Note: This story was updated on Feb. 3 to clarify that Athens would be the first city in Southeast Tennessee to have term limits for a city council, but not the first for mayor.
Athens could become the first municipality in Southeast Tennessee to have term limits for City Council members starting with election cycles in 2024 and 2026.
There are seven cities with term limits for members of their elected legislative bodies scattered across the rest of Tennessee, according to the University of Tennessee Municipal Technical Advisory Service. They include Clarksville, Collierville, Cookeville, Crossville, Jonesborough, Lebanon and Rockwood.
A lack of new faces on the city’s elected panel over the years has slowed growth and the flow of new ideas, said Larry Eaton, first-time Athens council member and vice mayor, elected in November 2022. Since the city’s resolution was passed 4-1 in December, required legislation to change the city charter to reflect new term limits is in the works in Nashville.
Eaton had the idea for term limits before he decided to run for office and made a term limit message part of the goals in his platform, Eaton said in a phone interview. Along with the charter change to include term limits, he said a change of charter verbiage from “councilman” to “councilperson” would offer more inclusive terminology to broaden the appeal of running for office.