Should Springfield mayors serve 4 years instead of 2? Question could go to voters in April

As Mayor Ken McClure finishes up his final term as mayor, Springfield City Council is considering whether to let his successors serve longer between elections.

Councilmembers, with McClure recusing himself from the conversation, met on Monday to discuss proposed changes to the City Charter that would extend the current two-year mayoral term to four years.

The charter acts as a constitution to the city and any changes require a vote of the people. The drafted changes would keep the current limit that restricts a sitting mayor to no more than eight years in that office in a row, while change the length of a single term to match that of council members — four years.

The idea for a four-year mayoral term is not new. Last year, council discussed placing the question on the April 2023 ballot, but opted against it to avoid convoluting the issue with McClure's own re-election campaign.

Weighing pros and cons

Councilwoman Heather Hardinger pointed out that most other similar-sized cities have four-year mayoral terms. With the Springfield community continuing to grow and issues becoming more complex, she said a two-year may be too short to make effective change and progress.

With mayoral elections every two years, the mayor is almost constantly in campaign mode. Taking up time and energy, this restricts from the person's ability to fully commit to being the mayor in the present.

"If you are focused on continuing in the position it does constrain your ability to take the long-term focus to the problems we're addressing as a city because you know the payoff for that work is not going further until after you're potentially out of office," Councilman Matt Simpson said.

But with a two-year term, mayoral elections are always in sync with council turnover and a potential shift in the majority. Councilman Brandon Jenson also noted that not being up for election as often might mean the mayor would not be as concerned with voter approval.

"If we're not ultimately changing the number of years that this person would be serving, the only thing we're changing is how often they have to get a confirmation from the voters that what they're doing is the correct path for our city," he said.

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With McClure serving all possible eight years, Jenson said he is an example of the current system working well with good leadership and long-term vision, gaining voter support for all four terms.

What comes next

With council members reaching an overall consensus supporting the changes, a recommendation will be drafted to appear at one of the group's regular meetings.

If approved by council vote, the question will go before voters on the April ballot. If approved then, the four-year mayoral term would take effect with McClure's successor in 2025.

Marta Mieze covers local government at the News-Leader. Contact her with tips at mmieze@news-leader.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield mayoral term extension likely to appear on April ballot