County voters will find on the Nov. 8 election ballot a proposition to double the term of Chautauqua County legislators from two to four years.

Legislators approved putting the measure on the ballot by saying there is so much to know about county business that it takes more than two years to learn the intricacies of the position. That logic might be true if the entire legislature was to be voted out in one election, but that rarely happens. The slight chance of that occurring does not outweigh the benefits of more frequent elections.

The County Legislature has much influence on the daily lives of residents here and must be held accountable to the voters more regularly. We are sure many legislators do spend quite a bit of their time speaking with constituents, but facing the voting public every two years also forces such engagement. And, the short time of a legislative term behooves those elected to make sure they are voting in accordance as residents in their district want.

A four-year term allows voters to forget something in which they disagreed with their legislator. The sale of the Chautauqua County Home and the Legislature reduction from 25 to 19 members – actions beneficial to Chautauqua County – happened because voters, angered by previous unsuccessful votes, changed the make up of the Legislature to do what the public wanted.

Despite the reasons for introducing this measure, the proposal to increase the length of legislators’ terms does not come with the promise of good government. It needs to be rejected.