Clovis council pauses term limits discussion amid district-based voting change
The Clovis City Council decided to table establishing term limits for councilmembers, even though a city survey showed that 79% of respondents supported the idea.
The potential of setting term limits was brought up by councilmembers last spring as Clovis transitioned from an at-large voting system to a district-based voting system. At the time, the five-member council directed city staff to gather community feedback.
Survey results showed that approximately 79% of respondents were in favor of establishing term limits, with 64% of that group saying they supported a two-term limit, and 22% supported a three-term limit, according to the city’s document.
Establishing term limits requires the passage of a ballot measure, according to Scott G. Cross, the city’s attorney. If the measure was approved by Clovis voters in this November’s election, the new rule would take effect in 2028.
However, at Monday evening’s meeting, the Clovis council voted 3 to 2 to table the item for future discussion.
Councilmembers Vong Mouanoutoua, Lynne Ashbeck, and Drew Bessinger voted against placing the measure on the ballot, stating that they would like to first understand the impact of the district-based election system on Clovis before taking another crucial step toward changing the city’s political landscape.
“I think the biggest threat to our community is marginal candidates and non-competitive races,” said Ashbeck. “I’m willing to hold off and re-survey in two years and see what the trends are like. I don’t think we’re there today. I do think districts are going to upset and strengthen some parts that we can’t quite see today.”
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Mouanoutoua said it takes years for elected officials to obtain the institutional knowledge and build relationships and networks with other organizations in the city.
“If I come here for eight years, I’m just driving whatever it is to get me to that next seat, because I know it’s only eight years, and so it pushes a different person to come into the seat,” Mouanoutoua said. “I think the survey, if we’re going to do it again in two years, we have to ask more specific questions. It’s a perception or understanding of term limits in general and of politics in general, not of Clovis. Because if they look at us, I think a majority would go, ‘No, no, we’re doing it well.’ ”
In the current council, Ashbeck is the longest-serving member, having held the seat since 2001. Mouanoutoua and Bessinger were each elected in March 2017, and the two newest members, Matt Basgall and Diane Pearce, were elected in 2022, according to the city website.
This November, Clovis will hold its first district-based election, meaning voters living in Districts 1, 4, and 5 will each select their representatives in the council. Among the three current councilmembers, Bessinger and Basgall have expressed interest in running for reelection. Pearce has announced her campaign for Fresno County supervisor.
At Monday’s meeting, Basgall and Pearce supported establishing term limits, saying the council should not ignore the community feedback.
When 79% of the population speaks on a survey that we put out, and then 60-something percent of those people said eight years, those are things to consider,” Basgall said.
Pearce questioned the council’s motives in conducting a community survey in the first place.
“We got their response, it overwhelmingly tells us what they want,” Pearce said. “And all we’re being asked to do in response to that is give them a chance to express that on a ballot.”
This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 4:31 PM.
