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Michele M. Iannello - District 10 July 6, 2006 LEGISLATOR IANNELLO PROMOTES TERM LIMITS Erie County 10th District Legislator Michele Iannello recently announced her position on Term Limits for Erie County Legislators and some County elected officials. Joining with Legislators Kathy Konst and Cindy Locklear, a proposed Local Law was clocked into the Legislature on June 12th. The Local Law would allow for three, four-year terms or twelve years of consecutive service by Erie County Legislators. In stating her reasons for promoting Term Limits, Legislator Iannello expressed several thoughts. "Last year during the campaign, I became aware of the voters' frustration with Erie County Government. Several constituents felt they had lost their voice in County Government and looked to new representation to reverse that feeling. Often times, circumstances call for change and reform in the legislative process. This is necessary in order to preserve and protect the interests of residents while achieving the best end result in the democratic process. "A strong climate for change has been evident for quite some time, and especially the last two years in Erie County. To achieve reform, this is an important first step, added the Legislator. The Local Law would call for the terms to change from two years to four years. Hopefully, this would still allow for a blend of experience and innovative ideas to come together in the legislative process. "The best content for success in government is a combination of legislative experience learned over time, melded with innovative thinking and a futuristic vision stated the Legislator. After serving three, four-year terms, legislators would have to exit their seat for one full term. The new Law would take effect after the November 2007 elections for those Legislators taking office in January of 2008. First it must be passed by voter referendum in the November 2006 election. In order for it to reach the November 2006 referendum status, the Law must be approved by 10 of the 15 Legislators and approved and signed by the Erie County Executive. County Executive Joel Giambra has indicated he is in favor of term limits. When presented to the Legislature at the June 12th session, it was referred to the Government Affairs Committee for further study. Other reform measures that have been initiated by Legislator Iannello include evening sessions in order to open up Government to the working public and perhaps having a couple sessions a year in outlying communities in Erie County. All of the above proposals are included in the 5 Part Reform package put together by Legislators Iannello, Konst and Locklear. They believe it to be a starting package for discussion, with the intent that all 15 Legislators would have input and hopefully, jump on board with specific recommendations. Legislator Iannello stated that she was surprised and disappointed that the Charter Review Commission did not come up with any recommendations for term limits. "Now is the time to address these issues," stated Iannello, "While Charter Revision is in the forefront of the minds of both our Legislators and our constituents." Back to District 10 Homepage