Lakeland commissioners could have the potential to spend more time in office and obtain state pensions if some of the many changes proposed by the city’s charter review committee get approved.
A 15-member city charter review committee has started going through Lakeland’s governing documents, meeting once a month on Thursday. The group has recommended several changes to the rules governing city officials to be made in 2025.
Longer terms of office.
Lakeland commissioners might be able to spend longer in office.
The committee voted in favor of extending the number of years an elected official can serve in Lakeland. Under the current city charter, elected officials may serve up to three full terms, or hold office for a total of 12 years in a singular position. An individual can be in office for up to 16 years in any combination of mayor or commissioner.
The proposal is to change this so an individual can serve a maximum of three terms as a commissioner, or 12 years, and up to two terms as mayor, up to eight years. This would increase Lakeland’s term limits to 20 years in office.
City Attorney Palmer Davis said under Florida law, elected city officials who serve for 20 consecutive years in office are eligible to receive a state pension, for half their salary, at the time of their retirement or resignation.
Davis said commissioners do not contribute to a pension plan, so if an individual served 20 years, their pension would have to be paid out of Lakeland’s General Fund — or taxpayer money and city fee revenue.
New districts, but voting to remain at-large
The charter review committee faces what is an ever-political and difficult task, rebalancing the city’s four voting districts to be as fair as possible based on population.
The new districts, as preliminarily approved by the committee, would see the following changes:
- Northwest, currently represented by Commissioner Guy LaLonde: It would extend further to the east, incorporating a section running along Memorial Boulevard, running south and stopping north of Lake Morton. This area is currently in the city’s Northeast or Southeast districts.
- Northeast, currently represented by Commissioner Bill Read: It would extend further south, incorporating the neighborhoods around Lake Morton. These neighborhoods are currently in the Southeast District.
- Southeast, currently represented by Commissioner Mike Musick: As the most densely populated area of Lakeland, the geological footprint of the Southeast District would shrink.
- Southwest, currently represented by Commissioner Sara Roberts McCarley: While expected to be one of the areas with the most rapid growth, the committee has voted to extend this district to balance the current populations by extending the southern portion to the east, from South Florida Avenue to Cleveland Heights Boulevard. This will shift residents in the Southeast district to the Southwest.
If these new districts were approved, they would not have an impact on a scheduled municipal election until 2027, according to Davis.