Hennigan to propose mayoral term limit

If Maura Hennigan has her way, a face-off with Mayor Thomas M. Menino won't be the only choice she would bring to Boston voters this November. She also wants them to decide whether to limit the tenure of mayors to two four-year terms.

Hennigan, who is running against the veteran mayor, insisted that her term-limit proposal is not aimed at Menino, who would be the longest-serving mayor in Boston history if he is elected to and completes a fourth term.

''It's not about him," Hennigan said.

Others, including Menino, are skeptical.

''What about term limits on city councilors?" Menino shot back when told of Hennigan's proposal, which applies only to the mayor's office.

''This is political posturing," said Councilor John M. Tobin Jr. of West Roxbury.

Hennigan, an at-large councilor first elected in 1981, plans to file legislation next week that would limit Boston mayors to two four-year terms.

The proposal will be in the form of a home-rule petition that would need the approval of the City Council and mayor as well as the Legislature, after which it would go before city voters. If it gets to the November ballot and is approved by voters, the proposal would not apply retroactively. If Menino were reelected this fall, he would be allowed to complete the term ending this year plus serve one more four-year term, beginning next January.

Though it would not affect Menino immediately, the term-limit proposal gives Hennigan an opportunity to emphasize one of the advantages she sees in her uphill race against the veteran mayor -- his longevity.

''When you're there an awfully long time, you can forget why you're there and it becomes more about you than why you're there and the job you are supposed to do," said Hennigan. ''When you get beyond two terms, I really believe it leads not to the best product for the city."

Menino said he is ''not a big fan of term limits," citing the loss of ''institutional memory" that comes with forced turnover of officeholders. Mayoral term limits are in place in New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.

Hennigan, who hails from a long line of Boston politicians, says the term-limit proposal is an opportunity to revisit a piece of family history. In 1938, her grandfather, James W. Hennigan Sr., a state senator from Mission Hill, sponsored legislation that removed a ban on Boston mayors serving successive terms. His proposal was a favor to then-mayor Maurice Tobin, an ally and fellow Mission Hill resident.

Hennigan says her grandfather had the right idea in removing the prohibition on successive terms, but failed to see the downside of mayors serving not only a successive term, but third and fourth terms as well. ''I think if he was looking down and saw me, he would say, 'I should have thought of that,' " she said.

Hennigan, who is the council's longest-serving member, said the dangers of unchecked power come from the executive side under Boston's strong-mayor form of government, not the relatively weak City Council.

Although there has been no movement for term limits here, even some councilors who oppose the idea sound open to letting voters weigh in on the proposal. ''I have no problem with putting that on the ballot and letting the voters decide," said Councilor James M. Kelly of South Boston.

When he was elected in 1993, Menino vowed to serve only two terms. In seeking a third term in 2001, Menino updated his pledge, offering the tongue-in-cheek clarification that he meant no more than ''two terms per century." Does that mean if he wins reelection this fall that a fourth term -- the second one this century -- would definitely be his last?

''I'm enjoying myself," the mayor replied with a grin.

Michael Jonas can be reached at jonas@globe.com.