SELMA – In addition to selecting who they’d like to represent them on the city council this November, Selma residents will determine how many consecutive terms they want council members to serve.
On the general election ballot, Measure T asks a simple question: “Shall a measure establishing term limits for Selma Mayor and City Council members be adopted?” However, the actual ordinance that would be passed is slightly more complex.
Instead of fully limiting how long a resident can serve on the Selma City Council, the ordinance would restrict how many consecutive terms a person can serve as both a council member and as mayor before they have to take a break.
Specifically, council members would be restricted to two terms in office for a total of up to eight years. While a regular term is four years, the ordinance stipulates that in the event a council member serves for a shorter period — such as if they fill a seat caused by a vacancy — it will be counted as a full term if they sit on the council for at least two years. Council members would then be required to take at least two terms “off” before they are eligible to run again.
The proposed term limits for mayor would be the same — a two-term limit — although the mayor only serves two-year terms. Any person who serves as mayor for at least one year would be considered to have served a full term.
With the structure of the council, the positions of council member and mayor are considered to be separate political offices, so a person would not be restricted from serving in a different position immediately after their original two terms are up. The ordinance does state, however, that time spent serving in a separate position on the council does not count as a term off from the other position.
This means that someone could serve as mayor for two terms, or four years, and then immediately serve as a council member for either four or eight years, but they would not be able to serve as mayor again following their time as a council member.
According to a previous report by the Mid Valley Times, the topic of a term limit measure came up by request of Mayor pro tem Beverly Cho at a council meeting in August 2023. The council voted 3-2 to place the ordinance on the ballot at its Dec. 4, 2023, meeting; Mayor Scott Robertson and Councilmember Sarah Guerra voted against the action.
If passed, term limits would not be imposed retroactively, but they would be counted beginning from the November election. This means that of the individuals who win the seats of mayor and council Districts 1 and 4, their term limit clock would begin with the term that officially starts after the election. For the council members in Districts 2 and 3, whose term does not end until November 2026, the term limit clock would begin after that election.
No arguments for or against the ballot measure were submitted to the Fresno County Registrar of Voters. Measure T will require a simple majority to pass.
