Gimenez keeps promise to set term limits thanks to voter approval

On Nov. 6, Miami-Dade voters overwhelmingly decided to limit their county commissioners to two four-year terms, helping Mayor Carlos Gimenez deliver on an election promise.

Voters approved term limits by 77 percent to 23 percent, according to unofficial results.

Term limits had been rejected by county voters multiple times in the past. Most recently, in January 2012, voters rejected term limits for county commissioners, but that measure was coupled with a massive salary hike for the politicians. This time, the question was not linked to a big raise.

It will still take years to see the results of term limits: incumbents can serve eight more years. Some county commissioners have clung onto their seats for almost two decades, the Miami Herald reported.

Gimenez campaigned on the need for county commission term limits in 2011 when he was seeking to replace his recalled predecessor. The mayor is already limited to two terms. Auto tycoon Norman Braman also campaigned for change.

Gimenez said the term limits would lead to better local government. "For years, I have tried to get before the voters a charter amendment for two 4-year terms," he wrote on his campaign website on April 25, 2011. "In addition to offering more choices for voters, term limits eliminate the advantages of incumbency, break ties to special interests, improve the tendency for elected officials to vote their conscience rather than engage in quid pro quo, and open the door to fresh thinking and new ideas. In short, term limits inhibit political careerism. One of my goals as county mayor would be to make sure an 'eight is enough' law is irrevocably put in place."

Gimenez did not take any particular steps  to encourage people to vote in favor of term limits, his spokeswoman Suzy Trutie said in an interview a few days before the election. However, he did repeatedly encourage people to vote -- whether by absentee,  early or in person.

"I'm glad that our electors finally had the chance to vote on term limits for County Commissioners with no strings attached," Gimenez said  in  a statement after the election.  "This is a long overdue good-government reform that I've been advocating for several years, and our residents spoke loud and clear in support of it yesterday."

We rate this Promise Kept.