Redmond City Hall

Redmond voters appear to support term limits for their mayor and city councilors, increasing the mayor’s term to four years and banning close family members from serving together in elected city government, according to early returns in Tuesday’s primary.

Those results are unofficial.

Three separate changes to the city charter were on the ballot.

The first banned close family members from serving together in elected office in City Council or mayoral seats. In early results, the change looked like it would pass easily with 84.6% of early returns supporting it.

The ban was proposed just one year after longtime Mayor George Endicott and his wife, Krisanna Clark-Endicott, served together on the Redmond City Council before both decided not to seek reelection in 2022. Endicott opposed the measure and said he saw it as a personal attack on him. The majority of councilors, however, voted to put the question on the ballot. They saw it as a way to avoid future conflicts.

The second change asked voters to double the mayor’s term from two years to four and cap the number of consecutive terms a mayor can serve at two. As of press time, voters were 64.9% in favor of the changes.

The final change asked voters to institute a limit of two consecutive terms for city councilors. According to early returns, that also looked set to pass, with 78.3% of voters in favor.

Current Mayor Ed Fitch said he was pleased that voters supported each of the charter changes. He said term limits would “level the playing field” for future city elections and force long-entrenched politicians to “take a break” from city government.

If the results hold, the charter changes would go into effect in 2025. That means that the winners of council and mayoral seats in those elections will only be able to serve two terms before they must leave their elected positions.