Downey : Mayor’s Ballot Proposal to Limit Council Terms Tabled

The Downey City Council on Tuesday refused to consider a proposal by Mayor Barbara J. Hayden to limit council members to two four-year terms. The council voted 4 to 1 to table the proposal, which Hayden hoped to put before voters on the city’s June 2 ballot.

Hayden, who voted against tabling her measure, said she proposed the term limit because she does not believe in career politicians. She also said the measure would allow more residents to run for the City Council and get involved in local politics.

Councilman Robert S. Brazelton, who opposed the term limit, said voters can always back a challenger if they are displeased with a council member.

In other action, the council approved spending $150,000 a year for the next few years to hire a consulting firm to teach police officers how to use the Police Department’s $650,000 computer system.

The computers will aid the department in record keeping and dispatching, among other things. Instructors from CMSI, an Irvine-based systems management firm, will begin training officers within the next month, an official said.