The case against local term limits: Trustee Soper's speech to Delta's businessmen

In May of this year, Hugh Sanburg and Chalmer Swain asked the Delta County Commissioners to approve a referendum for the general election ballot removing term limits for the offices of sheriff and coroner. Today, I’m going to make the case against term limits.

The national wave of initiatives limiting state legislative terms swept California, Colorado and Oklahoma in 1990.  Subsequently, 18 other states adopted term limits, but in four - Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming - term limits were thrown out by the state supreme courts, and they have been repealed by the legislatures in Idaho and Utah. That leaves 15 states with term limits for legislators.

In 1990 Colorado voters passed an initiative limiting state legislators to four two-year terms in the House of Representatives and two four-year terms in the Senate. The full effect of term limits was known by 1998. Since that year, researchers have learned a lot about the impact of term limits on Colorado and our legislative process.

Professor John Straayer, a well-known political scientist at Colorado State University, let a National Conference on State Legislatures study examining term limits in Colorado. The study revealed several fascinating impacts of term limits.

·        Averaging the 20 yrs prior to term limits, the mean tenure of a member of the Colorado House of Representatives was 4.5 years. For a member of the Colorado State Senate it was 6 years.

·        Before 1990 and after 1998 the Colorado legislature has had a healthy natural rotation of about 30% of its members.

  

·        After term limits, the percent of incumbents who lost re-election decreased from 7.2% to 1.2%. This means term limits has made the incumbency advantage stronger, as challengers wait until the incumbent is term limited.

·        Prior to term limits a House seat cost $20,000 and after the price has risen to $50,000 – much of this is due to running for an open seat.

·        After term limits, the mean tenure is close to 6.8 years in both the House and Senate, as there is an expectation to serve the entire time until term limited.

Tom Loftus, former speaker of the Wisconsin House of Representatives, commented that term limits are passed because of individualism. Everyone has heard of at least one elected official who has abused the public trust and over stayed their welcome.

Thomas Jefferson’s defined term limits as rotation in office.  He said, ... “by the term rotation in office, then, we mean an obligation on the holder of that office to go out at a certain period”.

The idea of term limits remains popular. Here in Delta County, during the Republican Assembly the question of term limits was raised and it failed on a vote of 161 against and 54 in favour. A few years back, a group calling itself LIMIT (Legislative Initiative Mandating Incumbent Terms) was formed to gain passage of I-553.  This initiative would have limited terms of office for both state and U.S. legislators as well as the governor and the lieutenant governor.

Professionalism – in Colorado 50-70% of term limited elected officials are elected to another office. We saw that 10 years ago right here in Delta County.

Expertise – not that many are qualified to be sheriff or coroner

At the local level more is lost than gained by term limits. I wholly support Delta County repealing term limits for the coroner and sheriff. 

UK Academic Tour: Edinburgh, Cambridge, Oxford & Stratford-Upon-Avon

Today I just got back from an academic tour of southern England with my friend and LL.B. colleague, Jonathan Price. Prior to leaving for England on Monday, 13 June, I met up with my former Third Grade teacher, Carol (Beck) Martinson, and her husband, Lee Martinson, in Edinburgh. They were on a cruise ship tour of the North Sea countries and one port of call was Rosyth, which is about 30 minutes from the city centre of Edinburgh. It was pretty cool showing them around Edinburgh and catching up over a traditional Scottish pub lunch.

After leaving the Martinsons at Waverly Train Station I walked up the Royal Mile and noticed a plethora of classic Bentleys. One Bentley from the 1920s was displaying a Colorado and Swiss flag and I had to inquire about the owner. The man was half-English and Swiss, but lived in Colorado. His attire and demeanour seem very much reminiscent of someone from the autocracy and I didn’t suppose collecting classic Bentleys and having multiple residences around the world were characteristics of an average middle aged man. He was very kind and allowed me to photograph him with his prize car, which carried a top speed of 120 mph (193 km/h).

I was delighted to receive a text from a friend, Nayha Sethi, whom I studied with during the LL.M. programme that another friend, Myggan Hagenfeldt, was going to be in town. I met with the two of them plus all of the others who were in the LL.M. together and are still hanging about in Edinburgh at the Advocate pub. It was great to also meet Myggan’s fiancé.

