(The Center Square) – After two years of legal battles and public debate, the Bossier City Council has finally scheduled a May vote on a resolution that, if passed, would prevent four long-serving council members from seeking reelection.
However, the outcome remains uncertain. If the measure fails, the incumbents could still run for reelection.
The four council members at risk have held their seats for decades, but members of the Bossier City Term Limits Coalition are pushing for a grand jury to investigate the City Council’s actions, which they argue might involve malfeasance.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that the City Council’s refusal to call an election could be construed as malfeasance, suggesting it amounts to neglecting a clear legal duty. The city’s charter mandates that when a valid petition from electors is submitted, the council has no discretion to reject it — the use of the word “shall” indicates this is an obligatory action.
David Crockett, who helped organize the original petition for retroactive term limits, criticized the council, stating, “They used at least $100,000 of the people’s money to fight the people’s petition.”
In response to the petition, the City Council created a new charter through the Bossier City Charter Review Commission, which notably excluded retroactive term limits.
According to Wes Merriot, a local watchdog, the commission ignored citizen input, deferred entirely to the council and mayor’s recommendations, and drafted provisions that violated Louisiana law, such as neglecting the Police Officer and Firefighter Bill of Rights.
“The commission’s proposals were flawed from the start,” Merriot wrote in a recent newsletter. “The City Council’s actions reflect a clear disregard for the public interest.”
Further complicating the situation, residents will vote twice on term limits — once in March and again in May. In March, voters will decide on the charter review commission’s proposed changes, which include implementing term limits, but those would apply only to future terms, beginning this year.
This means even council members who have served for many years could run for office three more times before facing a one-term break in service.
In May, a separate vote will take place on whether to impose retroactive term limits, which would immediately affect current council members, potentially barring four of them from seeking re-election.
“We think that we’re going to be successful because we’ve made such a stink of this for the last two years,” Crockett told The Center Square. “We think that some of these city councilmen are going to get beat, and we may get control of the council with good people that are not doing this for self serving purposes.”
