Montgomery voters to decide on extending elected officials’ terms as city grapples with growth

Montgomery voters soon will decide whether elected officials will serve four years, instead of the current two-year term, as the city continues to grapple with growth. 

For nearly a year, officials have been debating extending the term for council members and mayor to three or four years from the current two-year term. During a workshop meeting in October, council members said they find it hard to get a lot of work done with the growth the city has experienced.

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Term lengths debated

As the city of more than 2,000 residents continues to grow, officials said not enough work is accomplished within the two-year term.

“Residents and officials alike were seeing that you can’t get a whole lot accomplished,” said Mayor Sara Countryman. “We needed congruency just in a two-year term.”

On Aug. 13, council members moved forward with including an ordinance that would allow voters on Nov. 6 to choose whether to extend terms for elected officials to four years from two years. 

Other Houston-area cities such as Friendswood, Manvel and Dayton have a term length of three to four years, officials said. 

“In four years, there’s not as much change on the council side, so (any) initiatives can be seen through,” Countryman said. “And when somebody new gets on the council, there’s still some legacy there that will help guide them.”

‘It’s really hard to get things done’

Previously, council members aired their frustration on serving a two-year term. 

“We swap out half the council every year, basically,” said council member Casey Olsen during the October 2023 meeting. “It really throws a (wrench) in agendas. You get a plan going and then, all of a sudden…we got three new members that have a whole new idea. It’s really hard to get things done.”

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Countryman said she expects a record turnout at the polls due to the presidential election this year. And it is “definitely up to us to get the word out and educate voters on what the city has on this ballot.”

“There’s a lot of education that needs to take place before they get to that ballot,” she said. 

Montgomery residents will also be voting on whether to reallocate sales tax revenue toward a district to help support law enforcement by funding a new state-of-the-art facility, salaries and equipment. 

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