Should city officials be able to serve more than two terms if they take a break in between? That's the way it currently works in Jacksonville, something District 13 Councilman Rory Diamond wants voters to change.
"No more career politicians in Jacksonville. The only thing we effectively recycle is politicians," Diamond said in a news release.
The Jacksonville City Charter has eight constitutional offices that are elected: City Council, School Board, mayor, sheriff, elections supervisor, tax collector, property appraiser and clerk of courts.
The charter limits individuals to two consecutive terms, but has no total limit.
A prominent example would be At-Large Group 4 Councilman Matt Carlucci, who has served for 14 years on the council across three full terms and plans to run for his second consecutive term in 2023 after winning his current seat in 2019. Carlucci's previous stints on the council ran from 1987 to 1994, and 1999 to 2003.
Voters implemented the consecutive term limit rule in 1991, with Carlucci as a co-sponsor of the bill creating the referendum. Before then, city officials could run for re-election as many times as they wanted as often as they wanted.
Opponents of stricter term limits say Diamond is trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.
Jerry Holland, Duval property appraiser, has filed to run for a third term in a different office: supervisor of elections, a position he was term-limited out of after leading the office from 2005 to 2015.
Holland says Diamond offered to exempt him from the legislation, which underlines his issue with the legislation in the first place.
"If it's so bad, maybe you shouldn't exempt me out?" Holland said. "'Am I really bad? Is this bad for the community that I considered going back to elections' and he said no."
There are a handful of Jacksonville politicians who have served more than two terms in the same the office. Carlucci and Holland are the only two currently seeking office in 2023 that would be impacted by the change.
In an email Monday, Diamond said he was amending his bill to make the effective date before the 2027 election and that he didn't have any particular officials in mind when he drafted the bill, despite his statement regarding career politicians.
While Diamond says the bill will enhance voter choice, Holland says it limits it.
"Experience is good. Fresh faces are good," Holland said. "The combination of both is good. We wouldn't want to get rid of any of our doctors after eight years and say 'I want someone who's never done it before.' It's about not limiting our voters."
Diamond's bill is currently in committee. If it passes City Council, it will head to voters to make the final decision in a referendum on the August 2022 primary ballot.
