Beginning in 2020, the seats of mayor and city council in Johns Creek will likely have term limits attached to them.
At a city council meeting on Monday, city leaders approved a resolution to amend the city’s charter to implement term limits.
The next step is to have the amendment approved by the Georgia Legislature. State Rep. Brad Raffensperger (R, Johns Creek) will introduce the amendment during the 2018 special legislative session.
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If the amendment passes, Johns Creek’s mayor and council members elected during or after the 2019 general municipal election will be limited to two consecutive four-year terms.
The term limits do not include any partial time in office. For example, if the mayor resigned and a someone filled out the rest of the elected term, that person could still serve two additional elected terms as mayor.
The clock on the new term limits would also not count time served in office prior to Jan. 1, 2020. So, if a councilman currently serving gets re-elected in 2019 or after, that is when their two-term clock starts.
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This change to Johns Creek's charter comes after another city in north Fulton County, Roswell, implemented term limits and then had former mayor Jere Wood violate those limits. A judge eventually ruled on this in 2017 and ordered Wood to be removed from office. Wood appealed and served through the end of his term.
Last year, Mike Bodker was elected to his fourth term as mayor of Johns Creek, a seat he has held since the city's inception in 2006. Bodker ran unopposed, but initially faced a challenge from local businessman Alex Marchetti. He withdrew about a month before the election.
A bill outlining term limits for Johns Creek is not yet in the database on the Georgia General Assembly website.
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