Temecula Voters To Decide If City Council Term Limits Are Needed

TEMECULA, CA — In November 2024, Temecula voters will be asked to decide whether term limits should be imposed on City Councilmembers. Whatever happens, it will take years before the impact of term limits might be felt in the city.

With a 4-1 City Council vote Tuesday night, a draft is being crafted at City Hall to spell out a measure for the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election ballot in Temecula. Mayor Zak Schwank cast the opposing vote. The draft language will first need to come back to City Council for approval.

Some things are already known. Voters will decide whether Temecula City Council members should only serve up to three, four-year terms for a total of 12 years in office. The terms do not have to be consecutive and can span a lifetime.

If passed, the measure would not be retroactive, so there is a lot of time left for current City Council members to serve if they choose to run for reelection and are successful in their bids. With no retroactive clause, the door would also be open for former City Councilmembers to serve if they make a successful run. It doesn't matter how long they served previously. Even stalwarts like Maryann Edwards who sat on the council for more than 15 years could jump back in and, if successful, serve another dozen years.

With a voter-approved measure, all five current City Councilmembers would each serve more than 12 years if they decide to run for subsequent reelections and are successful.

For example, the two newest City Council members, Brenden Kalfus and Curtis Brown, were first elected in 2022. They will be up for reelection in 2026 — and that's when the clock starts ticking for them. They could each serve three additional four-year terms over the course of their lives if successfully reelected. In this scenario, each would serve a total of 16 years in office.

Councilmember Jessica Alexander is up for reelection in 2024. She's in her first term, so she could serve three more terms if she desired and were successful in her reelection bids. If that played out, she too would serve a total of 16 years.

Mayor Zak Schwank could serve another 12 years over the course of his life beginning in 2026, which is when he is up for reelection. He has already served one full term (2018-2022) and is now in his second. Theoretically, he could serve five terms — 20 years total — if he wanted to and were successful in his reelection bids. He told the audience Tuesday night that he has no desire to be in office that long.

Mayor Pro Tem James "Stew" Stewart could also serve five terms total if he desired and were successful in each reelection bid. Stewart was first elected to City Council in 2016.

The process of putting the measure on the ballot will cost taxpayers, although the figure was not discussed Tuesday night.

Kalfus brought the issue of terms limits forward. In arguing for them, he said Tuesday, "I truly believe that after too much time in office, there is just the potential to develop special interests and develop relationships. ... politicians have the possibility and the opportunity to cater to those interests and relationships more than catering to people that voted them in."

Experience and building relationships with regional officials benefit the city, Schwank countered. Temecula had a "solid council for a number of years" and those people helped make the city what it is today, he continued.

State and federal government move at a snail's pace, so getting big projects done in Temecula takes time, expertise and trusting relationships, Schwank said. He pointed to Tuesday morning's groundbreaking for the $138.7 million Interstate 15/French Valley Parkway Improvement project (second phase). The project is the largest in Temecula's history and promises to relieve the freeway's northbound chokepoint at Winchester Road. It was 20 years in the making with work from former longtime City Councilmembers.

"Fresh ideas don't always equal good ideas," Schwank countered to arguments of needing a constant churn of "fresh blood" on City Council.

Despite voting in favor of term limits, Stewart said he didn't think they were needed in Temecula and he agreed with Schwank on several points.

"It is a long learning curve," Stewart said of serving the city.

Constituents aren't calling or emailing him about term limits, Schwank said.

Five people provided public comment Tuesday in support of term limits; none were opposed.

"It's a small pocket of people" who are voicing support for this, the mayor said, while acknowledging that the issue is a political hot-button and the measure will likely pass next year.

He conceded, "I think we limit ourselves with term limits. ... we're doing a disservice to our city."

Seven out of Riverside County's 28 cities have established term limits for City Councilmembers: Corona, Hemet, Indian Wells, Menifee, Moreno Valley, Murrieta and Perris.