In a bill filed today, House Bill #33, State Rep. Mike Ramone is proposing ALL members of the Delaware General Assembly, be they a State Representative or State Senator, be limited to 20 consecutive years in their role. But the devil is in the details which gives Ramone more time in the General Assembly, if he doesn’t get ousted in the 2020 election…
Term Limits
How Long Have Members Of The Delaware General Assembly Been Around? Should There Be Term Limits?
Delaware General AssemblyTerm limits. We hear these words so often but the ones to decide would be the ones that would lose out the most from them. Some call them politicians or legislators. But they are the Delaware General Assembly. How long have these folks been making laws in Dover? Some of them are lifers. Some are relatively new (past ten years). Should we have term limits in Dover? If so, how long should they be? Since the Senate serves four years how many terms are too many? The House has a two-year election cycle. How many terms should they get? Or do you think the people vote for a reason and term limits don’t bother you? Take the poll and see how long some of these cats have prowled the halls! I put the ones first voted into office last century in bold.
Baumbach At It Again Trying To Turn Local Issues Into Statewide Legislation
DE State Rep. Paul Baumbach
Enough already Paul Baumbach! In his second attempt at lowering school board terms, State Representative Paul Baumbach filed House Bill #278 yesterday seeking to lower school district board member terms from five years to four years.
In 2015, Baumbach’s House Bill #333, which sought to lower those terms to three years went nowhere. It was assigned to the House Education Committee but never came up. Due to heavy resistance to the bill, Baumbach did state he would probably come back with this bill at a later date. And he did!
Why is Baumbach so adamant about messing with school boards? Why does he not include charter school boards in this legislation? The answer is simple: he does not like certain school board members in the Christina School District. Which is fine and he is certainly entitled to his opinion, but his judgment is impaired when it comes to translating this to a statewide issue. I get that State Representatives are supposed to represent the district they were elected to, but they also pass laws for the entire state. It is not beneficial to make local issues a statewide issue. And once again, we have the very real question about WHO is asking for this legislation and how much of it is directed towards certain board members who frequently and publicly go against bad education policy in the state.
One thing I can say is State Reps in Delaware are elected every two years. So this is not a case of legislators being hypocritical. School board members do this because they want to. It is unpaid and requires a great deal of time and effort to be on a school board. I don’t think any school board member takes their responsibilities lightly. I wish more school board members would question things which Baumbach seems to have a problem with.
Yesterday, the News Journal Editorial Team covered the highly inappropriate school board member removal bill that is currently in circulation for sponsorship. They just so happened to throw in a part about school board member terms:
Also, lawmakers should consider shortening school board members’ five-year terms. Why should they have to face voters less frequently than governors, legislators and mayors?
Come on! Who are we trying to kid here? Is the News Journal Editorial Team now a part of Team Baumbach when it comes to this kind of crap? They just happen to say this on the SAME day Baumbach filed House Bill #282? I don’t mind term limits for any elected position, but school boards are NOT the same as governors, legislators, and mayors. There is a learning curve, but there is also the heart of a volunteer. There are charter school board members who have sat on their boards for over a decade! But not one word about that from the would-be demolisher of local board control Baumbach or this Editorial Team. I don’t always agree with some board members out there, but I do not think lowering the term for this function is a good idea at all.
Baumbach needs to re-examine his priorities and actually support the second largest school district in the state instead of trying to interfere with their governance process. Attending more of their board meetings would be a start. He wouldn’t dare interfere with Newark Charter School but it’s open target season on Christina. Could you be less transparent here Baumbach? Stop listening to the mouths of the few and start coming out with real and meaningful legislation that benefits the state. This is not good for your political health.
To read Baumbach School Board Terms 2.0, please see below:
The Season Of Myths 