Fort Collins – Voters in 10 Colorado counties will be asked Nov. 1 to extend or eliminate term limits for local public officials, including in Larimer County, where a similar proposal was defeated in 2001.
But longtime Larimer Republican Ed Haynes believes county voters this year won’t let veteran officials such as Sheriff Jim Alderden leave office just because of the term-limit law.
“These people are trained and become skilled in their position, and after eight years, we have to throw them out. … That just doesn’t make sense to a lot of people,” Haynes said.
County voters will be asked to increase terms limits for elected officials from two four-year terms to three. The proposal will cover sheriff, all three commissioners, assessor, clerk and recorder, surveyor and treasurer.
In Costilla and Elbert counties, voters may waive term limits altogether for most of their elected officials.
To date, 49 of Colorado’s 64 counties have lifted term limits for one or more elected officials, according to Colorado Counties Inc. And 21 counties have ended term limits for every official.
But Colorado’s term-limit law – approved in 1994 by a statewide vote – still appeals to many voters because it doesn’t allow elected officials to become too entrenched in their jobs, officials say.
A statewide ballot measure in 2002 aimed at erasing term limits for district attorneys was defeated. And a term-limit proposal in Larimer County a year earlier also failed.
“I find it imprudent for elected officials to attempt to undo citizen initiatives, especially those that have the high level of voter support that term limits do,” Larimer Commissioner Karen Wagner said.
She voted against putting the current measure – Issue 1A – on the Larimer ballot. But Wagner, a Democrat, was outvoted by the two Republican commissioners.
She claims the vote is aimed at securing another four-year stint for Alderden, whose second term ends in November 2006.
“Unfortunately, this ballot issue is more about personalities and individual officials (such as the sheriff) than it is about effective government,” Wagner said. “I expect that voters will look at it no differently than previous efforts to remove term limits and vote it down.”
Term limits should be applied to state lawmakers to prevent them from becoming too powerful, Haynes said. But local officials need the time to gain experience in their positions to better serve residents.
He added: “Voters need to get the chance to decide whether they want to keep good, competent officials.”
Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
