Reece Rose is already talking about leaving the job she’s working to land.

Rose, who has been fighting to become county commissioner for District 1 for nearly six years, said she only wants to do the job for a maximum of eight.

Rose had pledged to follow self-imposed term limits if voters put her in office.

In her candidate’s statement submitted for the county voter’s guide, Rose said that she would not run for more than two terms. The guide has not yet been published; Rose provided The Record with an advance copy of the statement.

Rose said setting a sunset date to leave office will help her make the tough decisions that are required of a county commissioner.

“By the time you’ve been in office for eight years, you’ve built lots of personal friendships and relationships,” Rose said Monday. “When there is an economic downturn like right now, which likely will get worse in 2009, and it’s necessary to cut back on employees, benefits or pay raises, it’s your friends. It gets hard to say no.”

Rose is running against incumbent Republican Phil Bakke, Democrat Helen Price Johnson and no-party candidate Curt Gordon.

Rose ran for the District 1 position in 2003 but lost to longtime commissioner Republican Mike Shelton. She vowed to run again soon after her loss, and filed paperwork with the state in February 2004 as a candidate for the 2008 race.

The longer someone serves in elected office, Rose said, the more obligated they become to special interest groups and personal loyalties.

“Right now, our county expenditure exceeds our income. That’s not a good thing,” Rose said.

The question then becomes to raise taxes or to cut expenditures and Rose said she is an advocate for smaller government and reduced spending.

She said public service should be viewed as a task that needs to be accomplished, rather than a career.

“It’s a career for a lot of people. It shouldn’t be,” she said.

So if it’s not a career, what should politicians do once their terms are up?

“You go back into the real world,” Rose said.

A fellow Whidbey Island politician fared well with self-imposed term limits, she added.

“Jack Metcalf pledged term limits,” Rose said.

Metcalf was first elected to the Washington House of Representatives in 1960. He was later elected to the state Senate.

As a supporter of term limits, such as those proposed in the GOP’s 1994 Contract with America, which Metcalf had signed, the populist known as “Gentleman Jack” did not run for re-election in 2000 in order to honor his self-imposed term limit of three two-year terms.

Rose said eight years is plenty of time to get acquainted with the job and get things accomplished. To actually be ready to hit the ground running, she has started to study county business already.

“Right now, I started analyzing the budget,” she said. “I am not going in with all the answers. I don’t even know all the questions yet, but I don’t think it takes this long (to learn the job).”

Rose’s opponents remained vague on how long they would want to keep the commissioner’s job if voters give it to them.

“A commissioner — or any elected official — should seek office as long as they are serving the common good, being responsive to the citizens and effectively representing the community’s interests,” Price Johnson said.

Gordon said that experience is a plus.

He was a parks commissioner for four terms that spanned 18 years. He was then appointed to fill in for a board member who served in Iraq for one more year.

“I feel like I was more effective due to my history and complete knowledge and understanding of all the inner workings of the district,” Gordon said. “I am aware of examples of board members that stayed on the board for multiple terms that really weren’t helpful or productive and should have moved on.”

“What it comes down to is that the responsibility lies with the voter,” Gordon added.

Bakke could not be reached at The Record’s press time.

Island County commissioners have historically held office for extended periods.

Shelton was in office for 14 years. Mac McDowell, the North End commissioner who is running for re-election this year, has also served since 1993.

In the early days of Whidbey Island government, Walter Crocket Jr. served as county commissioner for six terms between 1867 and 1878.

Michaela Marx Wheatley can be reached at 221-5300 or mmarxwheatley@southwhidbeyrecord.com.