2004-03 Council Member Term Limits Article III, Section 3-2, Hawaii County Charter

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Honorable Bob Jacobson May 26, 2004 Page 7 rights of individuals must be clearly written. The letter of such a law must be precise and complete. Even if a more expansive reading of the "spirit" of the 1996 amendment may seem clear to some, without explicit authority, this office should not and will not impose limits on the constitutional rights of individuals. This office can not act merely on the basis of our best guess about the "spirit" or the 1996 amendment, particularly when that "spirit"was not clearly articulated by the drafters who had numerous opportunities to do so in the normal course of Council action. (Footnote omitted). (Emphasis in original). An even more compelling argument in favor of prospective application of the 1996 Hawai'i County Charter amendment is found in Woo v. Superior Court, 83 Cal.App.4t' 967, 100 Cal.Rptr.2d 156 (2000). In Woo, Michael Woo, a Los Angeles City Council member who served two consecutive four-year terms from 1985 to 1993, sought election in the 2001 council race. The city clerk advised Woo he was ineligible for election to the council, based on a 1996 Los Angeles City Charter amendment imposing term limits. In sum, the city clerk concluded that based on Woo's previous service of two full terms, he was ineligible to be elected to the council. In 1993, Los Angeles voters passed the following term limit amendment to the city charter: No person may serve more than two terms of office as Mayor. No person may serve more than two terms of office as City Attorney. No person may serve more than two terms of office as Controller. No person may serve more than two terms of office as member of City Council. These limitations on the number of terms of office shall apply only to terms of office which begin on or after July 1, 1993. These limitations on the number of terms of office shall not apply to any unexpired term to which a person is elected or appointed if the remainder of the term is less than one-half of the full term of office." (Italics added). Woo, supra, 100 Cal.Rptr.2d at 159. In 1996 and 1997, a Charter Reform Commission for the City of Los Angeles drafted a new city charter, which was submitted to the voters in 1999. Los Angeles voters approved the new charter, and the charter became effective on July 1, 2000, repealing the former city charter. The term limit provision in the new charter was identical to the language cited above (the 1993 term limit language), except the italicized language pertaining to terms counted in the term limit calculation was excluded. It was this