Term limits proposed for Shelbyville power board

A vote on term limits for the city's power board will be among items on Shelbyville City Council's agenda Thursday.

Councilman Al Stephenson requested that the topic be placed on the council's agenda during their study session this past Tuesday.

He said that members should serve a couple of three-year terms and then sit out one term before applying to serve on the board again.

Stephenson told the council that "it's not right to have someone on that board for 30 years, 20 years, 18 years ... they do get benefits and insurance, and $150 a month and I feel that other people be given the opportunity.

"Right now, it's strictly political," Stephenson said.

The councilman also had issues with the oath of office the power board members take, which says a member can not be an applicant for an elected job or another board.

Stephenson pointed out that it doesn't say that in the power board charter and that the oath needs to be changed, saying that if a member got an elected job, according to the oath, that person would have to resign from the power board.

City recorder Betty Lamb told the T-G that Shelbyville's city charter also states that a power board member can not be a member of another board.

She stated that if the council passes this item, it would have to go to the Tennessee State Legislature since the issue on power board term limits are part of the city's charter, which would have to be amended.

The city council meets Thursday in the courtroom at the Shelbyville Police Department, starting at 6 p.m..