Term Limits

SACRAMENTO - Twenty-two years after California became one of the first states to limit legislators' terms in office, voters are about to decide whether the rules should be changed. In 1990, voters limited lawmakers to three two-year terms in the Assembly and two four-year stints in the Senate, for a total of 14 years in the Legislature. Proposition 28, on the June 5 ballot, would limit lawmakers to 12 years in the Legislature but allow all of those to be served in one house. Proponents contend that existing law doesn't give people enough time in one office to fully master complex issues and the lawmaking process.

SACRAMENTO - Twenty-two years after California became one of the first states to limit legislators' terms in office, voters are about to decide whether the rules should be changed. In 1990, voters limited lawmakers to three two-year terms in the Assembly and two four-year stints in the Senate, for a total of 14 years in the Legislature. Proposition 28, on the June 5 ballot, would limit lawmakers to 12 years in the Legislature but allow all of those to be served in one house. Proponents contend that existing law doesn't give people enough time in one office to fully master complex issues and the lawmaking process.

A three-judge panel issued a ruling Thursday upholding Proposition R, the ballot measure that allows members of the Los Angeles City Council the opportunity to run for a third four-year term. The 2nd District Court of Appeal found that Proposition R, which was passed by voters in 2006, did not violate the law by having two different subjects in the same ballot measure. Proposition R loosened term limits for the 15-member council but also placed new restrictions on lobbyists, such as prohibiting them from serving on city commissions.

Proposition 28 proposes a tiny tweak in legislative term limits. But it could have a huge impact on legislative quality. Little changes sometimes can result in big improvements. No one knows for sure where Prop. 28 would lead, but simple logic strongly suggests a legislative upgrade. At least the original term-limits author, former Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum, tends to think so. "I'm persuaded it's probably the right thing to do," Schabarum told me, stopping short of a formal endorsement.

SACRAMENTO - At a posh downtown sushi bar, Assemblyman Charles Calderon, one of the Capitol's most powerful politicians, tossed back his second Black Russian as a cadre of lobbyists lined up to pay respects. But the Whittier Democrat directed each well-wisher to the person he really wanted them to meet: his 26-year-old son, Ian, standing in a dark corner behind the tempura and dumplings. The former surfing champion and fledgling reality TV producer, hands shoved in his suit pockets, seemed ill at ease with the task at hand: collecting campaign checks to help him win a legislative seat and continue a long-running political dynasty.

Over lunch at a downtown hotel last month, the business executives who'd gathered to hear from Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry were keen on talking about the upcoming election ? not so much the one on March 8 or even the 2012 presidential race, but the 2013 contest for mayor. Though the election is two years away, the race officially begins Saturday when potential candidates, including Perry, can file paperwork to raise money. With at least seven Los Angeles heavyweights considering a run to replace Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is boxed out by term limits, the race is drawing comparisons to the 1993 contest, when two dozen candidates lined up to take over from retiring Mayor Tom Bradley.

Legislative term limits are a bad idea, and The Times opposes them. From the time California voters adopted Proposition 140 in 1990 to today, neither the Assembly nor the state Senate has become the model of legislative efficiency that the measure's promoters promised. Quite the opposite. The limits - three two-year terms for a member of the Assembly and two four-year terms for a senator - thrust rookies into leadership positions, and their inexperience shows. Rather than rising to the position of Assembly speaker or Senate president pro tem based on years of legislative accomplishment, ambitious members walk in the Capitol door for the first time with no credentials for office or for elevation other than the power to raise lots of money and a penchant for making promises.

California voters approved Proposition 140, which limits state legislators' terms, because they wanted to shake up the system by breaking the stranglehold of incumbents on government and politics. Regardless of how its constitutionality is resolved, one thing is clear: Proposition 140 has done at least part of its job.

Most voters have by now received their sample ballots, and those who plan to vote by mail are sending in their applications. The June 5 election is underway right now. It is noteworthy for several reasons. Los Angeles County voters will be selecting a new district attorney, and this is the first time since 1964 that there is no incumbent trying to hold onto the seat. The field is wide open. To win outright in this nonpartisan race, a candidate must get more than 50% of the vote.

The vision of legislative term limit advocates — that of "citizen legislators" dominating California's Capitol — always was a fantasy. Now a think tank proves it. The research group has splattered indelible facts all over the Norman Rockwell image of a selfless local merchant serving a few years in Sacramento, then returning home to tend the store and resume community volunteerism. "The record disputes the idea that legislators will return to their pharmacy, return to their farm, return to their law firm," says Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies.

