Allegheny County Council voted this week to let voters decide whether to place term limits on the county executive, members of council and row officers including the district attorney, sheriff, controller and treasurer.
County Executive Sara Innamorato plans to sign the legislation, according to a spokeswoman. That would clear the way for three questions to be placed on the November ballot asking voters if they support limiting the county executive, council members and row officers, respectively, to 12 years or three terms in office.
If voters support term limits, the measure would take effect Jan. 1. Those now in office could serve up to 12 additional years from that point.
The legislation — sponsored by Council President Patrick Catena and members Bethany Hallam, Dan Grzybek, Alex Rose, Kathleen Madonna-Emmerling and Suzanne Filiaggi — claims that term limits, if enacted, could prevent county government from becoming stagnant.
“Such stagnation greatly limits or eliminates diversity, participation, efficiency, vision and creativity in county government,” the legislation reads.
The measure passed on a 10-4 vote following about a half-hour of discussion.
Some critics said they viewed the legislation as a retaliatory measure to try to remove people they oppose from office, though they didn’t offer specifics and proponents disputed the claim.
“This is not personal for me, this is business,” Filiaggi said prior to the vote, adding that term limits are a hot-button issue for many of her constituents. “We are not making a decision. We are giving the decision and the power to the voters.”
Several council members said they felt term limits are unnecessary.
“If someone out there does a better job than me or feels that I’m not doing my job, then vote me out. We have elections for that reason,” said Councilman Bob Palmosina, who is in his third term.
“For you to put a time limit on yourself for doing something good for your community, I find that difficult to swallow because if you love what you do, you shouldn’t say I’m just going to do it for a little while,” added Councilman Nick Futules, who has served on council for 18 years.
Proponents argued that 12 years is more than enough time to make an impact.
“Each of us has such a limited background and policy knowledge base. Twelve years is more than enough time to accomplish whatever your legislative agenda is. If you can’t pass that agenda in 12 years, more time isn’t the answer,” said Grzybek, who was elected to council in 2023.
“It’s good to draw more people into the process itself. It’s good to open the doors to new ideas and new perspectives. There’s something healthy about that,” said Councilman Paul Klein, who has served on council since 2016.