Freshman Atlanta city council member pushes to impose term limits

ATLANTA - In city of Atlanta politics, you can vote for a council person over and over again for decades. But a freshman member of the Atlanta City Council is working to change that. 

"Call this ‘The Term Limits Paper’," said City Councilman Antonio Lewis.

Last night at city hall, he proposed a bill that he thinks would bring change to city council. He wants to enact term limits.

"I think that we need fresh ideas all the time coming into city hall. We need new faces," said Lewis.

Lewis proposed terms that add up to 20 years. That's it, unless you take a break and try to run again.

Currently, Atlanta City Council has a mix of young and old members. Including, wise old hands Howard Shook and Michael Julian Bond, for example.

Councilman Bond became suspicious of Lewis' bill after seeing that his fellow members Keisha Waites and Liliana Bakhtiari co-authored it.

Antonio Lewis, freshman member of the Atlanta City Council

Waites and Bakhtiari were big opponents of expanding jail beds downtown, an issue Bond has publicly pushed.

"This is angst arising out of the jail vote (…) I guess people were disgruntled," said Bond.

"Michael Julian Bond was not on my mind when writing this paper. It has nothing to do with the jail vote," said Lewis.

Lewis says his initiative would not begin until the next term, so no member should feel targeted.

"We're saying we don't need career politicians," said Lewis.

"If you're doing a good job, ultimately the people will decide if they want to keep you or send you home," said Bond.

So will the bill go anywhere?

Only time will tell.