The Corvallis City Council voted Monday to ask voters to decide whether to reduce the number of City Councilors, extend their term length, and introduce term limits.
The ballot measure proposes to reduce the number of wards and City Councilors from nine to six, stagger and extend the term length of Councilors from two years to four years, and to limit Councilors and the Mayor to serving three consecutive terms.
Ward Five Councilor Charlyn Ellis opposed the idea. She said reducing the numbers of wards and councilors will limit how citizens are represented.
“I think that it’s reducing citizen participation in local government, and especially at this time and place in our overall government, that is of profound concern,” said Ellis.
Several councilors showed support for increased term length as part of this measure. Corvallis is one of the only cities in Oregon that has two-year terms for its city councilors. Councilors cited length of onboarding, councilor turnover rate, and long-term project completion as reasons to extend the term length.
Ward Eight Councilor Carolyn Mayers said increasing the term length will give councilors more time to make decisions before needing to campaign for re-election.
“I've been on the council for 18 months now and I now feel like I am just now informed enough to make good long-term decisions for the city,” said Mayers.
The vote passed seven to two, with Ward Seven Councilor Paul Shaffer joining Ellis in voting against it. The measure will appear on the November ballot.
