BY J. Scott Coopwood
Publisher, Delta Business Journal

    Term limits could hurt the Delta, from local races all the way up to the Governor's seat, people across the Delta are making their decisions on who best to represent them with the election just a little over a month away. We are being inundated with TV commercials, telephone calls, literature in the mail, and even a few knocks at the front door. And we here at the Delta Business Journal even sponsored a gubernatorial debate.
    The Delta Business Journal will not be endorsing any candidate for office. The Delta Business Journal is a regional publication and its reach extends beyond one local community or county to comment on those races. As for statewide candidates, I feel that the role of this newspaper should be to get the view of the major candidates and put them in the pages of the newspaper so you, the local business leader, can make an informed decision.
    However, there is one issue on the November ballot that I feel strongly compelled to voice our opinion. The issue is term limits. An out-of-state group has placed the issue on the ballot and $600,000 is being pumped into Mississippi to impose term limits on the state. Mississippi has already soundly rejected term limits a couple of times. In 1995, only 11 out of 82 counties statewide could muster a simple majority to change our State Constitution to include term limits.
    Term limits is a bad idea. Not only does it go against the principles of a free society, and belittles the intelligence of our citizenry, it would be disastrous for the Mississippi Delta in terms of influencing state policy.
    Since the people proposing term limits for Mississippians will not disclose their funding sources, it makes you wonder what their motive really is. Regardless, I can tell you what the outcome of term limits would be for the Delta; worse government, sectionalism, lack of seniority, and a smaller voice.
    We don't need someone from outside Mississippi disenfranchising our right to vote for the best candidate. If my legislator is doing a good job, I want the opportunity to send him back to Jackson or Washington, the Courthouse, or City Hall. If he is not doing a good job, due process will take its course and we will send the incumbent home.
    Besides, the average length of tenure for legislators is already eight years or less, and turnover in an eight-year period is 60 percent. There are a litany of reasons why term limits have no benefit for residents in the Mississippi Delta, but perhaps the best arguments come from Dr. Kent Wyatt, retired president of Delta State University.
    "We already have term limits and that is at the ballot box," Wyatt noted. "These national political groups don't have a stake in Mississippi, and they should not have a vote by trying to impose term limits. If a majority of Mississippi citizens living in a political district want to get rid of their lawmakers, they vote them out. And they do it all the time. Turnover was 60% in the State Legislature over the past eight years, and we have seen several incumbents get beat already this year."
    Columnist Sid Salter of Scott County, in a recent column, pointed out that the forces of sectionalism would thrive upon the imposition of term limits: the Delta vs. the Hills, rural vs. urban, and even the Coast vs. Jackson.
There is no way that the Delta would benefit from this!
    As Dr. Wyatt pointed out, it takes a long time to push most state projects through the Legislature and it takes veteran lawmakers who possess the political savvy to get it done. Although the Delta is outnumbered in Jackson, we have been able to get things done because we have had some excellent representation. If we want to impact state policies on disbursing Community Development Block Grants, we will never like term limits. If you think local projects like Royal Vendors (Cleveland), gaming infrastructure (Tunica, Greenville, Vicksburg), downtown train depot rehabilitation (Clarksdale) are important to the Delta, then you won't like term limits. And, most of all, if you don't want out-of-state money and the Washington-based U.S. Term Limits group to influence who you have the opportunity to vote for or against, you will vote "No" on November 2.
    We can keep the good ones and vote out the bad ones. It is OUR choice, and we should all be entitled to the basic freedom to keep them or throw them out -- it's all about keeping that freedom.