This is a bit of a surprise.
The Houston City Council today surprised Mayor Annise Parker and rejected a proposal to change the terms to which city officials are elected from three, two-year terms to two, four-year terms.
The seven council members who voted against the charter amendment, which would have been put to voters on the November ballot, said they did not see a need for it and did not believe it would pass without an advocate to champion the change.
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The measure failed on a 7-7 vote, with Councilwoman Jolanda Jones absent for a family obligation. Council members Costello, Anne Clutterbuck, Ed Gonzalez, James Rodriguez, Sue Lovell, Melissa Noriega and C.O. Bradford voted against the amendment. Parker, Brenda Stardig, Jarvis Johnson, Wanda Adams, Mike Sullivan, Al Hoang and Oliver Pennington voted for it.
I wonder how CM Jones would have voted. I’m not unhappy about this result – you know how I feel about term limits, and how little a difference I thought this would make – I’m just curious. I note that support and opposition to the proposal was across the board ideologically, which is probably a reflection of Mayor Parker’s ambivalence about it. All I know is I’m fine with there being one less referendum on the ballot.