State College Borough Council voted Monday to add an option on the November ballot for voters to reverse a 1999 amendment limiting council members' terms.
At Monday's meeting, five out of the seven council members voted in favor of adding a referendum to the Nov. 4 ballot asking voters if they want to get rid of the council's term limits. Council members are currently limited to no more than two terms.
Council member Silvi Lawrence voted in favor of the referendum.
"It should be up to the public to decide whether they want someone to continue," she said.
James Rosenberger and Ronald Filippelli were the only dissenting council members.
Rosenberger said he has no interest in serving more terms than he is allowed, and Filippelli said he is against term limits, but thinks allowing current council members to benefit from the amendment would look unfair. The council concluded changing the language of the proposal to fit Filippelli's suggestion would create a difficult-to-understand question.
In 1999, then-council member James Meyer turned in a petition signed by 359 Centre County residents asking for an amendment to the borough's home rule charter, which had allowed council members to seek unlimited terms. The proposal was approved by the board and put on the November 1999 ballot.
Centre County citizens voted in favor of the amendment, which introduced term limits, and was added to the charter, according to Daily Collegian archives.
Because changing term limits involves changes to the home rule charter, the issue must become a referendum on the November ballot. The board cannot simply make the change themselves, according to Collegian archives.
President Elizabeth Goreham opposed term limits in 1999 but asked to abstain from voting Monday night because she has no plans to run for another term. The council told her she could not abstain, and she voted in favor of the referendum.
Council member Theresa D. Lafer summed up the overriding opinion of the council.
"I hope that if you're not happy, you'd just vote somebody else in," she said, as other council members nodded in agreement.
