Bossier City Council votes against term limits ordinance

(The Center Square) — An ordinance introduced to establish term limits for Bossier City Council members failed to pass on Tuesday.

During the Bossier City Council meeting, many residents of the area spoke about the importance of term limits in politics.

"It's not logical that y'all are not acting on what you were elected to do," said Bossier City resident Carol Lowry. "Overwhelmingly the entire nation is pushing for term limits because of everything going on, even at the local level."

A JMC analytics poll asked citizens in each district if they would approve city council term limits. All district polls came in with above 50% approval and some over 70%.

Additionally, a petition was signed by nearly 3,000 residents, and creators of the petition said that number was also about how many doors were knocked on.

"I know that we don't all agree on term limits, but there is one thing I hope we can all agree on and it's the oath we took when we were elected to sit in these seats," said Councilman Brian Hammons, who represents District 1.

Hammons also said they were spending far too much on legal fees defending against term limits when they could be giving that money to areas that actually need it.

The ordinance, if passed, would've been sent to the state bond commission before being voted on by the citizens. It also called for a special election in December and said no person who has been elected or appointed to serve as a district councilman for three terms shall be eligible to be appointed or elected to an additional term.

The motion failed by a 23-2 vote.

The committee also discussed new millage rates for the city, bringing them down from 22.58 to 21.50. This movement was made to offset higher assessment values this year, meaning the council will receive the same amount in property taxes as the previous year.

That motion passed unanimously.