Voters could have chance to put term limits on county council members

Allegheny County Council will consider an ordinance that would allow voters to place term limits on members of the legislative body.

At present, council members are elected for four-year terms but without term limits.

Councilman Nick Futules, D-Oakmont, plans to introduce the ordinance at council’s Tuesday meeting.

If passed by council, the ordinance would create a referendum question that would appear on ballots during the November 2020 general election.

“Ultimately, it’s not our decision,” Futules said. “Our decision is only to allow it to get on the ballot. The people are going to make the decision.”

The change would amend the Home Rule Charter, which outlines how county government works, to limit council members’ service to three terms, according to a draft of the ordinance.

Council members who have served more than that are not necessarily less capable, said Futules, who is starting his fourth term on council.

“But sometimes they become stagnant,” he said. “They become complacent on their position and take it more for granted.”

Council members are paid $10,939 per year and have individual expense accounts in the amount of $3,646, according to the terms of a pay raise voted on by council in 2016 that takes effect this year.

Futules was one of seven incumbent council members sworn in Jan. 2.

“Do I want to be here forever too? The answer is no, I don’t,” Futules said. “I think it’s OK to let someone else have a chance.”

Three new members — Tom Duerr, D-Bethel Park; Olivia Bennett, D-Northview Heights, and Bethany Hallam, a Democrat from Ross who serves as one of two at-large representatives — were also sworn in earlier this month.

Hallam unseated John DeFazio, D-Shaler, who had served on council for 20 years, in the May 2019 primary.

“They’re very boisterous so far, and they’ve got great ideas, and they want to do things,” Futules said of the new members. “Twelve years from now, they might not want to do so much.”

Futules will also introduce an ordinance that would create a separate referendum question that would allow voters to decide whether council members should be allowed to run for a different elected office without resigning from their council seat.

The ordinances will be assigned to a committee and reviewed before they are voted on by council.

These ordinances would bring requirements for county council members in line with those laid out in the Home Rule Charter for the county executive position.

The county executive is limited to three terms and may run for other elective offices while holding the position.

Rich Fitzgerald, who served on county council before he was elected to county executive in 2012, was sworn in to his third and final term in the role Jan. 2.

Council’s Tuesday meeting begins at 5 p.m. in the Gold Room of the Allegheny County Courthouse.