Resurrecting the idea from a past City Council bill that died in committee, Councilman Ryan Dorsey will tonight introduce a charter amendment to repeal term limits for himself and other electeds that Baltimore voters approved in 2022.

The bill (26-0199) would end the restriction that limits the mayor, comptroller, City Council president and 14 Council members to two terms in a 12-year period.

If approved by the Council, the amendment would go before voters this November for adoption or rejection.

In 2022, 72% of city voters approved “Question K” that limited local officeholders to two terms. A month later, Dorsey, who had represented northeast’s 3rd District since 2016, introduced a charter amendment to repeal Question K.

He argued that the amendment stripped voters of choice and could lead to candidates “more likely to have been bought and paid for by wealthy and powerful interests just like Question K itself.”

He was referring to David D. Smith, chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, who personally funneled over $500,000 into the ballot initiative.

“In 2022 a wealthy man who doesn’t live in Baltimore City and who has a lot of media control shelled out a lot of money out of pocket in order to pay people to put together petition signatures to put a vote to voters in Baltimore City to create term limits,” Dorsey said at the City Council meeting, introducing his bill tonight.

“Not only do I not believe that it’s good policy or good for public interest, but I don’t like the way it happened,” he continued. “There was virtually no public discourse about it before it showed up on the ballot.”

His 2022 bill was met by praise in some quarters. But there was opposition by community leaders and some Council colleagues, who labeled it a “slap in the face” to voters. It died in committee.

Dorsey’s second try may enjoy a better fate because it will be advanced to the Council’s Charter Review Special Committee that he chairs. The bill is co-sponsored by First District Councilman Mark Parker, who said at the Council meeting that “we are in a golden era of electoral democracy in the City of Baltimore.”

Over the last three election cycles, he pointed out, “we’ve had 94% turnover in three election cycles” and noted that “in 2024 three incumbents lost, which was more than the previous five cycles of city elections combined.”

“For people who are saying, ‘Hey, it’s healthy to have new people, new leadership, new ideas,’ that’s what’s happening the city of Baltimore,” he continued. “We did all of that without the artificial interference of a non-resident of the city of Baltimore or an artificial opposition in the form of term limits.”

Other Charter Bills

The special review committee has introduced other measures to change the city charter’s budget and procurement provisions, some of which have proven controversial.

A bill that collects those changes into a single charter amendment is before the Council tonight on third reader. But at the same time, Council President Zeke Cohen has introduced legislation that breaks down the proposed charter amendments into three separate voter questions.

It is unclear whether the third reader bill will be withdrawn and the three new bills put in its place. Questions from The Brew addressed to Cohen’s office have not been answered.

Cohen confirmed at the Council luncheon that the third reader bill will be remanded, or withdrawn. from the Council and replaced by the three separate bills. 

Meanwhile, another charter amendment bill pending before Dorsey’s Charter Review Special Committee is the one sponsored by Councilman Mark Conway intended to re-affirm the Inspector General’s access to city government documents.

That measure would make the IG a co-custodian of city records to ensure that she would access under the Maryland Public Information Act. It was heard by the committee last week.