At 22h00 I arrived at the bus station to take the night bus down to London, where I would rendezvous with Jonathan. To my surprise, another friend and colleague, Pippa Robertson, from the LL.B. programme was also riding the same bus to London. Even more surprising we were going to be in Oxford on the same day and taking the same bus back to Edinburgh on Thursday (16 June) night. For the majority of the ride we talked about our travels around the world, the LL.B. and post degree plans and dreams. I discovered the two of us could not be more opposite, yet we have always gotten along – perhaps a tribute to a diplomatic personality my characteristics inherited from my grandpa Howard of not knowing a stranger.

From London, Jonathan and I rode the train to Cambridge. Once in Cambridge, we checked into our hostel, which was inexpensive, but not very nice, and headed for the university buildings. Cambridge and Oxford are both colligate institutions, meaning they are a collection of colleges, each with their own student living space, dining halls, libraries, chapels, quadrangles and cloisters. Wealthier colleges would also have sports halls, gardens, deer parks, orchards, docks for punts, and such amenities as lawn for tennis, croquet, and bowling. Each college looks after their own students; however the university’s function is to regulate the curriculum, examinations, lecture and tutorial time tables and facilities. Each college will have students from a variety of backgrounds, each reading varying topics. For example, we met up with a friend of mine, Liz Campbell, who is doing her LL.B. at Cambridge and she explained that only five students in her college are reading law, out of two or three hundred students in total. There are 31 colleges in Cambridge and 42 (9 of which are private) at Oxford.

The colligate structure seems to extract the greatest learning potential out of students, however the inequality of the colleges and the elitist attitude of the entire university mean that there is aura of self confidence and entitlement to being the leaders in their career fields, which is both commendable and irritating if you are not from the Ivy League / OxBridge.

Jonathan and I engaged in the traditional Cambridge activity of punting on the River Cam and drinking Pimms and Lemonade. After punting we joined my friend Liz for the opening night of Cambridge Footlight’s Edinburgh Fringe 2011 comedy show. Footlights is the British comedy club of Cambridge University, founding in 1883 and has amongst its alumni the likes of John Cleese, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and Douglas Adams to name a few. After the performance we took a drink at the Cambridge Union.

The next day we rode the three hour bus to from Cambridge to Oxford and joined two of Jonathan’s friends for lunch a Oriel College, Oxford, which is the fifth oldest (founded 1326) amongst the colleges of Oxford and was funded by a foundation charter from the monarch, King Edward II. Oriel would be equivalent to King’s College, Cambridge, since it was originally funded by the Crown. Because of this, Oriel’s dining hall features the largest portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II.

We toured several Oxford colleges, including Christ Church, Trinity, Lincoln, Jesus, Magdalen, Merton, Pembroke, University College. At Jesus College we watch students douse a fellow student who had just completed her final exam. Apparently this is a fairly old Oxford tradition. I did not realize before visiting Oxford, that student wear academic dress to each and every exam and must also carry (but never wear) their mortar board hat. Only upon commencement and award of degree is the student permitted to don the hat. Also at graduation, a academic hood is worn to denote the degree and college. A few years ago Cambridge voted to get rid of the tradition of wearing the academic robs to exams and in response Oxford liberalized the tradition by permitting student to wear cotton, in addition to silk socks, to exams.

During the evening we attended Choral Evensong at Christ Church College Cathedral, which is the seat of the Oxford Archbishop. The music of the choir was Heavenly and it was very nice to be able to partake in such a vivid and living tradition of the university. After Evensong we had a traditional pub dinner at the Eagle and Child pub, which was a famous hang out of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and their literary friends known as the Inklings. On the way back to our hostel we pasted by Black Friars, which my friend and former flatmate, Kyle Bixenmann, from the U.S. studied. The next day we had breakfast at Oriel College and then caught the train for William Shakespeare’s birthplace, Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Stratford-Upon-Avon is a town which survives solely on William Shakespeare’s legacy and has been a tourist destination for over three hundred years. Some of the first entries in the visitor registry of the birthplace house were Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, both of whom went on to serve as presidents of the American Republic. The home Shakespeare actually built no long exists, however the adjacent home and the home of his daughter, who married a wealthy medical doctor, are preserved as museums for the nation and public. Had we had more time it would have been great fun to attend a performance of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), which operates in Stratford-Upon-Avon, London, and New York City. The town is very Elizabethan, with the iconic black and white framed homes with the thatched roofs. A few building have been built to match the vintage ones, but a careful eye will note that the ancient buildings lean and sag from the weight and passage of time. It was a pilgrimage to finally see where William Shakespeare was born and lived and to have the connection with one of the world’s most well known playwrights.

