The simple website set up this year to counteract a popular movement has a simple plea:
"Join us. On November 4, a small group of desperate people is attempting to prevent you from voting for the individuals of your choice.
By trying to force term limits upon the citizens of Grand Rapids, they are intent on keeping you from voting for experienced leaders. In fact, they want to remove leaders you have already chosen.
Don’t allow anyone to restrict your right to vote for the individuals you believe will best run our great city. Don’t allow anyone to empower bureaucrats, not elected officials, to determine how our city runs.
VOTE NO on November 4th."
The site is ran by an anonymous person or group but is actively included in the press as the official anti-term limit website for the proposal put forth to the people of Grand Rapids this November 4th to keep their city leaders from being in the same elective position more than twice. The people who made themselves known and rallied against term limits is who you would likely expect: the long term mayor and commissioners who would be term limited out at the next election, the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, the public service unions for city workers, developers who have built long-term relationships with the city (such as Mr. Cummins in the article reprinted below).
What brought us to this point? A grass roots effort started by a couple of Grand Rapids women who did not like the static, stale, status quo. They spearheaded a petition drive to put term limits on the Grand Rapids charter, which had none, and got 10,000 signatures to do so, and went against a reluctant city machine to get it on the ballot. The amount of signatures was actually about 4000 more than what they needed.
If you recall the efforts in Ludington in 2012 by a very limited group of people to try to extend the term limits of the Ludington mayor from three to five terms, you will recall that this well-funded campaign saw the best efforts of city officials and the usual "partners" try to sell a message that the voters rejected by a two-to-one margin, even though there was no organized opposition.
Even though the vote was a bit closer in Grand Rapids than the usual term limit vote, one can see the mayor, commissioners, business partners, chamber, and even state political celebrities come out and use scare tactics similar to what the same people and organizations used in Ludington, and illogical use of reason to say that term limits restricts your choices and interferes with democracy.
Yet, once laxer term limits were denied in 2012 in Ludington, four candidates came out the next year to vie for an open mayor seat. Former Mayor John Henderson ran unopposed for reelection in the prior two mayor elections.
Following the video of the GR mayor trying to make sense of it all, is an article followed by some of the reader's comments, which were almost all happy to see the old guard get out, also check out the two videos in the link to see the supporters drowning their sorrows at the Mitten Brewery.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The face of the Grand Rapids City Commission is now guaranteed to change over the next two years – whether residents want it to or not.
Tuesday, voters narrowly approved a city charter amendment that brings term limits to the mayor and city commissioners.
And from the looks on the faces of Mayor George Heartwell and others at anti-term limit gatherings Tuesday night, it appeared they didn’t see it coming.
“It looks like at this point, the voters have spoken. They want term limits,” Heartwell told 24 Hour News 8. “I still believe that’s a mistake.”
Despite a campaign that tried to convince voters of the shortcomings of term limits – including highlighting what some consider to be the dysfunction a similar statewide vote in 1992 brought to Lansing – enough city voters decided fresh blood every eight years is a good thing for the city.
As of 2017, Heartwell and four of the six city commissioners will be term-limited out of office.
First Ward Commissioner Walt Gutowski, who is currently serving in his second term in office, is one of them.
“I feel, you know, quite honestly that I’m a better commissioner now than I was when I started,” he told 24 Hour News 8. “But again, it’s been a privilege to serve.”
Wednesday, opponents of the term limits warned of some unintended consequences – like whether a slowdown in development in the city could occur.
Sam Cummings, a managing partner at CWD Real Estate Investments, didn’t mince when it came to his concerns.
“I almost feel like that it was run by some sensationalist and sort of was a solution looking for a problem,” he told 24 Hour News 8.
For 25 years, Cummings has had a hand in bringing millions of dollars in development to downtown Grand Rapids. When it comes to private projects that need public approval, he says scrutiny on the part of elected officials is critical – and so is their institutional knowledge.
“They know how to differentiate between what’s important and what are simply weeds,” Cummings said. They’re accountable and I’m accountable. They’ve been there a long time, they get to know me and they get to know whether I’m good, whether I’m worth my word or not.”
Still, Cummings said considers himself a glass-half-full kind of guy, and is hoping the new blood that term limits will bring to the commission won’t have to play the catch-up that concerns him.
"The talk of a man seeing power slip from his fingers , and a business man looking at all the money he wasted bribing the current officials."
"Over the last 11 years we have had tax increase after tax increase! The debt, Parks, Roads. Every time they drop the ball they come to us and say we need another tax increase. Now the city manager goes on TV and says they have a rainy day fund put away! But we need to keep the income tax increase. And then the mayor is on TV saying look at all the good we have done. REALLY HA! The people have spoken YOUR FIRED!"
"I can understand Cummings concerns. No more good old boys to work with, no more special treatment.
Term limits became an issue when the Mayor Heartwell lost his way. If he would have spent more time listening to the citizens of Grand Rapids and less time listening to his buddies this might not have happen.
Term limits open up the way for new people with new ideas. Several of our current commissioners would make an excellent mayor and they can run for mayor now.
There is going to be a few problems with the changes at first, but the problems will work their way out.
The city still has all its top leaders to guide the new mayor and commissioners."
"Of course the commissioners and the mayor are going to feel hurt over this. In essence they all got fired. They will get over it. Perhaps now I can move back to Grand Rapids after they leave. 5 Stages of Grief: 1. Denial 2. Anger 3. Bargaining 4. Depression 5. Acceptance."
I'm surprised Grand Rapids went this long without term limits. When those in power think only they can do the job then it's really time for a change. Congratulations citizens of Grand Rapids.
Dittos Wily. Must be a lot of behind the scenes $$$ in the Mayoral seat in GR for Heartwell to be so Heartsick. Kinda dovetails with another crony of recent trying to get crowned King of Ludington forever too. He was the guy in the parades wearing the worn out socks and dirty sneakers, and the same dirty shirt for 12 years, waddling along the Ave. stepping in the horse hockey on the 4th. Later, he went in a cheap old Chrysler convertible, when his sneakers were too worn out to walk. Maybe too stinky too? Remember that guy?
Permalink Reply by XLFD on November 7, 2014 at 1:05pm
Aquaman, was that the mayor who built a house next door to the city manager so that he could actually feel close to being important?
Heartwell's reaction to the rebuff of his mayor career extension was a lot like what the former mayor of Ludington's reaction would have been, minus the tears and petty vindictiveness, if he had been interviewed after the results came in. Unfortunately, Grand Rapids will probably just have one of the former commissioners as their next mayor, but may get some reform at the commissioner level.
