YORBA LINDA : Term Limit, District Plans Put on Hold

The City Council has delayed plans to establish council districts and term limits, but Councilman John M. Gullixson vowed to keep the proposals alive.

The council voted 3 to 2 Tuesday to cut funding for a study to place council districts on the June, 1992, ballot. Without the funding, a city-hired consultant will be unable to draw up proposed boundaries.

Last spring, the council called for city staff to draw up a plan in which three council members would be chosen from districts and two from at-large seats. But City Atty. Leonard Hampel said that there are doubts whether such a proposal would be legal under state law. Instead, the city was limited to having five districts and no at-large seats or four districts and a mayor chosen at-large, he said.

“I’m convinced (the three-district proposal) is not a viable alternative,” Hampel said. “It’s not my scheme. It’s state law.”

Even so, Gullixson, who drew up the proposal, said that wording in the state law allows for alternative methods of districting. He said he would seek legislation from state lawmakers to allow the city to adopt the three-district proposal.

But Councilman Henry W. Wedaa said the city should stop wasting money on the proposal, which would have included a diagram of boundaries based on census information. City officials estimated that such a plan would cost $25,000 to $30,000.

“It’s a stupid motion. It’s a stupid idea,” Wedaa said. “I haven’t found anyone who supports it.”

Gullixson said that he found widespread support for districts when he ran for City Council last fall. He now plans to seek a petition to place the three-district proposal on the ballot in June.

“This is important enough that it should go before the voters,” said Mayor Mark Schwing, who voted with Gullixson.

Council members also voted 4 to 1 to put off a proposal that would limit council members to three consecutive terms starting in November, 1992.

Gullixson said that the climate for term limits could be better in the fall, when the state Supreme Court is expected to have decided on the legality of Proposition 140. Voters approved Proposition 140, a ballot initiative to limit the terms of state lawmakers, but the measure has been challenged in the courts.

However, a majority of council members say they are against term limits.

“It sounded like a good idea” at first, said Councilman Gene Wisner. “The deeper I got into it the more problems I had with it. I doubt very much that I will support it.”