Court rules in favor of Indian Wells in lawsuit over term limits

The City of Indian Wells got a legal victory in a lawsuit over a voter-approved measure on term limits.

On Monday, the Riverside County Superior Court ruled in favor of the City of Indian Wells to affirm Measure J. Measure J limits City Council members to two four-year terms over a lifetime and prohibits the City Clerk from accepting or verifying nomination papers for any person seeking to run for City Council who has previously served two four-year terms.

Voters approved Measure J in March 2020 with over 61% of the vote.

The measure prevents Councilmember Ty Peabody, former Council Member Doug Hanson, and others who have already served two four-year terms on the Council from running again in 2024.

Peabody and Hanson filed a joint lawsuit against the city, challenging the application of the lifetime term limit in Measure J to them. Both Peabody and Hanson have served two four-year terms but argued that terms served before the measure's adoption should not apply toward the maximum allowed.

During the November 2020 election, Hanson sued Indian Wells after the City Clerk refused to accept nomination papers. The Riverside Superior Court orginally ruled that under state law that Measure J did not apply to terms served before its passage.

Hanson's name was on the ballot in 2020, with the same interpretation being applied in 2022.

In 2023, the Indian Wells City Council green-lighted the establishment of an Ad Hoc Council Committee to review Measure J. The committee included former Mayor Pro Tem Greg Sanders and Councilman Bruce Whitman.

City officials said that appellate cases decided in 2023 changed the dynamic. They pointed to Cultiva La Salud v. State of California, which emphasized that charter cities such as Indian Wells are insulated from state regulation in municipal affairs like local term limits.

A second case, Monell v. San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, "supports the application of Measure J's term limit to all terms served during a person's lifetime, regardless of when Measure J was adopted,'' Indian Wells officials said.

The Ad Hoc Council Committee shared the recent appellate court decision with the Election Official, and the decision was made to obtain an independent legal opinion from a law firm that specializes in election law. The Election Official subsequently concluded that this new appellate decision together with Measure J constitutes a significant change in circumstances and supports the City in counting all Council terms served during a person’s lifetime — whether served before or after the passage of Measure J.

That interpretation prompted City Clerk Angelica Avila to reject nomination bids for the November 2024 election for those with two four-year terms on their resume.