The Facts:

Supervisor Bilal Mahmood is proposing a 2026 charter amendment that would cap both the mayor and supervisors at two four-year terms total in their current office.

Today, officials can run again after sitting out just one term, effectively allowing an unlimited number of non-consecutive terms.

The Context:

Under Charter Section 2.101, supervisors are limited to two successive four-year terms, but can return after a four-year break—meaning there’s no lifetime cap on non-consecutive terms.

Though this “boomerang” loophole is fairly rare, loopholes allow career politicians to treat City Hall as a lifelong job, rather than a limited public service. The most notable example is former Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who held his office for 18 years.

The GrowSF Take:

Reasonable people can disagree about term limits. Some argue they remove experienced leaders and empower special interests. Others say they prevent entrenchment and encourage fresh ideas.

But everyone can agree that the current loophole is against the spirit of the law, and only exists because of some sloppy law-writing. We should clean it up, and Supervisor Mahmood’s proposal does just that.