To understand where Williamsport is today, it may be helpful to reflect on where America was nearly 75 years ago.

When the 22nd Amendment to limit future presidents to two terms was passed, President Harry S Truman had not yet decided if he would seek a third term.

Nobody doubted he had the right to, or pretended he didn’t, because of what was then a deeply engrained principle of our democratic republic.

Laws should not be applied retroactively. Attempting to entrap somebody who was engaged in an activity or behavior that had been legal should be recognized as an illegitimate abuse of power.

It’s a principle, rooted in a higher understanding of justice, on which we suggest the entire concept of grandfather clauses is based.

Which brings us to our city government today.

There perhaps is a strong argument for term limits for municipal offices — a step Williamsport’s city council is attempting to take and that Mayor Derek Slaughter has vetoed. We believe in the coming days we should examine both this underlying issue and the specific actions our city council is proposing. We suspect that a truly strong case for term limits would be credible enough on its own merits that its advocates could accept that they would not apply to the men and women voters have already selected.

This should be about principles and the conditions of good governance — not personalities or personal grudges or personal ambitions.

The effectiveness and credibility of any argument for term limits are only undermined if city council chooses to apply a new ordinance to a man — Slaughter — elected to two terms – the second term unopposed – when no such ordinance limited his right to pursue office and the rights of voters to cast their ballots for him.

It is further and much more substantially undermined if any of the six council members who voted for this peculiarly worded ordinance chooses to run for mayor in the 2027 election. That council member could have recused himself or herself. Instead they cast a vote in the interests of their own ambitions and, again, with a callow disregard for our American principles.