Term limits up again

Local News

October 6, 2011

Chapman presses issue

By Joyce Miles The Journal-Register The Lockport Union-Sun %26 Journal Thu Oct 06, 2011, 01:54 AM EDT

LOCKPORT — The Common Council will hold another public hearing on a proposed term-limits law this month.

Council members unanimously approved a motion Wednesday by 4th Ward Alderman Andy Chapman calling on the city attorney to draft a local law specifying term limits for the mayor and aldermen.

City Attorney John Ottaviano said he’ll simply re-post the proposed law that Chapman suggested last year, which calls for the mayor to take a break from the office after two consecutive terms/8 years and aldermen to take a break after three consecutive terms/6 years.

That proposed law, introduced by Chapman in February 2010, never went to a Council vote. After the requisite public hearing, a majority of the aldermen voted to table the matter, that is, indefinitely postpone an up-or-down vote on enactment. Last month, Chapman couldn’t get a majority vote to un-table it and proceed to a vote, so now he’s moving to treat the proposal as brand new business before the Council.

The public hearing on the term limits law will be held Oct. 19.

Absent Council approval of term limits, the only way to enact them is by petitioning the state Legislature to let the city hold a referendum on the question, according to Ottaviano. State law does not authorize a public vote on term limits, so the city would have to get permission from the state.

In other business Wednesday, the Council approved a series of bond authorizations to raise up to $2.3 million for various projects and purchases already undertaken by the city. Bonds are debts to be repaid by the city over a term, in this case one to seven years.

The money will cover the tab for facilities improvements at the water filtration plant and other municipal properties, the city’s commission of 17,000 refuse and recycling carts for property owners in the new Modern Disposal collection plan, the balance of a new fire truck, financial management software, and reconstruction of the sewer main on Transit Street that collapsed in late May.

Given the city’s best-ever bond ratings and historically low interest rates, Treasurer Mike White said there’s no better time than the present for the city to take on some debt for needed capital improvements. The city hasn’t incurred any new debt the past four years and retired some old debts in that period. In addition, White said previously, the city is nowhere near its constitutional debt limit; while it could legally carry a debt load of $48 million, it presently has one-tenth of that, $4.8 million, in obligations.

After January, when the city has more cash in reserve, White said he’ll return to the Council seeking the OK to borrow another $4.5 million, to pay for pending needed projects including roof and wall repairs at City Hall, the highway department salt barn, the water and wastewater treatment plants; heavy equipment for public works; and a new phone system for city offices. Interest rates on bonds are expected to remain low into next year, he said.

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