From Stratford-Upon-Avon, Jonathan and I rode the bus to London where we met Pippa at Victoria Train Station for a cuppa tea and a recap of our exciting week. From Victoria, London, we headed back for Scottish Capitol of Edinburgh. I am always amazed and impressed that I have had the opportunity to study and live in Great Britain and be able to see sights which I had previously only read about, I am truly a blessed individual. 

Arizona shooting ignites debate over freedom of speech, right to bear arms & access to elected officials

A horrible and tragic shooting has struck the United States, only this time a member of Congress was shot in the head and is in critical, but stable condition. Six people were killed at a political event in Tuscan, Arizona on Saturday, 8 January 2011, including senior Federal Judge John Roll, a nine year old girl and four others. Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and 12 others were injured during the shooting. The accused is Jared Loughner, a 22-year old Army reject who was unemployed and living with his parents at the time of the tragedy. Loughner was reportedly rejected for reasons of mental unsoundness, a point which will more than likely be a defence to his two counts of federal murder charges and one count of attempting to assassinate a member of the United States’ Congress. Separate charges will ensue for liability under Arizona criminal law. Both Arizona and the US have the penal sanction of capital punishment as a tariff for criminal liability. In my opinion, the justice system should render justice and a capital penalty for the actions of the accused.

The greatest fear stemming from this shooting is (i) antigun legislation and (ii) access to all-ready-elite-members-of-congress being limited due to security - which is horrible for any ‘democratic-republic’, such as the US, Canada and many EU states. No crime is solved by more legislation - bad things happen to good people and that's a fact of life - as a society we cannot prevent all harm, as to do so would be to have safety without liberty or freedom. “If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom” – President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969). Rebuts to arguments concerning freedom, liberty and opportunity tend to be based on the notion of creating a more secure society. Think about it, health care legislation was passed in 2010 to give Americans the ‘peace of mind’ that they will not have to worry about what happens when they get ill or are the victims of a delictual liability. In the name of public safety and security legislation is being introduced in the halls of Congress to limit the scope of the Second Amendment and undermine a fundamental right enjoyed by Americans. Firearm ownership is a right enshrined in higher law, which is unlike a driver’s license for a motor vehicle, which is a privilege not to be abused. America’s third President and early advocate for limited government, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) proclaimed, “The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.”

Rep Giffords was shot in front of a Safeway

Nationally sensationalized and emotionally devastating catastrophes tend to produce an outcry for reform and prevention. The Tuscan supermarket shooting is no exception. In a highly charged polarized environment, liberal bloggers began accusing former Alaska Governor and 2008 GOP Vice-Presidential nominee, Sarah Palin as having been the promulgating factor behind the assassination attempt of US Representative Giffords. Palin had listed the congresswoman’s seat on her “cross-hairs” targeted districts. If Palin’s rhetoric is “blood libel”, then perhaps the Democrats need to re-assess their own political free speech. In October 2010, American Vice-President Joe Biden told party stalwarts at a fundraiser in Minnesota that he was going to “strangle Republicans” who complained about the budget or how he encouraged supporters to “kill patriotic Republicans” who were using ‘procedure and substance to block a health care vote’ in the US Senate. Therefore, if President Barak Obama’s memorial conversation to the country about how “discourse has become so sharply polarised [...] we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do - it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds”, then he assumedly means both sides of the political spectrum. If this presumption is in the affirmative, then ‘Hollywood’ sensational ‘documentaries’, such as the one funded by top Democratic Party donor and billion George Soros, which celebrates left-wing terrorists who plotted to napalm Republicans at the 2008 GOP Convention (and encourages ‘freedom fighting’ tactics in ridding America of its second largest political party) a “wound” which does not serve to heal the widening partisan divide of the last decade. If the president wants to be a leader, then he himself needs to reign in members of his own party who have crept into militant like tactics before chiding opposition rhetoric. Otherwise it looks as if the president is but a mere politician preparing for another campaign.

A shooting is horrible, though it hasn’t taking long for politicians and the media to turn this random event into a national catastrophe. Let’s get the facts straight, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 46 individuals are victims of ‘murder’ every single day of the year in the US. Everyone with ‘bleeding liberal hearts’ need to lighten up see this in perspective of the larger picture of falling victim to over emotionalizing one tragic shooting over another. Let's not let one horrible event destroy the purity of our current democratic system.