The ordinance would have placed a proposed amendment on the May 2 ballot to establish two four-year term limits.
The proposed ordinance was introduced by Council Member Jody Czajkoski, and Council Member Raymond McDonald also provided input.
“All this did was this give the voters a chance to elect term limits or not,” Czajkoski said. “We were going to let the voters approve it or not.”
Conroe City Council members voted 2-3 after brief discussion. Council members had discussed the item for nearly 30 minutes at a workshop Feb. 12.
Czajkoski said residents had requested term limits, and he agreed it would make sense for Conroe.
“If we can’t find five new people to serve this board every eight years, we have a problem,” he said Feb. 12.
Mayor Toby Powell said he would be more prone to applying term limits for committee members rather than council members to encourage them to move to higher positions.
“Maybe we should term limit committee members so that we can move the committee members off and put younger people on, so the younger people will learn what we do and have the desire and the burning in their hearts to help the citizens,” Powell said.
Prior to the board’s vote, former Council Member Marsha Porter, who is also running for council Place 2, spoke during public comment and expressed her frustration with the proposed ordinance.
“I have devoted my life serving this community. ... I must say, I didn’t feel much love yesterday,” she said, referring to the Feb. 12 workshop.
Porter said she felt compelled to speak on behalf of Powell and Council Member Seth Gibson, whose term expires in May. Gibson is not seeking re-election.
“I would not be [speaking today] if I did not see how upset [Powell] was or how upset Councilman Gibson was,” she said. “Here’s a man who has so much love for the city, and he’s willing to serve again. I believe Mayor Toby Powell will serve till his dying breath.”
