WASHINGTON — Voters in Montgomery County, Maryland, want a change in leadership. By approving term limits on County Council members Tuesday, residents decided this will be the last go-round for four senior council members.
Voters on Tuesday passed Question B with 69 percent of the vote, thus limiting the time the county executive and County Council members can remain in office to three consecutive terms.
“If you combine raising taxes, and the anger and energy that exists, as was made evident in this election, it’s hardly surprising that a protest would take place in this form,” said Council Vice President Roger Berliner (D-District 1).
The change does not affect Berliner, who had previously announced his plans to step down after 12 years in office. But it will prohibit three other Democratic council members from seeking another term: Nancy Floreen, George Leventhal and Marc Elrich.
Derrick Leon Davis, chairman of the Prince George’s County Council, said he was conflicted on learning of the voters’ decision in neighboring Montgomery, and hopes it does not spread like ivy.
“I think it creates complacency. It makes it so that people often neglect to vote out folks who aren’t doing a good job. They just wait for them to leave; it’s not a good idea,” he said.
Davis said that when he was at the polls Tuesday, the issue came up in conversation with a group of voters. He said he told them term limits are already in residents’ hands: their votes.
