The Honolulu City Council is considering proposed charter amendments that would impose stricter term limits for Council members, the mayor and the prosecuting attorney, closing off a provision that has allowed some to hold office for more than eight years.
All three offices are currently limited to two consecutive four-year terms, enabling former elected officials to return after a hiatus and run again for office.
Council member Andria Tupola has introduced three resolutions that would remove the word “consecutive” from the term limit provisions in the city charter, so that no one can serve for more than eight years in total.
“The charter amendments related to term limits allow for, essentially, folks to leave and come back,” said Braedon Wilkerson, Tupola’s policy director. “Essentially, there is often an abuse of the current charter amendment language.”
The resolutions state the new term limits also would apply to those who serve “the equivalent of eight years,” addressing those who are elected to a partial term in a special election. However, there is an exception for those appointed to fill a vacant seat for less than a year.
The proposed resolutions say that term limits “provide an opportunity for new perspectives and new voices in government.”
Although the resolutions do not name any former or current elected officials, they mention there have been Honolulu office holders who have served more than two terms or eight years in office.
Council members Brandon Elefante and Carol Fukunaga will reach the term limit on Jan. 2. However, Fukunaga has been in office since 2012 after winning a special election to fill Tulsi Gabbard’s vacant seat after she resigned.
Mayor Rick Blangiardi and city Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm are both in their first terms as elected officials.
Former Council member Ann Kobayashi served for about 18 years, nonconsecutively. She won a special election in 2002 and served until 2008 before leaving her seat to run for mayor, losing to Mufi Hannemann. Kobayashi came back to the Council in 2009 when Duke Bainum died in office. She left office in 2021.
Before term limits for mayor and the City Council were established in 1992, former Mayor Frank Fasi was in office for a total of 21 years, serving three consecutive terms before losing to Eileen Anderson in the 1980 election. He was reelected for another nine years, from 1985 to 1994, when he resigned midterm to run for governor.
Former Mayor Jeremy Harris served for about 10 years, from 1994 to 2004, after he won a special election to replace Fasi.
Since the term limit for prosecutor was adopted by voters only in 2020, only four people have held the position since its creation in 1981. Before Alm, Keith Kaneshiro was in office for about 18 years, with about a 13-year break in between stints. Peter Carlisle held the position from 1997 to 2010, when he won the mayoral election.
Since implementing new term limits requires amending the city charter, the Council cannot do that through a regular vote. Instead, it must pass a resolution with at least six members voting in favor to pose the question to voters on the general election ballot in November. The amendment must then win at least 50% of the Oahu ballots cast to pass.
If approved by voters, the new term limits would take effect Jan. 1, meaning it would first apply to those elected to the Council seats up for grabs this year in Districts 2, 4, 6 and 8.
Wilkerson explained that if a candidate elected to a Council seat in 2022 has already served a total of eight years, they would not be able to assume office, and a special election would be held to fill the seat.
Tupola has also introduced a separate resolution to change the duration of the city clerk’s appointment to four from six years to put it more in line with the terms in other counties and to hold the person in that position more accountable. The resolution notes that it is not calling into question the performance of current City Clerk Glen Takahashi.
All four resolutions will be heard at today’s full Council meeting, which starts at 10 a.m.
