Polis

Plaintiff Richard T. Polis was elected to the La Palma City Council in 1984, and reelected in 1988. With the 1992 election looming, Polis decided to run again; he took out nomination papers and, after receiving the requisite number of signatures, presented them to the La Palma City Clerk. The clerk refused to file the papers, however, citing La Palma Initiative Ordinance No. 82-1, which limits city council members to two 4-year terms. Polis then successfully petitioned the superior court for a writ of mandate compelling the clerk to accept his nomination papers. The City of La Palma and its clerk (collectively the City) appeal. Prior to briefing, Polis requested that the City’s appeal not operate to stay the superior court judgment. We granted this request; thus, we directed the City to place Polis’s name on the November 1992 ballot in La Palma. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment.

Discussion

Term limits are not a new idea; in fact, some of the original 13 colonies had them prior to the Declaration of Independence. (See Note, Congressional Term Limits: Unconstitutional by Initiative (1992) 67 Wash. L.Rev. 415, 417.) And term limits are enjoying something…