ORANGE, NJ – Last week, the Committee for Term Limits in Orange (CTLO) filed with the City Clerk’s office in Orange City Hall. Its purpose is to place a term-limits binding initiative question for the local offices of mayor and city council for the ballot on Election Day, to be decided on by Orange voters.
Documents submitted to the City Clerk’s office included short-form and long-form statements, a proposed resolution and others. If the petition gets enough signatures, the question would be placed on the ballot in the next upcoming general election on November 7, 2023. If voted successfully by the citizens of Orange, term limits “equal to those of the New Jersey state governor’s office,” would be exercised “immediately and permanently starting January 1, 2024,” as stated in their filed documents.
The CTLO is composed of Orange residents Ricky Contant, Marquiso Jean, India Williams, Kweli Campbell, Sharief Williams and Derrick Henry. According to their filed Committee of Petitioners statement, which is necessary before getting signatures for a ballot referendum, they are a “non-compensated committee, formed without outside interests…by citizens who believe in a better Orange.”
The organization wants to put term limits of eight years on both the mayor’s office, and city council seats, like those used for the governor’s office by the state’s Constitution. Other parts of the proposed resolution include a four-year “cooling-off” period. This means officeholders who become ineligible have to wait at least four years before running again. If an incumbent has already served “at least seven years by December 31, 2023, and every year after on the same date,” per the CTLO’s filed statements, they would become disqualified for reelection.
“If it’s written into our state papers for its highest office, it’s not unconstitutional,” said Marquiso Jean, a founding member of the CTLO. “Term limits are taught starting by sixth grade, like the 22nd amendment and the US President’s office, in social studies or history classes statewide. Most high school students already know what term limits are. This shouldn’t be hard to understand or want,” said India Williams, another CTLO member.
The petition also seeks other changes in local government. If the term-limits question is successfully voted by Orange citizens, officeholders already having served seven years would be unable to receive candidate forms for the next round of elections: mayor/at-large council in 2024, and upcoming ward council elections in the following year. Other proposed changes include former mayor(s) or city council member(s) not being eligible for mayoral appointments to municipal boards like Planning, Zoning, Library Board of Trustees, etc., for at least three years. Also, the petition seeks term limits on the city council presidency of not more than two consecutive years, and other minor revisions to city government.
“If ‘the world’s capital,’ New York City, can have and exercise term limits, why can’t we? This is an objective question that shouldn’t have a problem being passed,” said Kweli Campbell, another CTLO member. “20 to 25 former US Presidents and state governors, about 45-50 past leaders since the 50s in total, in all of their past or present resources, money and access, could have filed groundbreaking, constitutional challenges and couldn’t. It’s not an emotional question, just an application of democracy and government from higher levels. It protects the voters and increases chances for leadership in a decision-making capacity,” said CTLO member Derrick Henry, also a member of the Orange Board of Education.
If successful, current incumbents immediately affected by the local term-limits movement would include Mayor Dwayne Warren, City Council President Tency Eason, council members Kerry Coley, Jamie Summers-Johnson, and possibly Adrienne Wooten. To date, Eason is the longest-serving city council member. Per the League of Municipalities website, she was first elected in 2002. Warren was first elected to mayor in 2012, formerly employed by Orange as a research officer.
Earlier this week, the organization was contacted by the Orange City Clerk’s office because their petition was cleared to get signatures. In a press-time statement, the group said they are planning events in the “very immediate” future to get as many signatures as possible to bypass city council, like the Committee for an Elected Orange School Board (CEOSB) successfully did a few years ago. Per the CTLO’s filing, per city code, all signatures from registered voters living in Orange have to be in the City Clerk’s office “81 days before the general election” at close of the Orange city clerk’s office hours. Tentatively, that date appears to be August 18, 2023.
