Term limits are too short

Published April 20, 2004 - A letter to the editor by Alan Helvig

To the Editor: I am a firm believer in term limits for our elected officials but I am concerned that we have set them far too low in Michigan. Six years in office for representatives and eight years for senators seems drastically short to me.

The argument for term limits is a sound one, yet we must also consider the adverse affects associated with a lack of continuity and experience. We need term limits in place to ensure fresh blood and new ideology exists in our government. A regulated turnover is healthy and will prevent Lansing from becoming stagnant. However, it seems to me that we have sold ourselves short.

We should consider raising the term limits for our elected officials. If we do not double them, we should at least vote to add four years to the existing terms. Most of our newly elected officials are going to spend the majority of their first term just getting to know and understand their job. They will spend their middle term(s) strengthening their office and honing their effectiveness. Then right about the time they get really good at representing their citizens they will hit the wall of term limits and be forced to pack their bags.

We are not truly benefiting from what could be their best years in office. We need to consider the effects that the current term limits are having on us, the citizens of Michigan. We need to ask ourselves if we have set the bar too low to achieve the balance we are looking for in Lansing. We need to evaluate our objectives and determine whether or not we reached the goals that we set for ourselves when we put these term limits into place.

Continuity is crucial to having an effective government. A lack of experience will cause our congress to suffer resulting directly in the suffering of all citizens. We need the combination of experienced legislators and ambitious idealists to establish and maintain a well balanced government. The trick is determining the appropriate length of time required to obtain that balance.

Alan Helvig, Holland