Houston's mayor wants voters to consider changing the term limits for city elected officials.
However, the most recent KHOU/News 88.7 poll indicates if Annise Parker's idea appears on the ballot, voters will probably reject it.
Under the current system, Houston voters cast ballots for mayor, city controller and city council members every two years. Those officials must leave office after three terms, spending a maximum of six years in each job.
Now Parker proposes changing those limits, holding elections for each job every four years and limiting elected officials to two terms for a total of eight years in each office.
The new term limits would take effect in 2020. They would have no effect on Parker, who's required to leave office at the end of this year
Critics of the current term limits complain that holding elections every two years forces elected officials to spend more time focusing on winning re-election instead of governing.
The Parker proposal has been kicked around local political circles for years, but it's never appeared on the ballot mainly because polls have indicated voters don't like it.
The most recent KHOU/News 88.7 poll suggests the mayor's term limits referendum faces a steep uphill battle. Half of all likely voters in the survey conducted earlier this summer said they wanted no change in the current term limits. Only 25 percent favored changing to a maximum of two terms lasting four years each.
City council members are scheduled to consider the idea this Wednesday. If they approve, it would appear on the ballot for a voter referendum in November.
That would put the item on the same ballot as the race for mayor and a probable referendum on Houston's equal rights ordinance, putting three high-profile decisions before voters on the same Election Day.
