On November 8, 1994, voters of the District of
Columbia approved Initiative No. 49, the “District of Columbia Term Limits
Initiative.” This Inititiative limited the Mayor, members of the City Council, and
members of the Board of Education to serving two consecutive terms in the same elected
position.
Since the initiative did not apply to terms served prior to its taking
effect, and since the Board of Education was restructured by Charter Amendment No. 3, term
limits would first apply to any officeholders in the 2004 election. On January 23, 2001,
Councilmember Jack Evans introduced legislation to prevent term limits from
taking effect. WUSA-TV reporter Bruce Johnson has reported that Councilmember Evans has
said that he and Council Chairman Linda Cropp have eleven supporters for repealing term
limits. Councilmembers Adrian Fenty and Kevin Chavous have announced that they support
term limits; therefore it can be assumed that all the other Councilmembers support
repealing them.
- Consecutive Term Limitation Amendment Act of 2001, Bill 14-25, introduced January 23, 2001
- Committee report on Bill 14-25, April 24, 2001
- Charlotte Brookins-Hudson, General Counsel to the City Council,
memorandum arguing that the people had no power to pass term limits by
initiative, March 26, 2001 - Board of Elections and Ethics explanation of the effect of term limits, January 3, 2001
- Bruce Johnson, “Happy New Year from the D.C. Council,” January 2, 2001
- Initiative No. 49, “The District of Columbia Term Limits Initiative,” passed November 8, 1994
- Election results on Initiative No. 49, November 8, 1994
- U.S. Term Limits, a national
organization promoting term limits