Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, January 27, 1994                   TAG: 9401270382
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: S-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FORMER ROANOKE SCHOOL BOARD CHAIRMAN SUPPORTS CITY'S 3-TERM LIMIT

"I think it is a good idea. I think three terms are long enough for anyone," he said this week.

Turner, a board member since 1985, said he agrees with the philosophy of term limits because he believes new viewpoints are needed on the board.

City Council adopted the three-term limit in 1982, before the possibility of term limits for Congress became a national issue.

Turner, a former chairman, is the first School Board member to be affected by Roanoke's term limit.

The limit of three consecutive terms applies to all permanent city boards, authorities, commissions and committees that are appointed by council.

It includes the Planning Commission, Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Architectural Review Board and several other bodies.

Under a grandfather provision, the members of boards and commissions when the law was enacted in 1982 were permitted to serve three additional terms.

Turner has served three, three-year terms since the law was approved.

"Nine years is long enough for anyone to be on the board," he said.

"I don't want to give the impression that I wanted to stay on because that is not true. I thought it was time for a change."

The term limit does not apply to council members or the city's constitutional officers.

But, Turner said he would like to see it apply to some elected officials.

Councilman Howard Musser, who strongly advocated the limit when it was enacted, said he still believes it is a good idea. "I think we need more turnover on our boards and commissions. But it can be tough sometimes when you lose someone like [Turner]."

City Attorney Wilburn Dibling said council would need the General Assembly's approval to enact term limits on its members.

That would require a change in the city charter before council members could restrict their terms, he said.

Dibling said he's not aware that any locality in Virginia has term limits for its governing body or has ever asked the state legislature to approve them.

Council members have never considered seeking permission to limit their terms, Musser said.