SACRAMENTO - At a posh downtown sushi bar, Assemblyman Charles Calderon, one of the Capitol's most powerful politicians, tossed back his second Black Russian as a cadre of lobbyists lined up to pay respects. But the Whittier Democrat directed each well-wisher to the person he really wanted them to meet: his 26-year-old son, Ian, standing in a dark corner behind the tempura and dumplings. The former surfing champion and fledgling reality TV producer, hands shoved in his suit pockets, seemed ill at ease with the task at hand: collecting campaign checks to help him win a legislative seat and continue a long-running political dynasty.

Legislative term limits are a bad idea, and The Times opposes them. From the time California voters adopted Proposition 140 in 1990 to today, neither the Assembly nor the state Senate has become the model of legislative efficiency that the measure's promoters promised. Quite the opposite. The limits - three two-year terms for a member of the Assembly and two four-year terms for a senator - thrust rookies into leadership positions, and their inexperience shows. Rather than rising to the position of Assembly speaker or Senate president pro tem based on years of legislative accomplishment, ambitious members walk in the Capitol door for the first time with no credentials for office or for elevation other than the power to raise lots of money and a penchant for making promises.

An initiative on the June ballot to alter California's term limits law has support from a narrow majority of registered voters, according to a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll. Proposition 28, which would shave two years off the 14 years legislators are allowed to serve in Sacramento but permit them to spend all of the remaining 12 years in one legislative house, is favored by 51% of voters. The survey found that 32% oppose it and the remainder are undecided. Currently, lawmakers are limited to six years in the Assembly and eight in the state Senate under a law passed by voters in 1990.

Will the Golden State matter to Republicans after all? After Rick Santorum's strong Super Tuesday showing, and Newt Gingrich's win in Georgia and his vow to press on through the Texas primary in May and the California vote on June 5, it's possible that this state may finally enjoy the clout it deserves. But don't hold your breath. Mitt Romney may not have sealed the deal, but he is inching closer. By the time it's our turn to vote three months from now, chances are we'll just be going through the motions.

At dusk, people hunker down for the evening, holding portable radios to their ears and clustering in doorways to peer at fuzzy black-and-white televisions. Shops are boarded up and hawkers flee before nightfall. The nights belong to the protesters. Most begin peacefully with the demonstrators seated on the ground, arms crossed, as they demand that their 85-year-old president step down. "The old man is dead," they chant. "We have had enough. " Then, stones are hurled and police retaliate with rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons.

Jon Huntsman may not have high polling numbers in South Carolina, but he appears to have a lot of time to spend here, something evident Thursday morning as the Republican presidential candidate talked for an hour at a crowded restaurant -- so long that some people began to leave before he had finished speaking. Speaking at a breakfast at the Honeycomb Cafe on Daniel Island hosted by the Berkeley County GOP , Huntsman, dressed in jeans, a maroon button-down shirt and a blazer, called on opponents to end partisan politicking.

Putting aside concerns over a worsening economy, rising crime and increasing social polarization, Venezuelan voters gave President Hugo Chavez a resounding victory Sunday on a constitutional amendment that will allow him to run for reelection indefinitely. With 94% of votes counted, the National Electoral Commission said "yes" votes outnumbered "no" by nearly 1 million, 54.3% to 45.7%.

Voters in the city of Vernon approved a package of governmental reforms Tuesday that establish term limits in a community where some officials have served since the 1970s. The vote marked the first official support from Vernon's residents for an ongoing reform effort in the city's government, which was launched in response to a disincorporation bill in the state Legislature earlier this year. A total of 52 ballots were cast, according to a city spokesman. "The city is moving in the right direction and this is a part of that picture," said John K. Van de Kamp, a former California attorney general who is working as Vernon's ethics advisor.

Reporting from Sacramento -- A California legislator pleaded no contest Friday to charges that she tried to shoplift $2,500 in clothes from Neiman Marcus in San Francisco. As part of a plea deal, a San Francisco County Superior Court judge reduced the charges against Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi (D-Hayward) from felony grand theft to a misdemeanor. Hayashi was sentenced to three years' probation and $180 in fines and required to stay at least 50 feet from the store on Union Square.

Fifty years ago, I started covering California's state Capitol as a twerp reporter — inspired by the grandeur and history, and a bit intimidated by the mystique of a strange world. The first day that I attempted to dissect a governor's budget proposal remains the most harrowing of my career. I had no idea how to interpret the gobbledygook and translate it into readable English. These days actual budgets aren't even distributed to the media; only the carefully spun summaries are. Another difference: Budgets mostly were honestly balanced back then.