Harford County Executive Barry Glassman (R) wants to put the issue of term limits for county council members on the ballot during next November’s election.
“I have been contacted by many constituents requesting that we place term limits for council members on the ballot in November 2022,” Glassman said in a statement. “In fact, I have always supported term limits and actually supported an effort many years ago when I served on the council as a way to include more citizens in public service.”
Glassman himself is term-limited as county executive, finishing out his second consecutive four-year term, and is currently the lone Republican candidate for Maryland comptroller. He said in an interview that he recently sent the term limits proposal and a request for co-sponsors to the county council, but hasn’t heard back yet.
Glassman added that collecting 10,000 signatures would be another way to get the initiative on the ballot, but he preferred to try the legislative route first. He said he introduced term-limit legislation soon after he was elected to the Harford County Council in the 1990s, but that effort was unsuccessful.
The proposed legislation would make county council positions mirror county executive term limits, meaning council members would be limited to two consecutive four-year terms. If they sat out a term, however, they would be allowed to run for county council again.
Council members also could serve two consecutive terms and then serve as council president for up to two terms, according to a release from Glassman. Council president is a county-wide elected position in Harford County. If the proposal makes it to the ballot and voters approve it, the term limits would apply to council members elected in 2022.
There are currently no term limits for Harford County Council members. Glassman served two consecutive terms as a county councilmember from 1990 to 1998 member before his election to the House of Delegates.
Bennett Leckrone
Reporter
Bennett Leckrone was a Report for America corps member at Maryland Matters through May 2022. He is a December 2019 graduate of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. Leckrone has interned at The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Columbus Dispatch, PennLive.com, The Dayton Daily News and The Troy Daily News.
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