A Times Editorial

No grease for Greco

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 6, 2000

Dick Greco is like the groom who won't leave his own reception. In the fifth year of his second go-round as Tampa mayor, Greco is playing coy while his friends try to engineer him a third term.

The mayor and members of City Council are prevented under Tampa's city charter from serving more than two consecutive four-year terms. Council members dodge the law by jumping from seat to seat. But prolonging the mayor's tenure would require voters to abandon the term limits they adopted overwhelmingly two decades ago.

The issue, for the moment, is not whether term limits are a good idea. Term limits in general reward citizens too lazy to vote while limiting the choice for those who exercise their democratic right. But a case can be made to limit the terms of executive officers. There is only one mayor, one governor, one president. Term limits help to balance power between legislators and the one person who runs an entire branch of government.

The council has the power to put a repeal directly before city voters. It shouldn't. If the measure has any chance of passage, backers won't have trouble collecting the signatures needed to force a referendum. By refusing to grease the effort, council members will keep from pre-empting an important communitywide debate and avoid the appearance (if not reality) of misusing their offices to help Greco or themselves.

Serving eight years as Tampa mayor is enough to leave a mark. If voters feel otherwise, they can get behind a grass-roots effort without the need for land-use lawyers, developers and lobbyists to fast-track a charter change through City Council. Council member Mary Alvarez, who redefines the meaning of slow learning curve, unintentionally makes the case for keeping the proposal with the voters with her nonsensical claim that eight years is "too short" because "you're just becoming aware of what's going on."

Greco should help end the speculation. He can express interest in a third term, or he can commit to honor the charter that was in effect when he took office.

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