Up until the end of 2020 the Steuben County Legislature had term limits. Legislators were limited to four, four-year terms.
After passage of a resolution aimed at increasing institutional knowledge – the legislature will run with term limits of five.
That means a legislator can serve two full-decades before another representative is mandated.
“That’s not term limits, that’s a career,” said District 12 Republican Gary Roush to The Evening Tribune.
Other legislators agreed that the trade-offs wouldn’t be worth it. Roush voted against the resolution. Three other Republicans voted against it, too.
“The way our country was established was to have representatives from the common man,” Roush added to the Tribune. “It was always viewed as being a part time, essentially volunteer thing to guide our government. It was never intended to work as a profession. Because politicians have to continue to run year after year, they’re focused more on getting reelected than serving the people to do the right thing from a government standpoint.”
RELATED READ: 20 year term limits approved by 10-5 vote in Steuben County (The Evening Tribune)
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