Voters in Laguna Beach will decide next year whether those sitting on the City Council dias should be limited by how many terms they can serve.
The question that will appear on the November ballot is whether councilmembers should be limited to two consecutive terms and then have to wait a two-year hiatus before running again. Laguna Beach presently has no term limits, and in some cases, councilmembers have served as many as six consecutive terms.
The Laguna Beach City Council last week accepted the ballot initiative following a signature-gathering effort by Laguna Beach resident Michael Morris and other volunteers who collected more than 2,200 signatures earlier this year. A ballot initiative requires the signatures of 10% of the city’s registered voters, of which there are 18,179.
If the measure is adopted by more than half of the voters during the general election to be held in November, the term limits will begin applying to those who win council seats during that same election.
“It applies prospectively only, so it does not apply to any prior term that’s been served,” City Attorney Megan Garibaldi said.
Morris said the group of volunteers collected more signatures than was needed and also delivered them ahead of the prescribed date, indicating the issue is “long past due” for Laguna Beach voters.
He also said the “non-partisan support” of those willing to sign the petition demonstrates the appeal the idea of term limits for elected office holds as a means of fostering greater democratic participation.
“It reduces croninism and backroom dealing and levels the playing field for newcomers,” he said during the Dec. 9 City Council meeting.
“Our mild form of term limits, requiring only a two-year break, means that termed-out incumbents can realistically return to their previous office if their passion for serving at the level of City Council endures,” he said.
But another resident who spoke at the council meeting noted that only a few people have served more than four terms.
“Seventy-five percent of the time, incumbents are being voted out,” she said. “It doesn’t seem to be a problem here. The democratic process is to let people vote for who they want, not limit the pool. We don’t live in an Olympic-size pool like Irvine; we live in a kiddie pool. We don’t have the amount of people who can step up and do this.”
Another woman, who said she was among those who gathered signatures for the term-limit initiative, said nearly everyone she asked signed the petition.
“It brings in fresh ideas and fresh people,” she said.
Another resident said he didn’t like the idea of “erecting artificial barriers and constraints” on those who want to serve.
“Those who are wishing to serve ought to be able to continue to serve,” he said. “We don’t have an infinite number of right-minded people who want to make the tremendous sacrifice of serving on this council.”
The cost to place the ballot initiative on the 2026 general election ballot is $55,000, according to city officials, per the Orange County Registrar of Voters Office.