The Mission Viejo City Council will vote next week on scrapping term limits for residents appointed to city commissions.
Commissioners are appointed by councilors and are limited to three two-year terms. The potential rule would remove the cap on the number of terms a commissioner can serve.
However, commissioners would still need to be re-appointed in a majority vote by the council every two years.
The council voted 4–1 to advance the proposal on Jan. 24, with Councilmember Cynthia Vasquez dissenting.
Vasquez said she was concerned the proposed rule would discourage residents from applying for a commission position.
The proposed policy “discourages potential applicants with new ideas and different perspectives,” Vasquez said at the meeting.
She said the policy may cause residents to think the same city councilors will consistently vote in the same commissioners, “which makes it very difficult for new people to be brought on.”
Other councilors did not comment on the matter at the time. However, at the prior meeting on Jan. 10, when the policy was proposed, Councilwoman Trish Kelley said she didn’t want to limit “talented commissioners” to just six years with term limits.
“What I don’t want to do is close the door on talented commissioners who are doing a good job, who have the experience and have their arms wrapped around the issues of the city and just mandatorily [take] them off because their six years [are] up,” Kelley said.
The city currently has three commissions: the Community Services Commission, which advises the council on the development and maintenance of parks and recreation services; the Investment Advisory Commission, which oversees the city’s investment programs; and the Planning and Transportation Commission, which advises the council on land use and planning.
Both the Community Services Commission and the Investment Advisory Commission have five seats, while the Planning and Transportation Commission has seven.
Under the proposed policy, any councilor could appoint commissioners from any district in the city, instead of appointing only residents from within their own district.
The term limits proposal will return for a final vote before the board on Feb. 14. If approved, the rule will go into effect 30 days after the vote.
