Legislators ask Salt Lake County Council to fix term problem

Legislative leaders are asking the Salt Lake County Council to clean up their mess.

At issue is a bill with "unintended consequences" that ended up giving five Jordan Board of Education incumbents extended terms without having to face the voters. And without any changes, one board member will serve eight years without a re-election campaign.

On Friday House Speaker Greg Curtis and Senate President John Valentine sent a letter to the Salt Lake County Council asking for a quick fix.

Now, instead of staggering all the school board races in the current Jordan District and the new east-side district, legislative leaders want the council to give all incumbents a 17-month term. The other seats, filled by newcomers, would be staggered with either 17- or 41-month terms.

The council is scheduled to discuss the proposal Tuesday.

Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, who amended the bill to grandfather the incumbents on the new boards, said there were some "unintended consequences with making sure we had some continuity on these boards.

"We felt that moving forward, because it's such an important step forward, that these board members in their capacities have something to bring forward to the new board," Hughes said.

The County Council already drew precinct boundaries for the new districts after last November's school district split vote. The council staggered the terms so not every school board member would be up for election at the same time. So, to begin with, the seats in even-numbered precincts will be two-year terms; those in odd-numbered precincts, four-year terms.

But when SB71 was signed, that ended up grandfathering incumbents' four-year terms.

Randy Brinkerhoff, Peggy Jo Kennett, Ellen Wallace and Sherril Taylor ended up with an extra two years. So, they'll end up serving a total of six years, when voters only elected them for four. School board president J. Dale Christensen got an extra four years, serving a total of eight. Only Kim Horiuchi and Tracy Cowdell received no term extension under the new law. Elected in 2006, they will be up for re-election in 2010.

Salt Lake County Councilman Jeff Allen followed legislative leadership's recommendation, and will make a proposal to the County Council Tuesday that will change all of that and extend the terms of all the incumbents by a maximum of 17 months. The other seats will be staggered.