Baltimore term-limit repeal misses ballot deadline, ends this fall bid

Bill 26-0199 missed the July 1 deadline for the November ballot, ending Councilmen Ryan Dorsey and Mark Parker’s push to erase Baltimore’s term limits this fall. The bill will not be heard at the special council meeting, closing the last route for the repeal drive.

The setback keeps intact a rule voters approved on November 8, 2022, when Question K passed by 98,529 votes, or 71.33%, to 39,604 votes, or 28.67%. The amendment limits the mayor, comptroller, City Council president and council members to two terms in 12 years, and it took effect for officials elected in 2024.

Dorsey and Parker had tried to reopen a fight over term limits. Dorsey has called the term-limit plan “bad for the public interest,” arguing that it strips voters of the choice to re-elect candidates. Parker has gone further, calling term limits “fundamentally undemocratic” and saying the city should not be boxed in by the will of David D. Smith, the Sinclair Broadcast Group chairman and Baltimore Sun co-owner, who personally spent more than $500,000 on the 2022 campaign for term limits.

The repeal effort was already wobbling before the deadline passed. On May 21, the Baltimore City Charter Review Special Committee recessed without taking a vote after pushback from council and community members. Dorsey suggested sending the bill to the full council without a recommendation, Odette Ramos objected, and Vice Chair John Bullock said he was leaning toward abstaining.

Cohen withdrew the mega bill and split the package into separate questions, including technical changes to the Board of Estimates budget approval process and minor-public-property rules, along with a proposal to eliminate competitive bidding for large-scale projects and give agencies more flexibility in awarding contracts.

That proposal would alter a system that now rests with the five-member Board of Estimates, made up of the mayor, City Council president, comptroller, city solicitor and director of public works. The board currently awards contracts to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. The change could improve efficiency and limit abuse by contractors who seek extra work orders later in a project, but the committee has not clearly explained how agencies would compare bids or prove value.

On May 29, Mayor Brandon Scott, Cohen and Comptroller Bill Henry announced a charter amendment that would move the Bureau of Water and Wastewater out of the Department of Public Works and create a dedicated city agency if voters approve it. The change would give Baltimore’s water and sewer system more focused management, better financial tools, greater transparency and more stability for ratepayers.