Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell, D-Long Beach, said Wednesday that he would vote against a charter amendment on the Nov. 6 ballot that would allow city council members and the mayor three full terms in office.

The language used by proponents of Measure BBB is “dishonest,” said O’Donnell, a former Long Beach councilman. The 
measure is one of four proposed charter amendments that Long Beach voters will decide at the ballot box next month.

Currently City Council members and the mayor are able to serve two four-year terms, and could potentially run indefinitely as a write-in candidate, according to an analysis by the city attorney.

Proponents have said that this “loop hole” would be addressed by BBB by creating a third term—capping service there—and eliminating the write-in process. Under the current rules a write-in candidate can actually have their name appear on the ballot if they advance to the runoff election.

Opponents to the measure have said the city’s elected representatives are merely trying to guarantee themselves another term in office without the added difficulty of being a write-in candidate.

In a statement, O’Donnell said the claim by proponents that Measure BBB would limit terms in office is a “fabrication” and appears to be “an attempt to confuse voters into favoring the measure.” He added that “in this environment” it is important to be transparent with voters.

“I was out of town over the weekend and I came home to a mailer that talks about ‘Closing the confusing loophole in the existing term limits law,’” O’Donnell said in an interview. “There was never a loophole there. It was put in place by the voters where we could have the write-in. When I see mailers talking about getting rid of the ‘confusing loophole’, that is significant misinformation.”

O’Donnell said that he’s not against expanding term limits—California legislators are subject to a 12-year cap in service, equal to the proposed time line in BBB—but said that eliminating the write-in, along with the language used by city leaders, is the reason he’s opposing it.

He said the write-in option keeps politicians honest if they’re hoping to serve another term, and that’s why it was included in the voter initiative passed in the early 1990s.

Mark Taylor, a charter reform campaign spokesperson and current chief of staff for Mayor Robert Garcia, said the confusion rests in how many times those voters thought a candidate could run.

“We are grateful that Common Cause, California’s leading good government group, has endorsed all four measures,” Taylor said. “Most residents thought that write-ins were limited to one term, but the city attorney clarified earlier this year that the mayor and council can run indefinitely as a write-in candidates. Not everyone is going to agree on every measure, and we respect that.”

Certain carve outs were also included in the text of Measure BBB that excluded some previous write-in terms, appointed terms and terms won through a special election. This would apply to O’Donnell, who won a write-in term, before being elected to the State Assembly.

The assemblyman, however, said returning to local governance is not in the plans.

“Well, I’m opposed to it, so does that say anything?” O’Donnell said. “I never contemplated it, quite frankly. That is not my interest.”