Watsonville City Council to consider proposal to extend term limits

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A Watsonville city councilmember wants to extend term limits for the elected officials who lead his city. 

City Councilmember Eduardo Montesino plans to propose increasing the number of consecutive terms an elected official can serve during Tuesday’s meeting, according to Councilmember Casey Clark. Montesino told Lookout on Monday that he was not available for an interview for this story. 

Currently, councilmembers can serve up to two consecutive four-year terms. Local politicians are eligible to run for office two years after finishing up the second term, according to the Watsonville city charter. Changes to the charter must be approved by voters. 

Clark said Montesino has brought up the idea of a third term for city councilmembers before, and that he was not surprised his colleague is bringing this item forward for discussion. 

Clark added that he is proceeding with caution on this proposal because there was no information provided before the city council meeting. He also wants to hear what his colleagues have to say. Montesino is set to give an oral report to his fellow city councilmembers on Tuesday evening. 

Allowing a third term could be beneficial to the community, said Clark. During the first four years, councilmembers are typically laying the foundational work for projects or change, he said, and by the second term, they are able to get things done. 

“Sometimes you can get lightning to strike and get something, and watch it through its completion,” Clark said. Because of the bureaucratic process, some projects take longer than expected, and some people want to be on the city council when those projects finally come to fruition, he said. 

Clark said he supports changes to city governance that increase diversity and representation — for example, the switch to a rotating mayoral position in 2014 so each councilmember from each of Watsonville’s seven districts had a turn serving as mayor. Before that, “there was no real diversity, and it kind of became a monopoly,” he said, because the councilmembers elected one of their own to serve as mayor. 

The most recent time there were changes to Watsonville’s city council was in 2014 with Measure I, which established the rotating mayoral role. 

Other jurisdictions in Santa Cruz County, such as Santa Cruz and Capitola, also allow elected officials to serve two consecutive four-year terms. The Scotts Valley City Council does not have term limits. 

At the county level, the board of supervisors is not restricted by term limits, but in 2022, former District 4 supervisor Greg Caput, who also served as a city councilmember in Watsonville, proposed a three-term limit. The rest of the board voted against his proposal. 

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