PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — Acknowledging the difficulty of finding qualified volunteers for boards and commissions, the Calvert Board of County Commissioners voted to remove all term limits on board-appointed positions to boards, committees, councils or commissions, assuming those term limits aren’t legally mandated by the state.
The original request came from the Department of Economic Development, which previously requested to exempt two groups — the Economic Development Authority and the Historic District Commission — from the term limits set in the county ordinance.
Chapter 11 of the Calvert County Code of Ordinances, by Ordinance No. 40-16, states that people who serve on appointed boards, committees, councils or commissions are limited to three consecutive terms. Length of terms varies depending on the group itself.
This ordinance was adopted in November 2016 and exempted 26 organizations, including the Board of Appeals, Board of Elections, Board of Library Trustees and more.
After hearing the original request for exemption from Julie Oberg, director of the county commissioners, the board noted that other departments were having difficulty filling these roles, too. The BOCC ultimately decided to remove term limits altogether, rather than continuing to update the list of exempt groups.
“If you have someone that’s interested and dedicated and comes to meetings, we should probably not remove them just due to term limits,” County Commissioner Earl F. Vance said before the vote.
The motion passed and the section on term limits was repealed — good news for community members looking to serve in these roles long term. You can see current vacancies here.
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Term limits are there to stop corruption, croney-ism and shady politics which Calvert County is famous for. Not a surprise that the BOCC wants them abolished.