County Executive Waiting for Response from Council on Term Limit Proposal

    November 29, 2012 - The Erie County Executive is asking Erie County Council to respond to his term limit proposal.  

    Erie County Executive Barry Grossman says council has had enough time to re-visit the term limit proposal.

    Now he wants them to say yes or no.

    CountyExecutive Grossman sent a proposed amendment to council in October, councilman Joe Giles asked for a thirty day extension to review the proposal.

    Grossman is trying to get the term limit issue on the ballot for the May primary.

    Grossman wants the office of the county executive, members of county council, the district attorney, the county sheriff, coroner, controller and the clerk of records to have a three term limit.

    Dr. Michael Federici, political science professor at MercyhurstUniversity, says that one of the purposes of having term limits is to prevent entrenched incumbency.

"You have the absence of new ideas, new ways of doing things, they may represent certain interests and constituency that have too much influence," said Federici.

    Federici adds that a positive to long standing council members is that they gain experience and wisdom after being in office for a long time.

    CountyExecutive Grossman says that he is expecting a response from council today that will reject his proposal.