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So Much for the Consent of
the Governed
Government/Frank
Salvato, Managing Editor |
February 18, 2005
- When one thinks of the phrase "term limits” an image
of aging, old-boy-network politicians sitting in plush offices on Capitol
Hill in Washington DC comes to mind. The concept of term limits is to keep
those elected to Congress from feeding from the public trough so long as to
become as tendentiously institutionalized as, oh, let’s say a Robert Byrd, a
Teddy Kennedy or a Strom Thurmond, God rest his soul.
But politics isn’t only about Washington DC or state capitols. It is also
about counties, cities, towns, villages and school boards. In fact, we are
more affected by the decisions made at the local level than we are by the
decisions made at the national level. One need only understand that with all
the talk of education funding being bandied around Washington DC, on
average, our federal government is only responsible for 10% of the funding
it takes to run our schools. The illusion is there but the reality is not.
In 1998, a group of people headed by Tramm Hudson, the former chairman of
the Sarasota Florida County Republican Party, got together to support the
"Two Will Do” term limits effort there. Like at least eight other counties
in Florida, 68% of the people in Sarasota County thought that escaping the
pitfalls of having career politicians was a good thing and approved an
amendment limiting the terms of their county commissioners to two. The will
of the people had been done. Or so it seemed.
In January of 2005 Circuit Judge Deno Economou ruled that the Florida
Constitution does not allow for citizens to place a limit on how many times
a county commissioner can be elected to office. His ruling was issued
despite the fact that term limits are already in place in more than eight
other Florida counties. He based his ruling on a 2002 Supreme Court decision
that stated that only the state constitution could establish rules such as
term limits for constitutional officers. Economou used a broad and liberal
interpretation to include county commissioners into the realm of
constitutional officers. Arguably, this could be construed as a judge
creating law which is judicial activism rather than ruling on a point of law
which is the judiciary’s intended function.
While I have reservations about the idea of term limits, there are two
overriding questions this matter brings to mind: 1) who empowers our
government and 2) whose interests are they supposed to be pursuing?
The obvious answer to the first question is that "We the People” empower our
government whether it is on the national, state or, as is the case here, the
local level. Under no circumstance can government be empowered by any other
force. As President Abraham Lincoln was so keen to point out in his
Gettysburg Address, we have a "government of the people, by the people and
for the people.” Case closed.
The answer to the second question is a bit more complicated but not because
it’s supposed to be.
In theory, our government should be doing the work of the people all of the
time with the consent of those they govern as mandated by our electoral
process. Ironically, that is why politicians and government employees are
categorized as civil servants; they serve the civilian populace.
But we don’t live in a perfect United States and many who are elected to
office have a terminal case of the "Me-Me’s.” By that I mean they are so
arrogant and drunk with power garnered from extended periods in political
office they dismiss the will of the people with a narcissistic wave of their
pandering hands and a rationalization that leaves their constituency
scratching their heads.
Two people who have crossed the line from public service to power hungry
narcissism are Sarasota County Commissioners Jon Thaxton and Nora Patterson,
both in the second terms of what were amended to be two term positions.
Ms. Patterson, when asked about Judge Economou’s decision said that she
wasn’t convinced that voters really meant what they voted for. "People vote
for things in the heat of the moment,” she said. She went on to say that she
believed the voters meant for term limits to affect those in national office
and that the will of the people, as mandated by their overwhelming approval
of the term limits amendment, didn’t apply to her or her fellow
commissioners. How convenient.
After a unanimous vote by the five county commissioners of Sarasota County
to abandon an appeal of Judge Economou’s decision – all five of whom would
have been ineligible to run again under the term limits approved by their
constituents – Commissioner Thaxton, after hearing county attorney David
Persson opine that the chances to win on appeal were "slim,” said that it
made him "unwilling to commit to the fight.”
Another Sarasota County commissioner, Shannon Staub – who is starting her
third term – said she didn’t feel that Sarasota County needed "to be the
lead in the state on this one.”
And Commission Chairman Paul Mercier – who is starting his second term – was
less tactful in his disdain for the will of his constituents when he said,
"If the people of Sarasota County don’t like the decision they can show
their displeasure at the ballot box.” I wonder if Mr. Mercier ever heard the
phrase ‘be careful what you wish for.’
There is an old adage that goes, "a politician will almost never vote
himself out of office.” That old saw used to be something people would
chuckle about. But as more and more politicians and judges usurp the
sanctity of the consent of the governed it isn’t anything to dismiss with a
chuckle anymore. Let’s just hope that the people of Sarasota County, Florida
make an example of Mercier, Thaxton, Staub and Patterson. Beyond performance
of civic responsibility, they would be doing their county – and their
country – a favor while sending the message that we are "mad as hell and not
going to take it anymore.”
Related Reading:
Advocates Will Fight Term Limits Reversal
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050121/NEWS/501210399/1006/SNN05
County Gives Up on Term Limits
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050209/NEWS/502090306/1006/SPORTS
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