For the second week in a row, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will debate whether to ask voters to let them stay in office longer.

Last Tuesday the board temporarily sidelined a proposal by Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich that would have placed an item on the Nov. 6 ballot, asking voters for a five-term limit retroactive to 2002.

In that year, county voters approved a three-term limit. Unless it’s lifted, Antonovich, Yaroslavsky and Supervisor Gloria Molina can’t run again. Yaroslavsky and Molina would be out in 2014, followed by Antonovich in 2016.

Last Tuesday, Yaroslavsky balked at Antonovich’s proposed ballot language on grounds it might mislead voters into thinking they were being asked to approve term limits for the first time.

Antonovich wants the ballot item to read: “Term Limits: Board of Supervisors. Limits any person elected to the office of the Board of Supervisors to five consecutive terms beginning on or after December 2002.”

Next Tuesday, the supervisors will again debate Antonovich’s proposed ballot language, but they’ll also decide on a substitute motion by Yaroslavsky saying it’s an increase from three terms to five.

Yaroslavsky wants this language to appear on the ballot: “Term Limit Extension: Board of Supervisors. Should the County Charter be amended to extend the limit on any person elected to the office of the Board of Supervisors from three to five consecutive terms beginning on or after December 2002[?]”

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas – who won’t be termed out until 2020 – said earlier that he thought the whole subject needed more discussion.