Support for imposing term limits on Allegheny County officials has become a bipartisan issue, despite concerns from experts that the move could weaken accountability.
“Term limits are not a partisan issue,” said Lisa Buckiso, chair of the West Jefferson Hills Republican Committee. “I think it’s a good thing.”
The proposal, approved by Allegheny County Council last week in a 10-4 vote, will go before voters in separate ballot questions in November. Voters will be asked whether they want to establish three-term limits on the county executive, members of council and row officers, including the county controller, district attorney, sheriff and treasurer.
County council is a 15-member board made up of 13 district representatives and two at-large members serving four-year terms.
The county’s Home Rule Charter does not limit the number of terms a member can serve.
Council’s longest-serving member, Bob Macy, retired last year after nearly 20 years representing District 9, which makes up most of the Mon Valley. Of the current members, nearly half have assumed office in the last few years.
Should the ballot initiative gain enough votes to pass in November, Allegheny County would be the first in Southwestern Pennsylvania to impose term limits on its local governing body.
Several Pennsylvania counties have term limits on their local offices, including Luzerne and Lehigh counties in eastern Pennsylvania and Erie County.
Under Luzerne’s Home Rule Charter, in effect since 2010, the three county council members are subject to a limit of three consecutive terms.
In Northampton, voters approved alterations to its Home Rule Charter in 2024 to cap its county council at three four-year terms for council, along with four four-year terms for district attorney and two consecutive four-year terms for county executive and controller.
Buckiso said 12 years is “sufficient” time to enact legislation at the local level.
“Incumbency is a big thing,” she said. “There’s just an advantage built in … so term limits will limit that, which is a good thing in my opinion and will attract more candidates.”
Cory Roma, political director for the Young Democrats of Allegheny County, said he supports term limits, in part, because incumbents can accumulate so much political power over time that it becomes difficult for new candidates to gain traction.
“Incumbents who have become well-known names, for one reason or another, it has an entrenched effect that is difficult to overcome for newcomers or smaller political names who may be interested in running for a seat, and oftentimes that deters them from taking that big step,” Roma said.
John Schnaedter, executive director of the Republican Committee of Allegheny County, said term limits represent a “meaningful step toward restoring accountability and encouraging fresh leadership in county government.”
“For too long, entrenched incumbency has limited opportunities for new voices and ideas to emerge,” Schnaedter said. “Term limits help ensure that public service remains exactly that — service to the people, not a permanent career.”
‘We have elections for a reason’
Anthony Fowler, a public policy professor at the University of Chicago, said term limits ultimately could have the opposite effect and weaken accountability.
“Reelection is the way that we can typically get accountability,” he said. “If you really wanted accountability, you would say let’s not have term limits, but let’s have voters pay attention and vote out the candidates they think are doing a bad job.”
Nick Futules, who for 18 years has represented District 7, which spans across Fawn and Penn Hills, shared Fowler’s sentiment during this month’s county council meeting, when the term limits proposal was added to the November ballot.
“Somebody tell me what is broken with county government that needs to be fixed,” he said.
“We have elections for a reason,” said District 12 Councilman Bob Palmosina, who was elected in 2018 to represent the southwestern suburbs of Pittsburgh. “If (the voters) like what (elected officials) are doing and they’re doing a good job, they should stay and they should run again. If the voters do not think they’re doing a good job — including myself — vote me out.”
‘Term limits make sense’
Proponents of term limits argue that incorporating fresh perspectives will broaden council’s diversity and allow for lawmakers who more accurately represent their constituents.
“There is one Black person in the entirety of county government despite the African American community making up about 15% to 20% of the county population,” Roma said. “There’s a lot of work still to go in expanding minority representation and making the county more reflective in that sense … and term limits could be a tool to combat that issue.”
While the U.S. presidency is limited to two terms, members of Congress have no limit on the amount of times they can run for reelection. The current congressional delegation is the third-oldest in the nation’s history, with two dozen members of Congress older than 80.
“We are essentially a gerontocracy at this point,” Erin Belitskus, chair of the Brentwood Democratic Committee, said about federal representation. “Term limits make sense at the local level because issues are smaller in scale than the federal government,” where Belitskus said she understands the arguments for retaining institutional knowledge through a long-term officeholder.
“I think what it comes down to is if you have 12 years (in county office) and you’re not able to pull together different constituent groups and form strategic relations to pass your agenda and your priorities, I don’t think the problem is that you need more time,” she said.
Casey Burgat, the director of legislative affairs for the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management, said term limits often undermine the very outcomes their supporters hope to achieve.
“A lot of the things that term limits are proposed to fix, they’ll actually make worse and probably speed them up,” Burgat said. “It will make polarization worse. … It does nothing to change the diversity or even the age of politicians.”
When term limits push out incumbents, they empower outside influence, like lobbyists and bureaucrats.
“So despite the best intentions, we see that it actually makes a lot of those things worse,” he said.
Row offices
The initial proposal before Allegheny County Council had not included row office positions, but lengthy, combative discussions resulted in the roles being added to the final initiative that passed April 14.
Speaking at the March 31 county council meeting on behalf of the sheriff’s office, Chief Deputy Richard Manning argued his office shouldn’t be considered a legislative body. Such bodies are “designed for turnover, debate, shifting priorities and addressing the temporary passions of the public,” he said.
“Stability in this position is not a flaw,” Manning said.
On behalf of the district attorney’s office, First Assistant DA Rebecca Spangler suggested a more reasonable term limit for the DA would be closer to 20 years instead of 12.
The county controller role previously was held by Corey O’Connor until he assumed his mayoral role in Pittsburgh in January. The seat is currently being held by acting Controller Amy Weise Clements. Clements did not return a call for comment.
The only row office member to speak in support of term limits was Treasurer Erica Rocchi Brusselars.
“Fresh perspectives are not a disruption,” she said. “They’re how we improve our services, modernize systems and provide the best possible service.”