current MI state representative or state senator you have little or nothing to gain because there is no opportunity or incentive to develop a working relationship with a person on the other side of the aisle. At best it will be short lived because of term limits. At worst you are now on the wrong side of your party’s powerbrokers.
If a state representaive finishes out their 3 term limit, they may be looking at a state senate race but their state senate district has to have an open seat. If the state senate seat is on the wrong side of the calendar the prospective state representative who is looking to become a state senator for two 4 year terms may have to wait 2 or 6 years for that seat to open up to continue their state legislative career.
But don’t weep for the state representatives who get term limited. They want to stay in politics and bluntly put, they enjoy the salaries, health insurance and perks like vehicle allowances that come with county jobs. Plus there’s a major bonus. Counties don’t have term limits. If they so desire, they can be career politicians in jobs that pay at or more than the state legislative jobs they had to leave. There are also multiple cases of former state representatives and senators becoming city commisioners if lobbying jobs can’t be found.
Three examples.
Current Allegan County Clerk Bob Genetski served as MI 80 then MI 88 state rep for 3 terms. But the state senate job wasn’t open so Genetski ran for and won the Allegan County Clerk race which is a 4 year term of office.
Current Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons was term limited out of the MI House and never skipped a beat leaving her state representative job on 1 January and sworn into her new job with the county with a higher salary. She even took the time in 2018 to be Bill Schutte’s running mate as Lt Governor but it was a no risk race since she won’t be up for re-election in Kent County until 2020.
Ken Yonker was also term limited (Steve Johnson currently is the state represenative for MI 72) so Mr. Yonker ran for and won the Kent County Drain commisioner race.
I would like to see term limits exist for the state executive branch like we see at the Federal level and that’s it. For the rest, let the voters decide. In the case of local boards, if you don’t like a person or persons on a board or commission, then get involved, put your hat in the ring and be one of the citizens to take their seat. If you don’t vote, don’t bitch. Same goes for boards/commissions.